U.S. Currency In Hawaii During World War II

When Money And Currency Were The Same......

One of the most interesting stories told to me recently has been that of the modifications made to U.S. currency circulating in Hawaii during World War II. As you can see by the image above, the currency was redeemable for silver on demand at U.S. banks. The U.S. was worried that the Japanese invasion would succeed, and the currency in circulation would be confiscated. That $1 bill could be exchanged for silver. The overprint with “Hawaii” would allow for the demonetization of those bills if Hawaii were lost. Similarly altered bills were issued in Europe and North Africa in case those campaigns were lost, and those bills had to be demonetized as well.

We now have IOUs (Federal Reserve Notes) for what most people use as money. As the Fed continues to create trillions of IOUs that have an inherent value that inexorably decreases, it is interesting to look back in history at a time when currency and money were one and the same as well as stable in value.