O3601

Hawaiian Missionary Stamps

The Islanders

Cover Announcement 

There are a few fabulous stamps in United States postal history which are the glamour issues that virtually every coilector knows about. The inverted Jenny Airmail. The Zeppelins. The Trans-Mississippi set. The Pan-American Inverts. And the four Hawaiian Missionaries. It is with great pleasure that I now offer my four individually hand painted First Day Covers which pay tribute to the first four stamps issued by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1851-52.

The first Hawaiian post office was officially opened in December of 1850. Postrnaster Henry M. Whitney had stamps printed locally in three denominations. Philatelists now call these extremely rare stamps "Hawaiian Missionaries" because virtually all of them were used on the mail of Christian Missionaries serving in the Islands. The 2c variety paid the postage rate for newspapers sent to the mainland. The 5c rate paid for mail sent locally within the Islands. The 13c stamps paid the rate to send a letter to the United States. The breakdown of the rate is interesting and pertinent for collectors. From the thirteen-cent cost, five cents paid Hawaiian postage, the ship's fee was two cents, and six cents paid the United States transcontinental postage cost. This unusual rate structure means that the two thirteen-cent stamps were viewed as both Hawaiian and United States postage stamps.

The souvenir sheet paying tribute to these "Hawaiian Missionaries" was issued in New York City on October 24, 2002, and that is the First Day postmark that ties each stamp to the cover. 

The first two cachets feature four individuals who were central figures at the time when the first missionaries arrived in Hawaii. For the 2c cover, I show Boki, the high chief of Oahu and his lovely wife Liliha. They stand in front of a thatched hut, and, in the background, an outrigger canoe is paddled in the lagoon with Diamondhead rising in the distance. Chief Boki in his colorfirl crown with his lovely Liliha. Sybil and Hiram in their high collars with each missionary having equally high aspirations.  

This is a set you will love having in your collection - the Collins cachets for the historic and legendary "Hawaiian Missionaries."