By Mary Dodge Allen
Have you ever seen a one dollar bill with the word HAWAII printed on it? It might be worth more than you think.
The shocking attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Army on December 7, 1941 propelled the United States into WWII. It also ignited fears that the Hawaiian Territory - essentially a group of isolated Pacific Islands - was in danger of a Japanese invasion.
Territorial Governor J. B. Poindexter (with the approval of President Franklin Roosevelt) placed Hawaii under martial law and ceded administrative control of the islands to the United States Army. Lt. General Delos C. Emmons was appointed military governor.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, people in Hawaii began hoarding money to be used as emergency funds in the event of a Japanese invasion.
Lt. General Emmons realized that if the Japanese successfully invaded the islands, they could seize millions of dollars in U.S. currency from Hawaiian financial institutions. This, in turn, could be harmful to the larger American economy.
A new strict monetary policy was devised to prevent this from happening - the creation of Hawaii Overprint Notes.
A New Monetary Policy
On January 9, 1942, Lt. General Emmons issued an order that made it illegal for individuals to hold more than $200 cash per month. Businesses could only hold up to $500 in cash.
Any excess cash needed to be deposited in local banks immediately. (To help ensure compliance, the deadline was extended to August 1). Violators could be fined up to $5,000 or imprisoned.
BYU-Hawaii History Professor Isaiah Walker described the challenges his grandmother faced as she lived through this period of martial law:
"She remembered the mandatory blackouts, people opening and reading your mail and listening in on your personal phone calls. The confiscation of currency was another adjustment that everyday people had to endure."
New Money For Hawaii
In early March 1942, a U.S. Treasury detail arrived in Hawaii with $20 million U.S. dollars specifically printed for circulation in the Hawaiian Territory, in exchange for $20 million in regular currency held by Hawaiian banks.
The new bills, in $1, $5, $10, and $20 denominations all had "HAWAII" printed in large letters on the back, and printed in small letters in two places on the front. These San Francisco Reserve notes also featured brown seals and serial numbers, for easy identification.
In the case of a Japanese invasion, this specially-marked currency would immediately be rendered useless.
The Hawaii Overprint notes went into circulation in June 1942 and were in use through October 1944. They were issued by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank - and were sometimes referred to as, "Emmons Notes."
They were initially intended for use only in the Hawaiian Islands, but these notes spread throughout the Pacific Theater of the war, partly because some U.S. troops received specimens with their pay packets.
The End of the Japanese Threat
By mid-1944, a Japanese invasion was no longer considered a threat. On October 21, 1944, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the end of the Hawaii currency rules. And President Roosevelt followed up with Executive Order 9489, which ended martial law on the islands.
During August and September 1945, following the end of the Pacific war, huge amounts of Hawaiian overprint currency notes were redeemed. An estimated $200 million in notes were subsequently burned at incinerators on the islands, including the Aiea Sugar Mill in Oahu.
But many of these Hawaii Overprint notes survived, kept as souvenirs by servicemen. Some notes circulated on the U.S. Mainland through the 1940s and 1950s. The United States Navy even paid overseas vendors with these notes through the 1960s.
Collectors of these notes can be found at coin and currency auctions. I recently saw a Hawaii Overprint note for sale on eBay for over $200.00.
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Mary Dodge Allen is currently finishing her sequel to Hunt for a Hometown Killer. She's won a Christian Indie Award, an Angel Book Award, and two Royal Palm Literary Awards (Florida Writer's Association). She and her husband live in Central Florida. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers.
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