“No, Hawaii Does NOT Ban Putting Coins in Your Ears”
It is widely claimed that Hawaii has a law making it illegal to place coins in one's ears. Despite viral circulation across hundreds of 'weird laws' websites, no such statute exists anywhere in the Hawaii Revised Statutes or any other official Hawaiian legal code.
A Persistent Internet Myth
This claim has circulated on the internet for well over a decade, repeated by countless 'dumb laws' and 'weird laws' listicle websites — all of which trace back to one another in a closed loop with no original primary source. The most credible investigation of this claim, conducted by a writer for The Fashion Spot who searched Google's entire Books database alongside standard legal databases, concluded that not a single credible source could be found to support it.
Multiple Contradictory Origin Stories Exist
The myth comes packaged with several competing (and mutually contradictory) origin stories, which is itself a red flag. One popular version holds that in 1900, when Hawaii was annexed by the United States and Hawaiian coins were ordered destroyed, residents hid their coins in their ears — making the act synonymous with contraband. Another version attributes the law to King Kamehameha III in 1847. A third claims it relates to drug dealing suspicion. The fact that no two sources agree on the origin, and that none provide a statute number or session law citation, strongly suggests the claim was invented or wildly distorted at some point and then recycled endlessly.
Hawaii's Genuine Unusual Laws
Hawaii does have genuinely verifiable unusual laws — including a ban on billboards (enacted in the 1920s), a prohibition on tattoos behind the ear or on the eyelid without a licensed physician present, and a rule against placing imitation milk in milkshakes without disclosure — all of which have proper HRS citations. The coins-in-ears claim stands apart from these because it has never been matched to any section of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Where the story gets it wrong
The claim is often presented as a real, enforceable law, sometimes attributed to King Kamehameha III in 1847 and sometimes to Hawaii's 1900 annexation and demonetization of Hawaiian coins. Neither version has ever been supported with an actual statute number or citation, unlike other 'weird Hawaii laws' listed alongside it, which do have real statutory citations.
No statute has been located. The claimed law is typically paraphrased as: 'Coins are not allowed to be placed in one's ears.' No HRS section number, chapter, or official citation has ever been produced by any source repeating this claim.
- Current status
- Unknown
- Penalty
- N/A — law does not appear to exist
- Jurisdiction
- Claimed to apply statewide in Hawaii; no municipal or county ordinance has been located either