MAUNAKEA
COIN CONTEST
The annual Maunakea Coin Contest is open to all Big Island students in grades K to 12, including homeschooled children. The 2025 Maunakea Coin Contest opens on Saturday, November 2, 2024. The deadline to enter is Saturday, February 1, 2025.
Photo credit: Maunakea Coin Contest Committee
2025 COIN CONTEST
The annual Maunakea Coin Contest is open to all Big Island students in grades K to 12, including homeschooled children. Students are asked to make a drawing for a design that can go on a collector’s coin. The winning design will be available as a bronze coin at the First Light Bookstore at the Visitor Information Station on Maunakea, while aluminum versions will be available at Maunakea Astronomy Outreach Committee (MKAOC) events throughout the year. The designs submitted for each year’s contest may represent Maunakea and include different aspects of this majestic mountain including its natural resources, astronomy, and culture.
Submit your entry from Saturday, November 2, 2024 to Saturday, February 1, 2025
Entries must use the Maunakea Coin Contest 2025 Design Sheet.
HOW IT WORKS
Entries will be divided into grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 categories. Category judges will select a First, Second, and Third place winner for each of the three grade categories. A Grand Judge will pick the top three overall winners among the nine category winners, and the Grand Prize Winner will be announced at the annual AstroDay event in Hilo. The Grand Prize Winner will see his or her design on the 2025 coin! A bronze version of the coin will be available for sale, and aluminum coins will be distributed at outreach events in the coming year.
The nine category winners and the overall three winners will receive prizes from KTA Super Stores, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Galaxy Garden/Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary, East Hawai‘i Cultural Center, the Onizuka Space Science Program, Maunakea Visitor Information Station, and the Maunakea Observatories.
When creating a coin design, students can get information about Maunakea by consulting the Maunakea Heritage and Natural Resources guide from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Center for Maunakea Stewardship.
Contest Archives
The Maunakea Coin Contest started in 2011, and has happened annually ever since. Explore our archive of past coin designs, winners, flyers, and photos.
Past winning designs
Have a question?
The Maunakea Coin Contest 2025 is sponsored by the Maunakea Astronomy Outreach Committee (MKAOC), KTA Super Stores, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Galaxy Garden/Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary, East Hawai‘i Cultural Center, the Onizuka Space Science Program, Maunakea Visitor Information Station/the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.