 In 1927 , the legislature of the Territory of Hawaii passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government to produce a commemorative coin for the 150th anniversary of Cook 's arrival in Hawaii . Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon thought the occasion important enough that , unusually for him , he did not oppose such an issue . The bill for the Hawaii half dollar passed through Congress without opposition or amendment , and became the Act of March 7 , 1928 with the signature of President Calvin Coolidge . 
