 Numismatic historian Don Taxay thought it likely that members of the House Committee on Coinage , Weights and Measures had agreed to support a Hawaii half dollar prior to a bill being submitted , as preparations had already begun . Legislation for such was introduced into the House of Representatives by the territory 's delegate to Congress , Victor Stewart Kaleoaloha Houston , on December 5 , 1927 . It was referred to the coinage committee , of which New Jersey Congressman Randolph Perkins was the chair , and which held hearings on the bill on January 23 , 1928 . Delegate Houston appeared in support of his bill , and to the surprise of committee members , had gotten a statement from Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon , stating that Mellon did not oppose the bill . Usually , when a commemorative coin was proposed , Mellon argued that a medal should be issued instead . This had been the case for the Norse @-@ American medal three years previously ; its sponsor , committee member Ole J. Kvale of Minnesota , had scuttled plans for a coin because of Treasury Department opposition . Congressman Kvale was " very much interested in learning what powers of persuasion have been exercised by the gentleman from Hawaii to bring out such a favorable report " . Kvale , a Norse @-@ American , asked , " why this discrimination against two and a half million people in the United States has come about in favor of about 35 @,@ 000 whites in that Territory ? " 
