This coin was a copper cent bearing the portrait of King Kamehameha III on its obverse.

26 proof sets were struck by the Philadelphia Mint and contained the umi keneta, hapaha, hapalua, and akahi dala.

The Kingdom of Hawai'i desired to conform to the United States silver coinage denominations and selected the umi keneta over the hapawalu.

The silver coins issued for circulation in the Kingdom was struck by the San Francisco Mint.

In 1903, an act of Congress demonetized Hawaiian coins effective January 1, 1904,[6] and most were withdrawn and melted, with a sizable percentage of surviving examples made into jewelry.