I attended the Baltimore coin show looking for Hawaiiana items and specific medals for my collection. Did not find any worthwhile Hawaiian items. I also was handing out a copies of my book. Picture of name tag and blown-up picture of an item on my want list.
There was an online auction over the weekend that someone got a RHM at a steal. ( I assume its a typo and it was won at $5.00 (see starting bid price)
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1883-HAWAII-HALF-DOLLAR-COPPER-COIN-COPY-FREE-SHIPPING/651312811.html
Counterfeit from China. Seller mentions the pointed “I”. The image from China also has the pointed “I”
I reported the item with eBay.
Read more about it…
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.collecting.coins/J6rnKlShedM
Seller has been selling it for some time…
Notice the lack of details when compared to an original proof! Click to enlarge. Notice the lack of details in the crown and other areas…
I had placed a bid in the $500 range during my lunch hour.
Then got an email from a contact (aka dealer). I immediately retracted my bid. Why?
I was put on notice that a complete serial numbered (each the same serial number) set of Mishler Hawaii/Alaska Statehood medals will be at the Baltimore Coin Show (started today and ends Sunday). The set is 5 coins (aluminum has no serial number). And the price that was provided was fair…
Each coin is NGC graded. The sterling silver is the highest graded….
With this information I retracted my bid….and moved up my Baltimore Coin Show visit to a weeknight rather than a weekend….
http://expo.whitman.com/baltimore-summer-expo/schedule/
Baltimore has always been good to me… My population of 1 release ceremony gold coins that I donated to the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historical Shrine is a good example. https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=9738
A specimen I purchased from an auction house and later resold it for a tidy profit.
If you can find them they are out there….
A 2M-41 is listed on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=191210328376
Hawaiian Money 2nd edition states a mintage of 29.
Royal Hawaiian Mint states a mintage of 7. Indicates a pattern gold!
I trust the Royal Hawaiian Mint mintage figure more than the Hawaiian Money mintage figure.
Seems like a good buy…
Click to enlarge a snippet from the RHM database …
I researched the design aspect of the first NORFED issued struck in 1998 by the Royal Hawaiian Mint (RHM). Below is an image of the design elements that were previously used on earlier RHM coins.
I inspected the medal today.
The reverse die (THE HAWAIIAN MINT $) is from 2TC-55/2TC-56 (Hawaiian Sand Dala-Island of Maui) and/or 2M-138/2M-139 (Hawaiian Sand Dala-Big Island). The Kalakaua and Liliokalani obverse dies are from 1983 21mm Kalakaua and 1983 21 mm Liliuokalani medal (too many to list)
The obverse was originally blank. The Queen Liliuokalani counterstamp was first struck. Then the Kalakaua counterstamp was made. The letters and numbers were then struck.
M&R incorrectly states “…dies struck as a pair.” The overlapping of the counterstamps clearly shows that the two dies can only overlap. In addition, the Kalakaua counterstamp is over the Liliuokalani counterstamp.
Also, the listed catalog price seem too low. I can surmise that the coins given away in 1983 were mishandled as a curiosity piece (touched, inspected, and passed around). Not many retained its original mint state condition. It is also, highly unlikely others were made and sold.
From my reference documents, 2MB-199 may be the only medals to use 21 mm counterstamps. It is also the only medal to have two obverse counterstamps from different dies.
This is a purchase I made over the weekend. M&R page 133 has typo “150)” should be (15).
RHM database lists 2MB-88 with a mintage of 15.
Images are from seller…
The Hawaiiana Numismatist ™ 
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