1982 KING KALAKAUA SILVER KALA DALA - FIRST DAY OF ISSUE

KALA DALA DAY - December 5, 1981: The first Champagne Party was in full swing when BVNH struck Hawaii's very first one ounce silver coin ever minted in Hawaii: the Kala Dala (Hawaiian for Silver Dollar). Although not known at the time, the Kala Dala was the first “Dala” of an annual issue that continues today. Friends, neighbors and collectors joined Bernard and Telle Presley for the first Mint party in the little town of Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Mint facility only measured 9 by 11 feet and the 600-ton coining press consumed most of the room. The small space and the sheer sound of the press prohibited most people to venture inside. To commemorate such a historic occasion, BVNH made a hallmark made out of a 16-penny nail and heat treated it in a bucket of water. He then hand-stamped the first 100 Kala Dalas with the "First Day of Issue" (FDI) stamp! The hundred Kala Dalas that featured King Kalakaua were sold for $13.50 each as quickly as BVNH could mint them. A total of 300 FDI's were minted that day. The Kala Dala was minted as a trial exercise in preparation for minting the Centennial Dala to commemorate the King Kalakaua Issue of 1883 - Hawaii's only coinage to circulate as legal tender.