Just a note about my recent acquisition of the 1991 Kaiulani “Mahalo Mintliner Award” medal. I was rather surprised that many of the RHM collectors stayed away and did not bid on this medal.

First, it was not listed in the RHM publicly available information and may have been the primary reason for the low bidding activity.

Second, “mahalo” is thank you in the Hawaiian language. The medal is thanking someone.

Third, the term “mintliner” makes no sense and may have kept away bidders. However, you can derive a meaning if you think “headliner”. As a “mintliner”, one can see it as getting your mint recognized among all mints or peers in the minting business.
Fourth, the term “award” means the medal is being awarded to someone.

Fifth, the full name of the RHM mint master, Bernard Von NotHaus, is on the medal. The medal is being awarded to him or with his approval to a recipient (most likely employees of RHM). In either case, the mintage would be small and not sold to the general public.

Lastly, I know the reverse design. It was used previously on a larger coin. If collectors recognized it, bidding activity may have been stronger. See the images (note the decorative design in the center top and bottom).