ILE CRESCENT: Geographically, Crescent Island “is about 9 kilometers outside the western boundary of the French Polynesia 200 mile economic zone, located in international waters between the Kiribati and Pitcairn Island Economic Zones.” It “is made up of 2 small islets connected by a small strip of sand at low tide. The total land area is about 200 acres” and population consists of roughly 40 islanders “sharing a Polynesian-Anglo-Caucasian mix.” According to Mr. William Turner (based in Cypress, TX), who has written a lengthy history of the island comprised of fact mixed with fantasy, the original inhabitants of Crescent Island, prior to the 1760s, resided “on Mangareva, in the Gambier Islands, now part of French Polynesia. With the exception of two men, all the males were former crew members from a British merchant ship that stopped at Mangareva. These crew members decided to reside on the island, abandoning their jobs on the ship. The women were all from Mangareva. As you might imagine, the new inhabitants of Mangareva brought turmoil to the local population. The men brought bad habits to the island.” Even the Chief held little power of persuasion over the heavy-drinking, shiftless sailors. “As the rulers lost patience, action was to be taken to preserve the way of life. The men, their women and those few who ‘fell away’ from the [rigid] social structure were rounded up. These few were to be purged from Mangareva. Forced on a raft, they were sent to sea…Their future was bleak…The odds of landing on a piece of land and beginning life anew was remote.” After several days afloat, “the group, near death for sure, found their raft being torn by a reef with a small sand bank in the distance. Making an attempt at land, the group managed to swim to shore and set up housekeeping on what is now known as an islet of Temoe Atoll.” This site, 50 miles from Mangareva and containing nothing but breadfruit trees, became Crescent Island. Life was very hard for these indigent islanders. They also survived by hand-plucking small fish from the sharp coral reefs. Because there was no wood for making a fire, these were consumed raw. “Life was threatened no less than 5 times over the first 70 years.” The greatest perils were the ships from South America, which had a loathsome reputation for raiding an island and taking all the men, women and children prisoner. The captives “would be taken to South America to be sold as slaves. There were tales of islands found abandoned with no trace of what happened to the people. As such ships approached Crescent three different times, the defenseless population hid amid the brush in the interior of the island, hoping not to be taken.” There were also 2 instances in which “the island was awash” due to cyclones. Life and property were lost.
In the 1830s, someone named Pastor Nobbs entered the picture. He’d been forced into exile from Pitcairn Island, and the ship that was carrying him to Mangareva happened upon the sand bank and its “wretched and meager” settlers. “Pastor Nobbs told the rulers of Mangareva of the plight of the Crescent Islanders. The Chief asked that the Crescent Islanders be rescued and brought to Mangareva where a ‘welcome home’ feast would be held.” At roughly the same time that the luckless islanders arrived on Mangareva again, so did two French Catholic missionaries. “They were thought to be Gods because a lady known to be capable of seeing in to the future had spoken of a dream where Gods appearing as white skinned men would come to the island.” Accepted and respected by the islanders, these “missionaries set out on a plan to create a showplace in the Pacific. The idea was that such a paradise could be imaged as the greatest among the Pacific isles due to a strong Christian faith. The need for workers was great.” Therefore, ships were sent to every nearby island in order to collect their natives and bring them to Mangareva as laborers. “With all the construction and congested population came more visiting ships. Now the islanders were not used to such a long and hard day of work and they had no resistance to common illnesses in other parts of the work. People became ill. People died. The soul of the Mangarevan people had been stomped out. All was lost. The old life of relative ease, compared to their current life was gone and was not to return. The Crescent Islanders were among the group…Pastor Nobbs noted in his journal that the Crescent Islanders ‘pined’ for their home but states he never heard of their fate” because he had returned to Pitcairn after 6 years. The oral history of the islanders, “passed down to each generation by the elders, tells much but leaves much to question.” These reminiscences state “that the islanders longed for their home and began planning for an escape from Mangareva. Supplies were stockpiled in hiding places. Late night meetings were carried out.” When the weather and tide were favorable, 16 out of the 23 remaining Crescent Islanders set out for their home. After a dangerous journey that lasted 7 days, the optimistic voyagers “spotted a set of islands in the distance. Late in the day, they made it to one of the two small dots of land. The group set forth planting coconuts and planting gardens. The choices for food greatly increased over the coming years and the hardships of the earliest days were quickly forgotten. The group was sure this was the original Crescent Island. The vegetation was identical. The group was overjoyed. The original islanders lived out their days believing that somehow they had returned to Crescent Island.” It was not until about 50 years later that the truth was known. “A passing ship called on the island. Their story was told. Then the Captain explained they were over 200 miles from Mangareva. The new Crescent Island was not an islet of Temoe, but a little known reef with two small sandbanks covering just 200 some acres.” Overall, the islanders were still Christian, but they mixed their lifestyle with the olden ways. By this time, their populace had reached a peak of 73, and overpopulation was taking its toll on the limited resources of the leaderless island. “By the 1880s, food was rationed.” Furthermore, other measures were taken to preserve their precarious way of life. The older men from each family met each day in order to make the major decisions necessary for maintaining the balance between man and nature. “This was the first island-wide form of government on Crescent. Over the years, Crescent was discovered by a few passing ships. Most carried merchandise from exotic ports. Islanders began to work an active trade with some of the passing vessels. Seeing two ships a year was typical by the 1950s.” A decade later, Crescent became less isolated. “On average, 5 vessels called on Crescent each year…Friendships were made. By the 1970s, Crescent had become a well kept secret among the Pacific bound yachts. Even so, only the most adventurous would set out for the tiny isolated island, but those that did, became friends of the islanders, typically making it possible for Crescent Islanders to get items and supplies they needed to make life easier.” In recent years, outside influences have entered Crescent to an even greater extent. “Textbooks for schooling, basic food supplies and even a solar powered radio station have taken a place on the island. Western clothes are worn. Houses were built and roofed with tin. The isolated spit of land is far removed from its humble start. Today Crescent has an arrangement with a shipping company to purchase supplies for a once-per-six-month visit. An average of about 3 cruising yachts stop off at Crescent, staying at the guest houses built by the islanders.” Though one of Crescent’s principal sources of revenue is the sale of curios and crafts, “The Pearl Farm is the economy and source of quality of life for the islanders. Crescent Island is by no means easy to reach and it is still very isolated. There are little comforts of modern life. Crescent remains one of the most unspoilt islands in the Pacific where island traditions, society and customs are a part of daily life.”
During the 1960s, the elders decided that Crescent should issue its own currency. “On being told of money, the islanders decided to give it a go. Notes were exchanged for rice and flour. The currency was backed up with pearls harvested in the lagoon.” Some of these banknotes, intended for collectors, traveled off the island with various visitors. “An ambitious project of hiring a company to create the first coins for Crescent Island has been worked out. The Islanders are eager to work out channels of sales and distribution to take the coins throughout the world. It is hoped the sale of the coins will greatly stimulate the economy of Crescent.”
Mr. Turner’s fascination with Crescent Island began at an early age, when “I read the book Pitcairn Island by David Silverstone in 6th grade”. Years of ongoing research (combined with a deep interest in numismatics) led him to produce his own series of rubber-stamped banknotes for the island (made mostly of marbled, hand-made paper) “sometime during the summer of 2004.” Fortunately, this Crescentese currency has now been expanded to include coins. Their design “is from my newsletter logo for Tropical Frontiers, a travel newsletter I published from 1984 to 1988.” Mr. Turner’s initial foray into coin-making resulted in 3 different denominations (500, 1000, and 5000 Poa) made of fluorescent, see-through, laser-engraved, colored acrylic (blue, green, and yellow, respectively). The pieces, dated 2006, were produced by a company called Texas Laser Products. I obtained this very cool-looking set directly from Mr. Turner ([email protected]). These distinctive, uniface pieces seem to really glow in the dark! I also traded one of my 2006 Héliopolis medallions for a yellow 500 Poa, which was one of the 5 initial samples (2 blue, 2 yellow, 1 pink) the manufacturer sent Mr. Turner “to show me what he could do with his equipment”. Mr. Turner, whose eBay ID is b-turner, also happens to be one of the first collectors to have purchased, on eBay, one of my initial Nichtsburg & Zilchstadt pieces. Poa, I was told, means “pearl”.
In 2007, Mr. Turner made the first rectangular, hand-painted, undated 100 Poa token from wood. The phrase “100 Poa” was stamped with a “store price making kit from the first half of the 1900s that I purchased years ago on Ebay.” This “store marking kit…comes with the full alphabet plus numbers and a few other things. The Ile Crescent logo was made by some rubber stamp company that made it as a huge stamp. It was supposed to be about 1 inch by 1.5 inches.” But the stamp turned out “so wrong and expensive I didn't use them again. I just cannot recall who that was”.
Images of the Crescent Island coinage can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catAC.html
They can also be seen at the site of Mr. Haseeb Naz’s private collection:
http://chiefacoins.com/Database/Micro-Nations/Crescent_Island.htm
GAFERUT: A small, 28-acre islet in the State of Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia. Gaferut is situated within a raised coral atoll that “is 3/4ths of a mile by 1/2 a mile. A crescent shaped reef extends out about 500 to 750 feet beyond the island and it is exposed during low tide.” Mr. Turner tells us that “Gaferut had been thought to be associated with a legend from the region. This was told to be the island Gaferudj, either an imaginary magical island or a submerged island that had once been inhabited...It is truthful to say Gaferut is ruled by a very powerful spirit named Lefayot. This spirit is said to control the waterhole on the island. If you upset this spirit, the waterhole will dry up. A gift (very specified) must be brought to the spirit when you visit the island or go to work there...In addition, relieving oneself on the island will anger Lefayot.” Until 1935, the Japanese mined Gaferut for one of its resources, phosphate. Evidence of this work can still be seen on the island, which now is owned by the families of Faraulep (60 miles to the southeast, in the Caroline Islands), a tiny island covering little more than 100 acres and with a population of about 200 natives. Only 21 people live on Gaferut. These are the workers (from Faraulep and/or from the nearby Outer Islands) and their immediate family. Everyday affairs on Gaferut are “run by a manager from Faraulep who has the blessings of the Chief.” In the interior of the island, an acre is cleared for the homes of the employees. This “area has 8 houses or huts plus a men's house and woman's house and common area. An additional 3 acres is reserved for the manager's house and a guest house.” The hired hands “are paid in ‘Minim’ meaning a small pearl in the Japanese language, possibly indicating interaction with the Japanese who frequently visited these islands, including Gaferut, through World War II. The ‘Minim’ acts as a local currency. With no bank, cash is not on hand on Gaferut. Workers leaving the island can cash in the ‘Minim’ on Faraulep but cash cannot be brought to Gaferut.” In the form of “tokens”, the Minim “may be exchanged for cash (eventually) or for goods at the company store on the island.” This establishment (which has cigarettes, flour, rice, cloth, fabrics and a few other items) is next to the manager's residence. Mr. Turner wonders if the economic situation can be compared to that of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, “where workers were paid in scrip they redeemed in the company store. Such a local currency tends to be a wise idea since visitors tend not to accept the currency as payment.” The Clunies-Ross family, who were the islands’ sole possessors, “realized that liquor and guns were big threats.” Having nothing but the local Cocos (Keeling) currency in their pockets, the workers of the coconut plantations were not able to purchase those dangerous items from outsiders (who wanted only standard, governmental currency). “From my research...I understand alcohol is prohibited on Gaferut (and I suppose the palm wine made by the men on other islands is also included)...It should also be noted that people of various islands are considered above those on some other islands.” The area’s “first inhabitants were those on Yap. From these people came the Outer Islanders. The Outer Islanders are considered inferior to the people of Yap. Once on the Outer Islands, Ulithi was first settled, thus the superior island. All the other islanders are considered inferior to the people of Ulithi. This thinking is a part of today's society.” More than likely, “the workers on Gaferut would be considered equal or underlings of the people on Faraulep. Possibly this social system is based on old wars between islands where one island became a victor and the other island a conquered people or less on the social scale. At any rate, these people are very cash poor and yet very content, living happily on what the land and sea can produce. They are very peaceful people and although they take a while to warm up to visitors, since visitors are so few, they are superb hosts.”
Beginning circa February or March of 2004, Mr. Turner produced some uniface notes made of hand-crafted paper for Gaferut. In 2006, he issued three trial sets of homemade, “primitive” tokens, all in numerous sizes and thicknesses of wood. He decided to produce tokens, not coins, because Gaferut actually exists and has been claimed by a real country. “I figure a real place needs a token versus coin to keep me legal.” The details on these undated, experimental pieces were achieved by using a Labelon Custom Rubber Stamp Kit. “The reverse is the same on all tokens...is it some sort of symbol appealing to the spirit that rules Gaferut?” It is worth noting that the second set features an additional decorative symbol (on the obverse of all the pieces) that is not present on the first set (“One of the rubber stamps I used, I want to reserve for another coin or paper note, so I won't sell these since I don't want to duplicate”). The fourth and final version (also undated) of the Gaferut tokens incorporates the more “official” logo/design, borrowed from the paper notes. These pieces were produced, starting in January of 2007, with rubber stamps that were professionally made by Ready Stamps (San Diego). The denominations pertaining to all four sets range from ¼ to 20 Minim. I initially thought all the Gaferut tokens were undated, but I later learned that some 20 Minim pieces bearing the year 2006 also exist. “The 20 Minims with a date were never sold as a part of the Gaferut wood pieces. These were, for lack of a better term, trials. The only size Gaferut token with a date was the rectangular token of this size and I only made four or five of them.” These pieces, like the others, were initially produced in 2007.
Images of the coinage from Gaferut can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catDK.html
THE MOST SERENE REPUBLIC OF EXCELSIOR: An island-nation “located off the coast of Chile at the southern tip of South America...about 220 kilometers West to Northwest of Punta Arenas.” Covering 104.25 square kilometers of mountainous terrain, Excelsior is one of thousands of islands surrounding the Chilean coastline. “Excelsior is officially named The Most Serene Republic of Excelsior. From our research, it is fairly safe to say Excelsior is the most democratic nation on earth.” Excelsior used to be a desolate island before it was settled, in 1862, by the ancestors of the present population. The Republic now “represents a very unique blend of cultures, beliefs and languages.” Its beginnings can be traced to when “A small group of Finns seeking religious freedom with dreams of the South Pacific isles managed to make it to the shores of the Shetland Islands where a small group of Quakers sought religious freedom. Finding a Captain willing to take the groups closer to their destination, a small group from the nearby Orkneys and a few converts in England joined this small band of people. Months of heavy labour resulted in the funds capable of hiring a crew and ship to take the group, numbering 78. The concept was for both groups to sail together to the South Pacific with each group wanting to settle on an uninhabited tropical isle. The journey went well until the group met with heavy weather while coming about Cape Horn. For hours the crew fought the terrible storm.” The ship eventually broke apart in the harrowing ordeal. But finally, after “many of the crew heroically lost their lives saving the passengers”, the first group of survivors made it to shore at around sunrise. “The group, now forced together on an uninhabited island, quickly worked to secure themselves against a relentless mother nature...Within the first year the number of survivors was only 35.” Nevertheless, the hapless population struggled onward and managed to survive. “It was quite some years before the settlers were found by another ship. This began a trade with the outside world.” Surprisingly, they chose to remain on the island. “It was the bond and sense of community the hardest years had cultivated that made Excelsior's inhabitants believe they needed each other to survive. Rescue would mean they would all go separate ways. They could not stand the thought. Also, the belief religious oppression would make them social outcasts, the group decided to stay put.” Excelsior’s present-day population (roughly 398 as of 1/1/2006) “is divided in to 16 small villages, each occupying their own valley.” As we already read, Excelsior was settled by immigrants from Finland, Ireland, Scotland and England. From this mixed ancestry, the islanders inherited a hybrid form of devoutness. “The Finns subscribed to the Apostolic Lutheran beliefs while those from the British Isles were of the Quaker sect. While both groups suffered from a language barrier early on, religious teachings did also. While Quakers quietly wait on the Lord for inspiration, the Apostolic Lutherans utilize Bible teaching in their services. With inner-marriage and time, both sets of beliefs have come together. Neither name is used for Churches and both belief systems have molded in to one.” Religion plays an important part in the daily lives of Excelsior’s citizens. They lead a simplistic lifestyle, devoid of any overt materialism. Mr. Turner states that he decided to incorporate the Quakers and Apostolic Lutherans into the origins of Excelsior because both groups “were at odds with the national religion of their respective nations.” A financial success for the island has been its production of citrus fruit and popular varieties of grapes. “In recent years ‘ice wine’ has been produced on Excelsior. This rare wine is made from grapes that are picked while frozen and immediate crushed for wine before thawing. Ice wine is very popular for its intense flavor and commands a high price worldwide.”
In recent decades, the close-knit group has established some 50 cottage businesses to serve all the needs of the community. Moreover, each village has its own central marketplace. “In the early years there was no money circulating on Excelsior and a barter system was used.” But, in the past 50 years, the Republic has transitioned to the more practical use of currency. This is because bartering eventually became too intricate, and “village leaders (from each household) would appoint one elder to oversee exchanges. The elder would act as a third party witnessing agreements and nailing down a specific value. This led to village issued notes that eventually began circulating village to village. Once this happened, the quarterly gathering of elders decided it was time for Excelsior as a nation to issue currency.” This new “money was denominated in ‘Quarts’ which was divided in to 1,000 ‘Mills’. ‘Quart’ is believed to refer to a quarter of a crown, probably a British Crown, since many of the original inhabitants were originally from the British Isles. One Mill is equal to 1/1000 of a Quart.” Additionally, “a quart of honey, milk or some other product was a medium of exchange.” This makes the word “quart” even more well-suited for the aptly named currency. In the March 2008 edition of Numisnotes, “a free newsletter on fantasy issues and more” (intended for his customers; the March ‘08 was the first actual edition but he composed a “from the desk of” bulletin the month before), Mr. Turner asked: “How did ‘Quart’ become the medium of exchange? It is fairly well known that the Brits have used the term ‘Quart’ to represent 1/4 of a Crown. Knowing the Excelsior population is made up of folks mostly from Scotland, England and Finland, ‘Quart’ makes sense. But let's look at the value of the ‘Quart’. I understand it to be roughly 75 cents in U.S. currency. Why would I question this? Well, at the time Excelsior was settled in the 1850s/1860s, the Real was a common medium of exchange in most of South America. This led me to ask if the ‘Quart’ is then, 1/4th of a Real. Because of location, the word ‘Quart’ may have come from the Real. A 1/4 Real would be called Cuartillo. The coin, however, would be labeled as ‘Un Cuart’. Is there a connection? My mind begs for an answer.” Back to the banknotes: “Early money was handwritten on whatever paper was available and duly signed. These notes were in different denominations. In 1972 the first national currency appeared...Notes are made on handmade paper and contain the national seal on issues since 1973.” These uniface notes were actually issued by Mr. Turner in early 2004. In fact, they “were the first I ever made” and pre-date the ones from Ile Crescent, Gaferut, and Viinamarisaar. Mr. Turner states that “When I made the first Excelsior note and put it up on Ebay, I received an email from an Ebayer who found a glacier on the southern tip of South America named Excelsior. Ironically, I placed the location here because so many of the islands have never been explored, not because there was a place called Excelsior down there.” Even though bartering is a more complicated economic arrangement, it is still preferred in most local transactions (“Generally speaking, cash is used for imported items. Locally produced items are usually bartered”). The practice is so deeply ingrained in insular commerce that “The Barter” is even the name of a “privately owned advertising sheet published by the island's general store where residents buy space to sell or barter their surplus.”
Since Excelsior was deserving of a unique coinage of its own, Mr. Turner’s numismatic oeuvre continued to expand. He began by producing some home-made pieces that “can best be described as primitive.” They are made from Texan “Longhorn Red” clay that has been kiln-fired and then painted (metallic acrylic) and sealed (clear spray-on acrylic finish/coat). The honorific “The Most Serene Republic [of]” was dropped “from the coins simply because it is too wordy.” Thus, in terms of place-name, they only say “Excelsior”. The details on these two-sided pieces were made using rubber stamps (from Ready Stamps, in San Diego) and “some little jewelry charms for designs to press in to the clay. We'll make the ‘die’ with the stamps and charms, fire it and then use the dies to make the two-sided coins. Making the dies is just an easier way of producing the coins, I think. I wanted stamps that would imprint backwards so I could create a master for each side of each coin. This master gets fired and then used as a die for the clay coins. The result should be an impression where the lettering is correct and the printing and charm design is above the surface of the coin (just as with a typical coin). Doing a pressing of all the stamps and charms in to each piece of clay individually is just too much work and results in too many mistakes. The die allows a piece of soft clay to be sandwiched between the fired masters. Think Oreo cookie with the filling being the clay between the two fired masters. I think this will be easier and offer a more uniform coin.” It was a true privilege to receive nightly updates from Mr. Turner while he began creating these pieces, during the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend of 2006, at his friends’ house in Granite Shoals, TX. I felt like numismatic “history” was being made and I was vicariously witnessing it from afar. “Pam and I joked that we should take a picture of the little garden shed housing the kiln and a picture of the interior. We'd caption it with ‘The Official Excelsior Mint Headquarters’. We should have taken the picture!” The denominations on these pieces are 100 Mill, 200 Mill, ½ Quart, 1 Quart, 2 Quarts, and 5 Quarts. They are all dated 2007. But they weren’t finished yet (it was a long weekend, after all)! A great deal of trial-and-error led to a 2nd set of “masters”. The six denominations pertaining to this “new and improved” batch are identical to those from the 1st set. These pieces are also dated 2007. Plus, they are just as large and thick as their predecessors. This particular version of the Excelsior tokens “look much better than the previous, but they're still not as uniform as I want...To me, a rubber stamp and something like a jewelry charm mashed in to clay, dried and fired, should work, but it is not the perfect way.” Overall, these tokens were inspired by the clay pieces from Damanhur (see my separate listing for this coin-issuing entity). Mr. Turner also made a couple of round, hand-stamped wooden tokens for Excelsior: a 100 Mill piece and a 200 Mill piece. Their reverse features the “official” logo/seal (made with one of those “self-inking” rubber stamps), which includes the full name of this country: “The Most Serene Republic of Excelsior”. This “black stamp got used on all of the banknotes. In essence it is the seal of authenticity for the notes.” It was made by ACE Marking Devices Corp. (West Palm Beach, FL) and this “was the first rubber stamp company I tried.” A few of these tokens are dated 2007 (the earliest ones were actually made in 2007; “They would have been originally made prior to the clay coins made during that Thanksgiving weekend”) and a few are dated 2006 (the earliest of these “were made in 2009 and are faithful to the earlier ones”).
Remarkably, mention was made of Excelsior in the January 12, 2007 edition of “The Limey”, an English football column — it appears at the Sports Illustrated Web-site — by Ben Franklin and Jon Pickstone. The article discussed, among other things, a global soccer icon’s professional move to Los Angeles: “Very few people have heard of the Most Serene Republic of Excelsior, but those familiar with South American island nations may know that its annual governmental budget is $950,000. Next season David Beckham will earn that every week.” The writers are numerically correct! One of them must have read Mr. Turner’s listing on eBay. In describing Excelsior’s system of taxation/revenue, Mr. Turner writes “The Government budget is about $950,000 Euros per annum.”
In 2008, Mr. Turner issued a new series of coins for Excelsior. This time, the pieces are all metallic (“Metal is certainly the way to go. A metallic coin gives a sense of reality and accomplishment as well as a sense establishing something that will stand the test of time.”). They were crafted by Mr. Tom Maringer (see my separate listing for the Shire Post Mint) and Mr. Greg Franck-Weiby (see my separate listing for the Society for Creative Anachronism). Mr. Maringer handled the images and Mr. Franck-Weiby used “his tiniest letter punches on the lettering.” Initially, Mr. Turner was going to just have “Excelsior” written on the coins, “but Tom, after seeing the Sports Illustrated website story suggested we add more. I told him to take the artistic liberty for whatever felt right. Indeed having Serene Republic of Excelsior more directly ties the coins to the story than simply Excelsior.” The obverse of all 3 pieces features a ram’s head (along with “Serene Republic of Excelsior”). The 100 Mills piece is made of titanium (the reverse features a soaring eagle), the 200 Mills piece is made of copper (the reverse features an armadillo), and the ½ Quart piece is made of brass (the reverse features a standing bird). I was also lucky enough to receive two “error” versions of the 100 Mills piece (one struck in titanium, but the other one struck in copper) — in exchange for these, I later sent Mr. Turner one of my 2007 Nichtsburg & Zilchstadt coins.
How did the islanders acquire an uncommon metal like titanium? After having already decided to use titanium on the 100 Mills coin, Mr. Maringer began brainstorming: “His mind was clicking as he suggested the people of Excelsior found a crashed military plane on the island with a metal that the blacksmith couldn't work with. Since it was a light metal, they figured it's value as less than heavier metals, and decided to utilize this unknown metal for the smallest denomination coin. I love the concept.” Mr. Maringer also produced a set of postage stamps for Excelsior. Mr. Turner has decided to include an envelope, stamp and postmark from Excelsior with each set of coins he sells: all of the coins are “sealed in an envelope with the official seal, postage (YES, Excelsior STAMPS) with cancellation dated what I think is December 8, 2007 (see it takes a LOOOONG time to get mail from there).”
Images of Excelsior’s metallic coinage can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catDK.html
VIINAMARISAAR: Translated to English, the name of this locality is Grape Island. It is a small island (3,396 acres) in the Baltic Sea, a body of water which “does have a large number of islands with tiny populations.” Viinamarisaar, for instance, only has 73 islanders. “Baltic Sea Islands have a long history of inhabitation. Many operated as tight knit self-sufficient communities that were completely isolated from the world.” Some of the more well-known islands in the Baltic included Ruhnu, Parkis and Saarnaki. In each instance, the Swedish-speaking inhabitants fished, cultivated the land, and raised cattle. “While research on Viinamarisaar does not specifically indicate, it is likely the islanders were much like those who lived on the well documented Ruhnu. Radio Sweden went to Ruhnu in the early 1940s finding the lifestyle had changed little in over 400 years. They were a religious people living by a strict code of conduct not unlike the Swedes of the 1500s...Indeed, their lifestyle differed little from the British isles where crofting was the mainstay.” Their way of life was also not unlike that of the Amish, found mostly in the U.S.A. and Canada. “Viinamarisaar, except for a short time during World War II, has been inhabited since the 1300s. The original settlers were Swedes who lived an isolated pastoral life on the island...Fearing invasion, the islanders fled the island during World War II. It was not until the late 1940s when the first families returned to Viinamarisaar accompanied by a small number of Estonians. Operating as a farm cooperative, Viinamarisaar floundered until residents realized grapes could produce the funds needed to make Viinamarisaar more prosperous. While Baltic storms affected the crop some years, overall, grape growing was deemed a success. This was an unusual choice and critics claimed grapes could not be grown in such a harsh climate. While it is true for most varieties, a few grape varieties are hardy enough to flourish in the Baltic climate.” More and more grapevines were planted on the island until finally, aside from patches of land dedicated to grazing and gardening, it was covered by vineyards.
During Russian rule, Viinamarisaar had been a remote outpost. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Viinamarisaar suffered. “The trade partners were now looking at an uncertain economy and an uncertain government. The residents of Viinamarisaar had few markets for their grapes, so winemaking began. Winemaking on the island has always been on a very small scale. Economics demanded small outputs and the market viewed Viinamarisaar wines as a rare find, resulting in very good prices. Viinamarisaar exclusively produces ‘ice wine’. Ice wine is made from [Vidal Blanc] grapes picked while frozen and crushed while frozen. Most of these grapes are sold to wineries wholesale...The wine generally fetches about 300 Euros per case through direct sale from the island. Unfortunately, direct sales to individuals are not permitted. Buyers must be licensed companies. Visitors to Viinamarisaar, however, can purchase the wine at generally around 25 Euros per bottle.”
Today, various vineyards dot the island. They are owned by the extended families who also own the land. “Each family dedicates a portion of their land for gardens and cattle.” In some respects, the island still operates as a collective farm, whereby “a central organization oversees the marketing of Viinamarisaar grapes and wines...All landowners are members of the cooperative. All employees on the island work for the cooperative in lieu of the landowner.” This well-organized “cooperative acts as a clearing house for all products produced on Viinamarisaar. The work of the cooperative involves storage, marketing, shipping and collecting payment for all the output of Viinamarisaar. The cooperative is run by the landowners and operated by a management team hired by the cooperative. In essence, the cooperative is involved in almost every aspect of life on Viinamarisaar.” For better or for worse, “There is still the sense of true isolation on Viinamarisaar even as the islanders go about their daily chores coupled with plenty of social interaction. On Viinamarisaar the facts remains, you're a good distance from anywhere and no roads lead to Viinamarisaar.”
Because there are no banks on the island, “the availability of money is limited.” Nevertheless, “The cash shortage was met with a local currency that can be exchanged on the island or even cashed in at the cooperative office for a paper cheque if going off the island. Initially, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the paper notes were deemed worthless but after the newly formed cooperative found a couple of markets for the products produced on Viinamarisaar, the notes were considered a local currency, especially when the cooperative would gladly write a cheque for those notes cashed in. Initially, crudely made paper notes denominated in Aspers were circulated. These ranged from thin white notes to sturdy paper chits not much more than about an inch square. Several other styles were circulated as needed. Few have survived the last decade. Wooden tokens appeared several years ago to replace paper notes. The last of these were denominated in Krooni.” Curiously, “Viinamarisaar is considering moving to the Euro as the denomination for its coinage, but this has not been decided. If it does occur, it will be in 2008 or later.”
The uniface paper notes were first made by Mr. Turner circa February or March of 2004. Coinage-wise, he then cultivated an experimental wooden piece for this vinicultural island. The “Varakamber Naabrus” (Neighborhood Council) token, dated 2004 (actually produced in 2006), is valued at 7 Krooni. “The denomination...represents the pay for a lug of grapes (about 30 pounds). A slow worker picks about 20 lugs a day, but the best pickers can pick 40 to 50 lugs.” Mr. Turner was concerned that “denominating it in Krooni might get me in to trouble if I called it a currency. While there is no island called ‘Grape Island’ in Estonian waters of the Baltic, I would want to shy away from giving the Estonian Government reason to get upset. At least this way it can be a local currency. I'll likely describe it as a currency only valid on the island.” For getting the word “Krooni” and the date on these round tokens, Mr. Turner used his Labelon Custom Rubber Stamp Kit (“It is my old standby” and he uses it “when I don't have a dedicated [custom-made] rubber stamp”). The numeral “7”, though, “was from an old 1930s/40s price marking kit for a store I bought off of Ebay”.
The latest offering from Viinamarisaar is an entire series of metallic pieces. They were “Commissioned by the Governing Members of the Viinamarisaar Cooperative Society” and produced by the fictional Blue Waters Mint (the name Mr. Turner selected to help unify his numismatic issues). This crop of 7 Krooni tokens are dated 2007, and feature the emblematic bunch of grapes. They are all struck from the same dies, which are the handiwork of Mr. Tom Maringer. Versions of this Viinamarisaarian coin exist in copper, brass, anodized niobium in deep purple color (applying voltage to niobium changes its color, and numerous different shades can be attained depending on the voltage settings), anodized titanium in lavender/rose color, and anodized alloy of 92.5% niobium + 7.5% tantalum in blue with teal overtone. “These are rare coins, intended for the collector while local versions of copper and brass are for collectors and local circulation on the island.”
Images of the Viinamarisaar coinage can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catTZ.html
KLEF RARAHA: Our list of Insulae Turnerensis keeps expanding! “Klef Raraha is a small Caribbean island in British territory with an area of 870 acres.” It “is about 3 miles long and up to a mile wide offering two safe anchorages.” Klef Raraha, which means Citrus Sandbank and/or Citrus Reef in English, “is operated as a citrus plantation that is now owned by the islanders who number 465 at the latest census. The local population speaks Papiamentu and English.” The people, who have a varied mix of ethnic influences, mostly came from the Caribbean’s southern islands. Klef Raraha’s “community was built to be self-sufficient” and the island “has come a long way in the past few decades as the population has moved from an almost feudal society to one that is considered modern and progressive”. Horticulturally, Klef Raraha has been in continuous operation since 1907. The island was once owned by the Lopes family, who were of Portuguese origin. They “operated the island as well as a number of other investments, however the present generation did not desire to live on the island. Since the cost to upkeep the island was rising and citrus prices were not the best, the family opted to sell Klef Raraha. Like Florida, Klef Raraha was hurting thanks to Brazil's low wages paid to farm workers. For a few years, in the late 1990s, the island was for sale, marketed as a tourist destination at a very high price, but no takers came forward. Finally, the island was offered to the workers at a much reduced price, thought to be in the neighborhood of 25 million dollars.” Klef Raraha “ships oranges, grapefruit, limes and tangerines and has a reputation for producing sweet high quality fruit. A juicing plant and refrigerated storage facility operate on the island. The physical quality of the fruit and it's sweet taste has made Klef Raraha citrus popular among more upscale establishments in the region.” Unfortunately, the crops suffered in recent years from hurricanes that battered its groves. “Klef Raraha is governed by a board selected by the adults on the island by popular vote...The board handles all aspects of the operation of Klef Raraha. The board operates as a cooperative owned by the islanders. The unusual duties of the board include managing the output of the island and basic governing of Klef Raraha. There is a small business community on the island. A move in recent years toward private ownership of business has been encouraged as the board seeks to get out of its responsibility to purchase the needed supplies for the people and seeing to its distribution. Most recently, the board has considered the potential of tourism. A small inn was being considered but we do not know how such discussions are proceeding.”
In terms of micro-economics, “There have been many islands throughout the oceans of the world where the island's owner operated the island as a business with the objective to exploit the fruits of the land. In most cases, these outposts differed little from life in the ‘Dark Ages’. The workers and their families worked the land while the owner took care of finding a buyer for the bounty of the land. Generally, anything the worker families needed came through the owner at the price the owner commanded. Klef Raraha, like the much more famous, Cocos Keeling Islands, worked this way. The goods the working families needed were bought at the store that was owned by the island owner. The island owner was the bank as well. The owner doled out payments for work and generally was the absolute authority. We do not know all types of payment that were issued, but in more recent years a ‘picker check’ type of paper note was given. There were several varieties, some in Portuguese and some in Papiamentu.” Mr. Turner has explained to me that “The Klef Raraha paper notes have appeared under two separate names: first: Isla Citrica sometime in 2004; second: Ihle Citrica in late 2004 and by 2005, it was Klef Raraha. The first and second notes were issued in a denomination of ‘conch’. Klef Raraha notes were denominated in ‘Placa’ a term for ‘pay’. All 3 issues were in a thick light yellow homemade paper. Each issue had an orange slice as a logo.” The first Klef Raraha coin is a 100th anniversary (Shen Aña — 1907-2007) commemorative (“Commissioned by the Klef Raraha Cooperative Board of Directors”). Though hailing from the Blue Waters Mint, it was actually minted by Personal Geocoins (http://www.personalgeocoins.com/; located in Ada, Michigan) in 5 different varieties: brass, copper, nickel, “silver finish”, and “gold finish”. Mr. Turner stated that “I don't know if the last two are plated gold and silver or imitation, but in appearance, it is difficult to tell them apart” from the brass and nickel pieces. He later stated that “it was never said if these were silver or gold plated, but I think it is quite safe they are a silver-looking or gold looking appearance, as my cost would not reflect gold or silver plated. About as close as it might be to silver or gold would be a very minute spray, but I doubt that.” All five of these luscious pieces are made of “Imitation Hard Enamel set within Metal base under an Epoxy Seal”. They were produced “probably as a promotional or moneymaking scheme,” and “It is assumed these were made for collectors and possibly merchants who regularly purchase Klef Raraha produce…They are valued at the typical payment issued for a bag of fruit picked. Most citrus is picked and placed in a cloth bag that will hold about 90 pounds of citrus. This seems to be the standard. Denominated as 2 East Caribbean Dollars, it has a face value of about $0.75 in U.S. Dollars. Thus, a citrus picker would receive roughly 75 cents for picking a 90 pound bag of citrus.” The shared obverse and reverse of these pieces feature mouthwatering depictions (a different one on each side) of an orange slice.
Afterwards, Mr. Turner produced a round $2 “Klef Raraha Cooperative” wooden piece, dated 2006 (it was actually made in February of 2009). The reverse features a stunning image of a very large (tall-masted) sailing vessel at sea. “The ship rubber stamp is an oddball. I was searching Ebay for a rubber stamp and came across this one. It looked so nice I bought it. It is the most beautiful rubber stamp I've ever purchased. I really don't have a tie-in to Klef Raraha with the ship but it does open a can of worms on creating a reason for it to appear on a wood token.”
Images of the coinage from Klef Raraha can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catDK.html
MÄGI PÄIVÄINE: “If you have nerves of steel, patience and time, you can follow the lone dirt track over steep, rugged mountains and transverse the rapidly moving valley rivers to Mägi Päiväine, meaning Mountain Sun in the English Language. It can be said that Mägi Päiväine is one of the most isolated places on earth, but once there, you'll discover a beautiful valley with rich soils and plenty of pure water. The surrounding mountains hide lakes of pure water and serve as a summer pasture for livestock. Still Mägi Päiväine is an exercise in survival against the elements. Her people have survived the harshness of mother nature and reaped her bounty. In short, they have carved out an uneventful but peaceful self-sufficient life.” Locating it “on a map is going to be impossible. It is unrecognized.” Its “borders are hard to define. You see, the folks who call Mägi Päiväine home have lived here for generations with very little contact with the outside world. The high mountain valley and surrounding area has never been officially claimed, in person anyway. The size of Mägi Päiväine depends on who you ask. For certain, it does include the entire settlement valley and the land grazed by the cattle. The valley covers some 3.5 square miles. Mägi Päiväine is considered beautiful with steep mountains. Water is plentiful and a number of springs provide a bounty of very fresh water in the form of small streams and even a couple of small lakes. Valley soil is rich, producing good crops. The mountains offer excellent grazing in spring and summer.” The entire settlement “is home to about 100 people, living in a dozen households, who speak what many consider to be an almost dead language, Vepsa. They also speak some Karelian and Ingrian. In earlier days the Veps and Karelians, and Ingrians lived together.”
Mägi Päiväine’s “local old timers claim the communists began displacing the Veps and Ingrians after the Soviets came to power. Many went to Finland. The Veps and their neighbors, the Karelians and the Ingrians were considered a threat to national security. The Soviet solution was moving small communities to different areas. The people of Mägi Päiväine say they originally are from the Northwest Vologda district. It is told they sought isolation as a protection from the Soviets. So, the high mountain valley became the new home to this isolated group.” It wasn’t until the end of World War II that “a small group of Russian soldiers found Mägi Päiväine. They were tired, hungry and suffering from exposure from the elements. The folks of Mägi Päiväine took them in, tending to the injuries of a couple of soldiers. The show of compassion was just what Mägi Päiväine needed. The returning soldiers set in motion a chain of events that would conditionally allow Mägi Päiväine to exist. Formal papers soon arrived stating Mägi Päiväine was an autonomous region. In essence, it was independence for the people and a guarantee that they could control their destiny so long as they did not interfere with the Soviets. No records of these papers is found among the former Soviet government, it is told, but the folks of Mägi Päiväine claim to have the signed papers in the journals that chronicle life in this tiny region. The document grants Mägi Päiväine the right to be responsible for its own affairs and free from taxation from the Soviets as long as they kept to their land and did not interfere with the nearby communities…With the fall of the Soviet Union, Mägi Päiväine has allowed it's hiding place to be known. The threat of the Soviet Government is gone. Still, those in Mägi Päiväine are leery of outsiders although their friendly attitudes easily chase their fears away.”
Mägi Päiväine is devoid of banks and offices, but it does have one store. “There are no Government offices, medical clinics or Churches. There is no electrical service or other conveniences. There are no police, nor is there an army. Most merchandise is traded person to person. Religious services are held in homes. Even those selected to carry out the extremely minimal government functions operate from their homes. A school is located in a room built on to the house the teacher lives in. The quality of education is unknown but the population can read and write, using the Latin alphabet. The Mägi Päiväine government is made up of a council of ‘ancients’ or elders who tend to the functions of government. This council elects a president who serves for a single 5 year term. The duties of the President are varied and might be summed up as an administrator. The council acts as ruler, judge and advisor. In such a small community, the council has supreme power…Men tend to do agricultural work while the women generally work at domestic jobs. There is no crime. Society is European in nature and in values. Most infractions are handed by the parties involved without intervention from the President who acts as judge over matters brought to him by the general population. If the decision of the President is not acceptable to one party, they may request a hearing by the full council with the decision of the council being final. Mägi Päiväine's Government has assigned the duty of tax collector to the President, but no taxes have ever been levied. Presidents hold almost supreme powers tempered by the board but the people can call on the President's ousting.”
The lifestyle of the valley’s citizens “is uneventful. It cannot be said it is an easy life with Mägi Päiväine's harsh climate. In fact, little has changed over the years. Life is simple and self-sufficient. Few have more than they can consume. Luxuries simply are not found. This is a small group of people who are close to the land. What we consider to be obligations or minor celebrations are cause for the whole nation, and I use that word loosely, to stop everything and celebrate together. Traditions from earlier times are still alive and well in Magi Paivaine.” The people of Mägi Päiväine “have small garden plots for the short growing season, much of which is canned for consumption in winter. Cattle is raised, especially for cheese and milk, although meat is much less frequent in the diet. Wheat is grown, providing flour, a staple in the diet along with cheese and milk. The primary occupation is producing wool to sell in regional communities. It can be said the people of Mägi Päiväine are neither rich nor poor. It would seem they have just what they need. This is because they are not a very materialistic society…Mägi Päiväine has a long history of peace. In most small communities, there is an undercurrent of friction between families. These less than desirable qualities are not found here as all seem friendly and friendly. As a community they seem to realize it takes each member of the community working together to achieve the quality of life Mägi Päiväine enjoys. One might ask why Mägi Päiväine has remained so isolated. The truth is there is little reason to publicize Mägi Päiväine. It has been queried why the citizens of Mägi Päiväine choose to stay in their isolated valley instead of returning to their homeland. The answer is simple. This is all they know. Even the memories of the oldest citizens is fading.”
In one of his e-mails to me, Mr. Turner explained the origin of the Mägi Päiväine place-name: “In the heart of the Texas Hill Country is a town called Kerrville. I first visited Kerrville back in 1974 when it was a sleepy little town of about 10,000 where two very narrow winding highways met. The paper in the town was the Kerrville Mountain Sun which went by the wayside last year after being purchased by the Kerrville Daily Times.” (In August of 2003, Southern Newspapers Inc. completed the purchase of The Mountain Sun, which has published since 1879. Southern also owns the Kerrville Daily Times. In April of 2004, The Mountain Sun ceased publication as a paid newspaper and became a total market coverage supplement to the Kerrville Daily Times) “I always liked the name Mountain Sun. Like you I tend to like solar themes and Mountain Sun has a nice visual in my mind. I really liked how it translated in to the almost dead Vepsian language of the ethnic Veps of the Baltic coastal areas of Russia.”
Monetarily, “Local notes have been exchanged over the years using the denomination ‘poimda’ meaning to pick, gather or harvest. It's value is unknown and apparently never compared to other currencies to determine a specific value. It is assumed the value was determined by the person accepting the note as payment.” Based on Mr. Turner’s recollection, “I think the first Magi Paivaine paper notes were made in late 2004 (likely November or December)”.
Under the direction of Mr. Turner’s Blue Waters Mint, several coins (16 total), denominated at “12 Hobed Jüyä” (12 grains of silver, equivalent to half a pennyweight), were produced for Mägi Päiväine in September of 2008. This massive set, “Commissioned by the Council and People of Mägi Päiväine”, is a wonderful addition to our ever-growing array of Monetae Turnerensis. Again, Mr. Franck-Weiby was involved. Using his own original designs, he engraved all the dies, “going for softer relief.” The designs on the reverse dies “come from telling Greg he can simply ‘surprise me’…I emailed the Magi Paivaine text to inspire him and suggested he take ‘artistic liberties’, not being aware he was building the reverse from his mind. So, as a result, each image brought an element of pure surprise.” Mr. Turner later elaborated: “My thinking on fantasy coins was that so many are a mystery that I needed that element of mystery with enough background information to eliminate the mystery aside from the precise location. So, I consider the write-up [text] to be just as important as the coin. Maybe this is why I can feel good allowing full artistic freedom to the die creator. With the information I provide, the artist can interpret, giving me the thrill of seeing my idea for a place take on a life based on how the artist sees it. It sort of brings the idea to life without my manipulation.” Mr. Franck-Weiby did incredible work. “Greg put over 50 hours in the dies for these coins and several more working up design ideas/themes. He said he really enjoyed the project and I suspect he liked the idea of being able to create his ideas in lieu of being told precisely what to design. My philosophy is a person always produces a fine quality of work when their heart is in it. My allowing this freedom, Greg, in a sense, owns the design because they are purely his creation.” Mr. Turner once again decided to use niobium — a dynamic, chameleon-like metal — for many of the pieces: “we are changing the voltage on the anodized niobium for each year, so each will be a different color.” Overall, these “colors were Tom's choices as I told him I just desired a different shade of color for each year. Initially I thought of shades of green from a blue-green to emerald green to yellow-green speaking in Crayon colors.” The coins themselves bear 5 different issue dates, however, beginning with “2000”. They all carry the same obverse of a mountain range with a sun peeking over the peaks (sunrays extending to the top of the coin), accompanied by the denomination of 12 grains of silver (in the Veps language). The reverse bears a different design for each year: the 2000 pieces (anodized niobium in “more of a rose/purple combination”, copper-nickel, bronze, silver) feature “a rooster not unlike the French gold pieces”. The 2002 pieces (anodized niobium in “green with blue overtones”, copper-nickel, bronze) feature “a cow (with udders) looking a bit like a horse”. The 2004 pieces (anodized niobium in “a shiny metallic blue”, copper-nickel, bronze) feature a “cow with calf nursing”. The 2006 pieces (anodized niobium in “purple/grape jelly”, copper-nickel, bronze) feature the “face of bull with ceremonial attire (I suppose)…Greg may have some cultural theme here unknown to me”. The 2008 pieces (anodized niobium in “a green with yellow overtones”, copper-nickel, bronze) feature “grain in a ceremonial design”. The copper-nickel and silver pieces were made from rolls of pre-existing coinage that Mr. Turner purchased on eBay. In order to transform them into blank planchets, the coins were annealed and tumbled and re-struck by Mr. Tom Maringer. Why did Mr. Turner opt “to have Tom tumble existing coins I have on hand versus using his metal”? This was done in order “to save money…The tumbling, based on my limited knowledge, is a round metal container with lid on the top. It contains ceramic pieces that look like aquarium gravel. As I understand it, you toss in the coins with a bit of water and set it between two rollers that cause the round container to spin slowly. After about 12 hours the coins are tumbled clean…Tom says he would rather work with existing coins instead of stamping out blanks. The way he puts it, baking the coins in the oven and tossing them in the tumbler is easy. Buying the metal, manually punching out the right size coin blank and then tumbling them is just more work. Naturally, if Tom can find ‘pieces’ that can be used [suitable roundness and size]…then that is the easiest.” The copper-nickel coins are made from the Denmark 10 Ore (KM 849.1 and 849.2) and the silver coins are made from the pre-1964 Roosevelt Dimes that are .900 silver. The bronze pieces “are punched from sheets by Tom Maringer as were the anodized niobium.” Mr. Turner was also going to have brass pieces, which were to have been made from the Cape Verde 1 Escudo (KM 27); these coins, “Tom learned, are simply brass plated steel. The steel is too hard for tumbling away the design and is too tough on the dies [the steel interior would have really worn the dies]. I opted for bronze instead of brass since one of the Excelsior coins was brass.” From Mr. Turner, I was fortunate enough to receive (apart from the regular pieces) a brass pre-production sample of the 2000 coin (a “trial” piece, made “to help me decide the metal to go with”). This coin “was made from brass Tom had on hand.” In terms of trial pieces, Tom “made about 3 brass and 3 copper ones from pennies, plus a bronze [from metal he had on hand]. Looking at these is how I decided on bronze.”
I asked Mr. Franck-Weiby about his magnificent engravings: “Bill specified the mountains and sun design, and I just elaborated/fleshed out a very rough design sketch he provided. For the reverses, he just discussed the agricultural nature of the MP community, but left the choice of designs up to me. MP reminded me of Switzerland, so a dairy cattle theme seemed particularly appropriate. The 2000 dated type (to herald the false millennium — since the actual first year of the millennium was 2001, but I only have the appropriate numeral punches for the even numbered years) is copied fairly exactly from the French Third Republique Marieanne head gold twenty franc piece (the one I have is dated 1907, but could have been struck later with the frozen date). The 2002 ‘strutting heifer’ design is copied from a tetraobol of Byzantion (attributed to 357-340 BCE) in my collection, as well as photos of related types in Greek Coins and their values by David Sear. On the originals, the cow is standing on a dolphin, but I left that out as irrelevant to the MP context. The 2004 type is based on a silver drachm of Epidamnos/Dyrrhachium (period of Roman Protectorate, 229 through 2nd century BCE) in my collection, with much reference to a photo in Sear/Greek of a fine style stater of the same type of the 400-350 BCE period. I left out inscriptions and an ear of grain that appear on the drachm. The 2006 type is based on a drachm of Eretria in Euboia (357-267 BCE) in my collection, with reference to related types in Sear/Greek. The originals show the bovine head garlanded with fillets of wool. I figured that wouldn't be recognizable to most modern people, so I substituted garlands of flowers — which seemed like a likely thing the Magi Paivainians would do on their May Day festival, which Bill mentioned as part of their culture. The 2008 type was based on the 1920's Czechoslovakian nickel twenty haleru coin. I copied the sheaf of grain, but left out the sprig of linden, sickle and denomination numeral, substituting a couple of sprigs of hops. My favorite Czechoslovakian banknote is the 1931 series 100 korun, showing the farm couple at harvest time, seated on a pile of sheaves — the man is holding up a handful of hops. Also, part of the inspiration for hops is that, around the time I was working on that die, I was attending a couple of SCA [Society for Creative Anachronism] events at a park north of Salem OR, and the route to it is through hop fields at harvest time (the area is a major world supplier of hops to brewers). So, whaddya do with grain and hops? Well, a town in Czechoslovakia is Pilsen — home of the original Pilsner beer. Another town in Czechoslovakia is the Budjowice — ‘Budweis’ in German — the original of home of ‘Budweiser’.”
Mr. Turner informed me that for this series, “There is some connection directly to Tom and his influences. Magi Paivaine mirrors his [Tolkien-inspired, Shayre/Land of the Halflings] Haypenny releases.” The first such piece, according to Mr. Maringer, “was a 1402 [Shire Reckoning] haypenny…originally issued as ‘type 1’ in aluminum bronze (struck over pre-Euro French 5-centimes)”, and then in copper, brass, and .999 silver (the latter was listed as a “provisional sixpence”). The 1402 dies were again used in 1403 to produce the “type 2” in brass and copper; thus, there is no haypenny dated 1403. Afterwards, brand new haypenny dies were produced for 1404, 1405, 1406, and 1407. This “basic circulating haypenny coinage was in pure copper, presentation issues were also done in bell-bronze and blue-anodized niobium.” In all, “there are actually only five diffent haypenny die-sets, but if you include all the metal varieties there are sixteen different haypenny pieces.” Clearly, there is symmetry between the number of haypennies and the number of Magi Paivaine pieces. Mr. Turner provided more information: “The inspiration for the Haypenny is the British Half Penny. Tom says the Haypenny is worth a small bale of hay or 1/40 ounce of silver. This mirrors the true value of the British Half Penny, in slang the Ha'penny.” In the March 2008 edition of Numisnotes, Mr. Turner commented: “I have done a bit more research and began to wonder about Mägi Päiväine's choice of denomination: 12 grains of silver. The only thing I can find is the Half Penny of the United Kingdom being 1/480 of a Pound Sterling. The Pound Sterling is 5,760 grains of silver, thus the Half Penny is 12 grains of silver. I found this interesting but doubt any connection since location and governmental influence would make such a situation virtually impossible. Some more digging for information is needed. Could there have been some British influence here? My leaning is No.”
Images of the coinage from Mägi Päiväine can be viewed at the Web-site of Mr. Jorge Fernández Vidal:
http://www.jfvcoins.com/Productos/micronations_english=catLN.html
ABEMANA: Addressing his love of exotic locales, Mr. Turner writes: “My quest is the long forgotten spots on earth where civilization has not encroached on the traditional lifestyles of the immediate area. I've always loved discovering such places and had I the wealth to visit such places, I likely would. My discoveries must come through other's eyes.” This is the main reason he spends hours upon hours conducting research about regions that very few people have ever heard of. He especially loves to read first-hand accounts written by the avid travelers and explorers who have actually made those amazing journeys. He loves to learn about traditional lifestyles “and a bit of the legacy that is fervently preserved” by each of these endangered cultures. Understandably, “discovering these ‘unknown to me’ islands the first time” begets a “feeling of glee”. I (and others) feel the same way when I (we) initially see one of Mr. Turner’s numismatic creations. In one of his e-mails to me, he explained his fascination with “purely fictional” places/coins, like the type he has been inventing/issuing. “I still think there is a thrill of discovery of an unknown place with a fantasy coin. I relate it to daydreaming of a tropical island as a boy then reading about a remote atoll somewhere. I remember ordering an instructional book on thatch roofing when in 6th grade and reading the book An Island To Oneself by Tom Neale. I wanted the same experience but knew it was purely fantasy. If the opportunity afforded itself, I'd likely get cold feet. To me, a created place opens up the same sort of feeling.” Fantasy coins corroborate the notion that “There is something [very] special about a place that ‘could be’.” While Mr. Turner was writing about Abemana, it “took on quite a mystique in my mind.” If the island truly existed, it would certainly belong on Mr. Turner’s “list of ‘must see’ spots dotting the globe.” He confesses that “There is a certain level of emotional bond to the place. As I research and do the write-ups, most of the places have little emotional tie by the time I am done. Abemana, I suppose, through the pieces of information I gathered on the way, ended up being sort of the tropical island I had in my mind as a kid when I dreamed of going to one. Even today, I want to visit the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. I think it is primarily because the terrain is so striking and the islands have a small population considering their size. From the practical side, I like the fact travel is fairly easy and they have an adequate infrastructure.”
Abemana (not to be confused with Abemama, an island in the Republic of Kiribati) is “a place the rest of the world left behind…An ‘outlier’, Abemana is a Polynesian island in the eastern South Pacific.” It “is a 3,954 acre island of volcanic origin. Its interior is more rugged, rising to 135 meters and containing two small lakes. The volcanic origins have left the island with a number of small streams and a quality fresh water lens, allowing much fresh water. The rich volcanic soils grow about any fruit or vegetable one can imagine.” In fact, the soil is so fertile that it offers “a virtual Garden of Eden for its simple people.” The sea also abounds with food: “Even the shoreline teems with fish in the short shelf that drops off to fairly deep ocean depths. In short, it is a land of plenty so long as the tropical cyclone does not rip across the island.” Abemana’s population is “just a shade over 3,400 people.” They “speak their own Polynesian-styled” tongue: “Their isolation resulted in a language crafted on the island and a bevy of customs and traditions one only learns of through the diaries of missionaries who visited these strange lands when the world was a much larger place.”
Weather-wise, “Abemana has the typical tropical climate. Bountiful rains and warm temperatures are common throughout the year, tempered by a fresh tradewind. Abemana lies outside the normal path of tropical cyclones, but every few years one passes close enough to affect the island. In 2005 one powerful cyclone took a path taking it right over the island. As we reach 2009, Abemana has almost entirely recovered. The fact the islanders so clearly know their past, the wisdom of their relatives had been passed on to minimize the destruction and prevent the loss of life. One man said the families had wind houses because their elders passed on the need for families to build them and stock them for the peril of the wind. Abemana recovered on its own resources. Wind houses are small single room huts built to withstand tropical cyclones. A tarp of intertwined leaf is covered in lava rock kept in place by hardened mud in a sloping effect to withstand the onset of sudden downpours and high winds. The islanders claim this spared them during the 2005 cyclone.”
Geopolitically, “Abemana is caught somewhere between nations. Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and, I suppose, Solomon Islands, could state claim to the islands. It is factual to say all three of these nations provide no support for the island.” In fact, there is no aid whatsoever from any outside government. “There is no supply ship. There is no government funded school…Missionaries did come to Abemana about 85 to 90 years ago, easily converting the population to Christianity. Still today, the island supports four Churches. The Churches have obtained textbooks and supplies for educating the children.” Abemana’s schools offer “only a basic education.” The Abemanans “are light-skinned Polynesians. They proclaim Christianity but many traditions counter to Christian teachings exist. Traditional dress means women are topless…Traditional dances are a nightly ritual and elders spend time with the youth teaching the oral history of the people. A villager of the same sex adopts a child to instruct them in the knowledge they will need to fulfill their place in society once they reach adulthood. Most Polynesian societies are clan oriented, but this practice seems to be long lost on Abemana although the chief of each village is a benevolent dictator, decision-maker for all things. The authority is undisputed as the chief has a direct lineage to the original settlers according to the oral history.”
The island “is divided into five coastal communities.” The intricate workings of Abemana’s local government are not unlike that of many other Polynesian societies. To begin with, “the chief and his immediate family are revered and the community tends to their needs. Even so, the chief and his family must be humble and giving in their roles. While a chief’s immediate family might have their foods provided by the community, the chief’s family must insure his people do not go without. For the chief and his family to act in any way superior to his community is somewhat like a cardinal sin. For a family under the chief to not provide their share for the chief’s family is also somewhat of a cardinal sin. The community under the chief’s family lives and farms of the ancestral lands of the chief’s family. The Chief is the organizer of the community and is responsible for its welfare. He is the judge and jury in all cases that must be decided. Through this governance the community’s needs are served. In the recent past there has been a female chief, an offspring born of the family that produced no sons. On many islands with numerous chiefs, wars were frequently fought, but oral tradition says this ended in antiquity when the chiefs divided their lands. The lands were so divided as to require each chief to fulfill a need of all the other chiefs on the island. Envy then turned to a desire to cooperate for everyone’s welfare. This was even met with a decree that all shell belonged to the chiefs as shell was to be used when not trading tangible items for tangible items. These finds were to be equally distributed among the communities.” Customarily, “Men typically fish in the morning while women tend to gardens. Evenings are generally spent in recitations of oral history and traditional dance [and choral singing].”
There is hardly any evidence of the modern world to be found on Abemana. “There are no cars or trucks. There are no roads at all. Electricity does not light up the darkness. There is no airport. No clinic [or medical facilities of any sort] is maintained on the island. There are no phones. The only way to communicate with the island is a battery operated radio that is in use only fifteen minutes a day. The only way supplies can get to the island is by wooden motorboat. Sometimes it carries a passenger or two.” Almost no “items are brought in from the outside world and very little goes off the island. Shark fins are sent off the island to be sold at market and supplies are limited to kerosene, salt and soap. The wooden motorboat can only carry a few crates of supplies at a time anyway.” On many tropical islands, the availability of drinking water is a concern, but not on Abemana. “The deep fresh lens and numerous pools and streams do not require wells or fresh water catchments to meet the needs of the islanders. Even with the fresh water, malaria and dengue fever is not a problem. As one of the few malaria-free islands, the island enjoys flowing water, eliminating the habitat for the disease-carrying mosquitoes. The porous soil prevents puddles from lasting long enough for most mosquitoes to breed. Abemana still has mosquitoes but they only take flight during the day, eliminating the need for mosquito nets.”
Another curious fact “Unique to the island is the lack of alcohol or intoxicating beverage. The missionaries that converted the island to Christianity frowned on the use of kava, alcohol and even the betel nut. Chiefs followed the instruction and in only a couple of generations the use of and substance or liquid to intoxicate became a sign of great insult to the preserving of local customs and traditions. It is thought the ban is taken so seriously because one of the most respected chiefs through their oral history disallowed the practice. He did not, however, disallow tobacco. Cigarettes are considered a luxury on the island, as are cigars. While on the subject, coffee, tea and sodas are considered a great luxury. Often these are dispersed with only a small swallow for each person. Spousal abuse is of special mention here. Among many such cultures, the female suffers at the hand of the male. Here, the female, while holding different roles in society, is seen as essential by all. This had led to a much more ‘equal treatment’ among the sexes. It is also thought that the lack of alcohol has done much to foster this. In many such cultures the primary complain is a lack of respect from her male partner, closely followed by the complaint that he is always drunk. Certainly, the lack of ‘male houses’ and ‘female houses’ has done much to further the equal treatment although each village has a ‘male house’ and a ‘female house’. Both act as more of a community center. Men frequently go to the ‘male house’ to divide up work while the females take their young children to the ‘female house’ to divide up work, conduct schooling and cooperatively tend the children. Teens, however, while learning their roles from their adopted adults, are pretty much left to their own until taking a spouse.”
Abemana receives very few visitors. “In the past decade, it is said only four groups of visitors have come to the island. Their stay is usually about 6 weeks to 2 months, the average time between boat visits which can be put off because of the island’s lack of dock.”
Mr. Turner also discusses Abemanian money, of course. “The only real cash obtained by the islanders is from the sale of shark fins. The little money this produces generally goes to the purchase of kerosene, soap and salt for individual families. As for local currency, mother of pearl shell is circulated. The mother of pearl is dyed through the use of various plants found on the island. The shell size and color (all pretty much uniform into a number of sizes) is traded for needed supplies. No such exchange rate is used. This local currency functions as a tool to cover shortfalls of individual families and communities. Some of the shell remains natural. The thin shell is holed and generally kept on a rib of a leaf for ease of storage. Mother of pearl coins range in size from about 20 millimeters to a huge shell of 70 millimeters…The only fairly large exchange of shell comes from the marriage of a female to a male. The family of the male is to pay a fee, negotiated by the female’s family in order to take her from the village to the home of the male. The price is determined by two factors: the value of the female to her home community and the status of the male in relation to the chief of his own village. For example, a productive and bright female commands a higher price. A man of greater standing in his own community always lowers the price paid. Physical beauty also plays a part. The tropical cyclone in 2005 changed the thinking of the chiefs. Although there is little need for cash, some items are seen as critical to the survival of the island. For example, the marine radio transmitter and batteries to operate it are seen as essential. The plentiful supply of shell was seen as a possible source of income. Thus, the first real export of the island aside from the shark fins, has been mother of pearl shell money. In addition, some paper notes in 9 different denominations (1 to 500 Ika) were printed off-island by we know not where.” I later learned that Mr. Turner first made these notes in February of 2009.
As for the mother-of-pearl coins Mr. Turner described, nine different denominations (in 8 different sizes) ranging from 1 Ika to 500 Ika exist in an assortment of colors (all of the shells are dyed except for the 35mm pieces, “which are natural [color]”). “Since one of the islands I researched specifically said the only people with money were the fishermen who sold shark fins, I settled on the currency being ‘ika’ meaning fish. It was as close as I could come to shark fin with the dictionaries I found.” These pieces are ultra-thin (Mr. Turner says they are “1 millimeter thick” but I think they are even thinner) and fairly crude-looking (“These are among the most primitive I have even seen.”). Some pieces “are rather warped (I suppose Mother of Pearl this thin tends to not be perfectly flat).” The coins also have a small hole drilled at the top or bottom. There are two different varieties. On the first type, all of the text is done freehand, using a “Dremel engraver on the lowest setting…The engraver comes with letters to guide you but the letters are too big for the coins and I cannot write small enough for the 15 and 20 millimeter mother of pearl. After all the tip is jiggling as you write, so it is not too easy to get nice looking lettering…And I’m no artist! If I could draw or even have a steady hand with a vibrating engraver, they'd look much nicer.” These pieces, which he began making in February of 2009, “have only etched by hand lettering saying Abemana and the numeric value and ‘Ika’.” He also informed me: “It seems the dye does not go through the whole shell because when I engrave it turns to its natural color, so I suspect the dye never absorbs all the way through.” Overall, these pieces were difficult to make. The main problem was “waste. I went through about 5 to get one good one.” Mr. Turner would “run out of room for all the letters (the engraver is vibrating as you hold it trying to draw the letters making it difficult),” or “the engraving hits a soft spot and creates a hole [all the way through the coin]”, or “it would be so off center I'd toss it. If I can lower the waste, I'll be happy.” Plus, they were not as handsome in appearance as some of his previous productions. “The engraving I don't like. It looks too much like what a kid would make.” Though a fair number of hand-engraved pieces exist (I grew very fond of the ones I received), Mr. Turner settled on a different approach for his final run, in which all of the text is handwritten with a permanent marker (this is the second type). For these, he used Sharpies in various colors (Black, Red, Green, Berry, Violet-Brown, Dark Blue-Green, Brown, Dull Cornflower Blue). “In playing with the Sharpies and the MOP [mother-of-pearl], I have discovered one light yellow MOP shell is not equal to another with a green, red or blue pen working on one MOP but not on the next. Thus, there will be no rhyme or reason to color used.” Though all of the pieces (except for the smallest one) pertaining to this “revised set” are dated 2007, they were actually produced beginning in March of 2009. “The trick is the Sharpie ink is there no matter what. You can write on a mother of pearl, then put it under a faucet and the ink does not run. It does not rub off in the least.” Nevertheless, after a good amount of experimentation, he decided to continue with the engraving technique on some (not all) of the 30mm pieces. The ones he is referring to come in “shades of green/black and gray/black.” The markers simply don’t work as well on these. He will use a marker only on the 30mm pieces that came in “vivid multiple colors.” The inked 30mm pieces are denominated at 5 Ika, and the engraved 30mm pieces (these are the ones dyed in dark colors) are denominated at 10 Ika. Shortly thereafter, he decided that there would be an additional “variance” within the revised (inked) set: “since a few shells in most of the sizes are midnight blue, black or very dark purple, a few etched versions will be made. I have to buy in quantity in assorted colors, so getting a few in each package that are too dark for the ink to show up, is a given. In lieu of tossing the dark ones in the trash, I'll etch them.” These hand-etched pieces, in all likelihood, “will be very rare.” Basically, “all MOP will be inked except the 10 Ika and any of the other sizes where I have a stray black or very dark piece of MOP where the Sharpie will not show up.” Mr. Turner later succinctly summarized: “The rule of thumb I've found on these is if black [ink] will not show up well on the MOP, any other color I have will be just as bad if not worse. So etched MOP will still be around. The 10 Ika will always be etched. For the other sizes, any in the packages that are too dark to use the Sharpie, I will etch it. So, the MOP will be inked in colors but a few will be etched when the MOP is too dark for inking. The exception will be the 20 and 25 millimeter pieces that are too small to etch [but luckily the number in the package allows me to toss a few in the trash if I want]…I think I can sum up the MOP on Abemana: The 10 Ika and any of the MOP that is too dark for inking will be etched. Inked MOP will be in various colors on ink, handprinted, with black ink being the most common. I suppose black inked will be the most common, followed by inked MOP in various colors of ink followed by the least common, etched MOP. This applies to all except the 10 Ika which is always etched.” Mr. Turner even weaved an interesting explanation as to why the Abemanians modified their coin-marking technique: “There was a problem with the engraved coins being easily modified to a higher denomination, especially off the island (where people were not familiar with the denomination sizes), so a decision [was made] to ink the coins, except for the 10 Ika, the darkest color coin. Even so, a very small number of etched coins in other denominations are still in circulation.” It didn’t take him long to begin to notice “that the color schemes in the package seem to indicate what is available. The 50 mm. package was all light colors but now I see they are in darker colors. So, I think the deal is you get what they have on hand and whatever they have on hand might be lighter shades or more pastel colors or it might be the color variety I find in the other sizes except the 35 millimeter which is not dyed.”
Simply stated, these mother-of-pearl pieces are not easy to produce. “At this point about 1/3 are tossed in the trash because of error. Since the MOP is not always smooth or has a soft spot, it is easy to slip in both inking or etching. In such cases, I toss it in the trash and go to the next one. I even struggle with writing the letters the same size and width as to look proper on the coin. With no lines to guide me, sometimes the lettering is not centered correctly or the height of the lettering on the first few letters is not the same as it is on the final letters, so I lose a few to this. Luckily, it is easier on the bigger, more expensive pieces. Needless to say, I can toss out the darker colors of the 20 and 25 millimeter without much of a problem.” Pieces pertaining to both varieties of tokens (marker or engraved) are one-of-a-kind. Due to the unique characteristics inherent to each slice of mother-of-pearl, as well as the imperfections resulting from the engraving/marking process, each piece is different. For this reason, and also because they are colorfully beautiful and shiny, Mr. Turner, one of the most humble of craftsmen, offers a very down-to-earth assessment of his handmade numismatic items: “I consider anything less than the minted coins I have made to be sort of the least of my creations (using the term loosely as I certainly don't consider myself an artist by any means).”
PAMPAPANA: “The mountains of the southern tip of South America are ominous and uninviting. The jagged peaks and steep inclines almost guarantee the adventurer will quickly turn back claiming travel across those mountain ranges is impossible.” By looking at a topographical map of the region, this would “confirm the incredible feat it must be to penetrate these mountains to the inner valleys. Beyond those jagged peaks is a high plateau that is flat as a pancake aside from a few gently rolling hills along it’s edges. Several small lakes or ponds are found among the hills and are noted for their rich blue and rich green hues. Some say it looks like the water is loaded with food coloring!” Pampapana is located in these “grassy plains and sparsely vegetated rock-strewn areas”. It “remains a distant, almost inaccessible, outpost thanks to the steep inclines of mountain after mountain for miles, blocking this nearly alpine pampa from the rest of the world. There are no roads coming close to Pampapana and no airstrips, although landing a plane in the flat areas is not too difficult. Even so, the area is known as one of the uncharted wildernesses of South America…With an elevation ranging from about 11,500 to 16,400 feet above sea level, this high plateau in the Dry Puna region is a windy and cool place.” Covering an area of about 670 square miles, Pampana is a very lonely place. It is “void of roads and modern conveniences. The population raises herds of vicuña, guanaco, llama, alpaca and sheep. The area is rural open ranching land. Even though the population is far flung, it is a tight knit community that enjoys socializing. The extended family resides in separate homes on the family's land…Some 50 families inhabit Pampapana, all living on their ancestral lands and working cooperatively for the good of the family. While population figures are not available, it is believed about 300 people live in Pampapana with estimates ranging from 250 to 375.” Their ancestors/forefathers “settled this high puna plateau completely enclosed by the Andean Mountains.” They “established the division of lands so each family might sustain themselves on their own parcel of land.” The Pampapana community became “successful in herding native animals, providing an attractive habitat for them. In return, [the families] reap the economic gain from the fur of these animals. They also provide food for [the entire] population.”
Just like the old days, “The people of Pampapana have a sense of community and eagerly volunteer to help sick or elderly neighbors and make sure the community as a whole is without need. Families gather for a trip in to market every Saturday. Most have a small home at the center of Pampapana where there is a small plaza that doubles as a market…Religion is important in the lives of the people. There is a Church Pastor and the services lean toward Catholic beliefs although the church is not a member of any denomination. The pastor is a local considered to be ‘devoted to God’…Schooling is handled by the mother of the children. No other form of education is available, however the population seems far from illiterate.” Unfortunately, “Pampapana rates as among the poorest locations on earth”. But luckily, “A small regional organization” known as the “S.U.P. has adopted the folks of Pampapana. The group is concerned with teaching folks to grow and utilize traditional foods and teaching self-sufficiency. Every year or two a person or family from the organization lives several months in Pampapana, learning and teaching along the way. S.U.P. is responsible for much of this information.” Overall, “Pampapana is a very isolated community with few modern conveniences found in the world around us. [Their] families live sedentary lives in a simple and uncomplicated manner.”
Mr. Turner also provides a bit of insight into the money of Pampapana: “A small box in a nook at the Church holds quite a few old gold pieces and silver coinage from generations past. Word is it is the collected wealth of the original families. It is assumed this is the reserve to back up the money in use in Pampapana. Most of the silver, it is told, was used to strike coins for Pampapana. Local coins of silver are used by the locals. The coins are small and range in silver content from .667 to .900. There are no pure silver coins, so perhaps the melted coins were not of pure silver. This was a common practice of some colonial mints as the mint master would lower the silver content to shave off some silver for the mint master…Some crude paper notes are circulated with several varieties found among the families in Pampapana. Since surplus goods are usually traded, the number of coins and paper notes is less than one would think.” The first Pampapana banknotes were produced by Mr. Turner in late February or early March of 2008. “Clay-like coins have circulated in Pampapana. It is thought that the people have used virtually any commonly available material to use for money, backed by the chest of silver and gold. It seems their minting is highly controlled to match the value of the gold and silver at the Church.”
Mr. Turner also received a written response, from someone named Luis P. A. Campos (he seems to be one of the volunteers affiliated with the S.U.P.), to his “request for additional information on Pampapana, most expressly, our coins and currency.” Here is his overview of the Pampapana monetary system: “In reference to your inquiry on our coins and currency, our forefathers chose to collect gold and silver of each family to be held in a box with the collective sum to be utilized to help the community at large. This wealth has always been stored at the church, a location considered by all to be the best location as spiritual guidance is always sought before our gold and silver is rendered for a purchase and because in Pampapana, the pastor is our most trusted individual from who we seek direction and guidance. The Pampapana community uses little money. Most arrangements are trades negotiated by the interested parties. Sometimes the trades are not equal, so there is a monetary transaction. For such arrangements, our forefathers utilized coins made from some of our silver coins. These coins were melted, weighed and struck for use in Pampapana. Since some in our community began to establish a collection of coins, it was decided a paper form of money could insure more silver would be available at the church. In more modern times, paper and coins of metals considered less valuable have been utilized as a substitute for the gold and silver. While a great portion of our silver came from the Potosi mines, we also gathered copper, brass and tin from our numerous trades when our men would venture out of Pampapana. It was these metals we have utilized to mint our coinage. We still have a number of small silver coins traded but no large silver coins are in use. The bulk of our silver holdings and all of our gold are held to guarantee the value our paper and metal coins. At present, our collected wealth is considered between $500,000 and $800,000 in U.S. dollars.”
Mr. Turner produced a fair number of non-metallic pieces for Pampapana. To begin with, there are three hand-painted pieces made from wood: 2 Plata (painted “school bus yellow”), 4 Plata (painted green), and 5 Plata (painted blue). These are round and dated 1997 (the initial pieces were made in May 2008) and feature a silhouette of a large dragonfly on the reverse. To make these, Mr. Turner employed a variety of methods. The word “Pampapana” was “hand stamped using an alphabet rubber stamp set I bought years ago [on eBay].” He also described it as “a typewriter font of miniature rubber stamp letters that each come on their own wood mount”. The large numerals were made with the same “store price making kit” that Mr. Turner used for the wooden Ile Crescent piece. Then, the word “Plata” and the date were made with his trusty Labelon Custom Rubber Stamp Kit. He later produced a hand-painted rectangular 2 Plata piece, dated 2006 (actually made in March 2009): “The 2006 version you have of the rectangular Pampapana is a one of a kind.” Though the large numeral comes from the “store price making kit”, the remainder of the text comes from the Labelon Custom Rubber Stamp Kit. There is also a 1 Plata piece (undated, also made in May 2008) made of a sculpting compound known as Super Sculpey (manufactured by Polyform Products Co.). The reverse features “a sun with a face but I have another of the sun without a face that gives a better indention of the design.” For the lettering, “I used little [individual] characters I had and simply pressed them in the clay”. He then “flipped over the piece and stamped it with the sun rubber stamp, then turned it back over to restamp any letters that got weak from pressing the sun rubber stamp on the other side.” After baking and cooling, the coins were colorized with Paint Jewels (produced by Delta Creative, Inc.), “a glossy [glaze-like] see-thru sort of paint/stain…Once the stain is dry, I seal each side [with acrylic spray].” In March of 2009, Mr. Turner produced an additional denomination in the same “primitive” style: an undated 2 Plata piece. The image on the obverse — “a llama amid a South American [decor] border” — comes from the impression made by an earring. “The reverse simply says 2 Plata. They are undated.” Not surprisingly, “each coin is a bit different and has some imperfection.” They are made with Plus Clay (manufactured by Activa Products, Inc.) — a premium quality, natural, self-hardening clay. “I really prefer this stuff to that Sculpey Clay. It is easier to work with, retains its shape and I can roll it down to a thickness of a coin more easily. Plus it tends not to chip if it falls. I want these to be real durable.” Initially, however, “The images and lettering [did not show] up well so [he needed] to do something to highlight the image of the llama and decorative design plus the lettering.” Therefore, Mr. Turner decided to try another method — something called Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments (produced by Jacquard Products) — to add color to the coins. He describes it as “a bottle of dry paint that can be just sprinkled on the clay…The instructions say it can be mixed with paint, varnish, glue or paste or applied dry and dusted, then sealed. The particles are 10 to 60 microns in size.” He chose to use the “Super Copper” color for the new Pampapana pieces. “This stuff is sort of amazing. It is like dust. What I did was take my finger, dip it in the dry pigment and rub it on the clay surface. It can be sealed a minute or two later. It is almost as if the pigment becomes a part of the clay and stays put even thought you are brushing on the sealer. The clay almost looks like a red copper. These turned out nicely.” Once the pieces had been dusted with the Pearl Ex, Mr. Turner had to apply a clear protective coating in order “to keep the copper from rubbing off”. This time, he did not spray an acrylic seal on the coins (I had commented, months ago, on how the spray-on acrylic finish/coat he’d been using remained too tacky upon drying; the coins would adhere a bit too strongly to the inside surfaces of the plastic coin-holders in which they were stored). He instead used a liquid acrylic solution that needs to be applied with a brush: this newer protective finish “is like water, the color of milk and leaves a very thin coat that is not sticky whatsoever. I think it will be a nice improvement over the glaze I had used in the past.” I did indeed find it to be an improvement — a slight one, but an improvement nonetheless — over the previous product. After all his laborious experimentation with clay (starting with the Excelsior pieces), I think Mr. Turner finally hit the jackpot! Clay tends “to be sticky, so working with [it] is always a challenge.” Thank goodness he never gave up, because I think he finally found the best formula/method for making the kind of clay coins he envisioned. “I think the clay coins turned out better. They are very simple (note the earring just mashed into the clay) with simple lettering. Once dry, I take this powder and stick my finger in the jar and rub my finger on the coin. This is strange stuff. It attaches itself to the clay and you can immediately take a paint brush and apply a thin coat of glaze without the powder coming off. The only part of the process that takes time is the drying [of the clay]…The Plus Clay package suggests 48 hours to air dry. Since I dry one side at a time, I dry each side 48 hours. I cut the pieces on a flat surface covered with aluminum foil. So, one side dries before the other side.” Meanwhile, Mr. Turner had an innovative idea to add to the uniqueness of these tokens: “Since the Plus Clay is air-dry clay, it means I could try planting one of the llama pieces in the clay. I have a good 10 or 20 of them.” In April, he did indeed begin making a limited number of these, each of which features “an inset llama”. To do so, he “pressed the pieces in the clay and then put the gloss on them in hopes of keeping them from separating from the clay. They look pretty nice.”
NUIKVISS AOI: More so than any of Mr. Turner’s previous invented lands, this particular isle “is a place of legends. Those legends come from the visitors, and the local population. Nuikviss Aoi means Mermaid Island and its reputation arrived prior to the local population and still lives today. For as long as sailing vessels have taken to this part of the North Atlantic, there have been tales of mermaids. Most come from survivors of the terrible storms that frequent the area or they survived a shipwreck. Through the ages there have been tales of half woman, half fish creatures. In some regions mermaids are an omen of danger or death. In some tales, the mermaid lures the sailor, keeping the man underwater until they drown. The list goes on.” Additional information about these supernatural bathing beauties can be found a few paragraphs below.
“Nuikviss Aoi is a long narrow island some 26 miles long and not quite a mile wide. The total land area is just over 17.4 square miles with ponds accounting for 4.3 square miles. Inhabitable land only 13.1 square miles. The rolling hills and numerous ponds of fresh water make Nuikviss Aoi a strikingly beautiful place in good weather but a nightmare in bad weather. A windy place even in good weather, the island is swept by gale force winds and precipitation almost 20 days per month, on an annual basis.” Mr. Turner later elaborates about the island’s climate: it is basically “cold, windy and wet. Snow is limited to a few days a year but freezing rain or sleet is more frequent. Typically a cold rain is the rule. The wind constantly blows and averages over 20 miles per hour throughout the year. Weather conditions can change very rapidly. While temperatures average around 40 degrees F. in winter and 60 degrees in summer, extremes generally do not exceed 20 degrees from the averages. There is some precipitation on about 40% of the days in the year and winter storms can last for many days. Hail is not uncommon in the more vibrant storms and hurricane force winds have been known in the most severe storms. Sunny and calm days are generally an excuse for the whole island to take a holiday.”
On account of its perilous coastline, the island is not the most inviting of places: “The shallow waters around Nuikviss Aoi make the island a maritime hazard and is still a tricky spot with great nautical maps. Factor in strong winds and sheets of rain or frozen precipitation and Nuikviss Aoi downright dangerous. It is thought more than 350 vessels have met there demise here over the centuries.” In fact, “The settlers of Nuikviss Aoi were shipwrecked themselves. It is thought they were a part of the wave of settlers going to Iceland. As they neared Nuikviss Aoi during a strong North Atlantic storm, the ship struck the rocky outcrops just below the water’s surface.” The island is not altogether isolated from the rest of the world: “Nuikviss Aoi has been visited. The Germans, during World War II used Nuikviss Aoi as somewhat of a submarine base. Although a minor base, the few stationed there said the residents welcomed the soldiers with open arms and enjoyed a brisk trade.” Nevertheless, “The threat of storms keeps Nuikviss Aoi isolated and it is not likely the quiet life on the island will be marred by tour ships or frequent visits from the shipping community.”
The island “has 297 people mostly living in 6 villages. There are 4 homes outside the villages.” The dwellings of the islanders “are constructed of wood and stone. Village homes are plumbed but outhouses are still in use.” In terms of ancestry, “The people are generally a mix of northern countries in and near Scandinavia with Scandinavian heritage being the biggest percentage. The people tend to subscribe to typical Scandinavian lifestyles and culture, adjusted for the isolation and small social scale. The language is Firdiskt which is quite similar to Old Norse, although some think it is a separate dialect. The islanders are generally multi-lingual, speaking their own language and at least one other fluently enough to have no problem conversing or writing with a native speaker. Icelandic, Faroese, Gaelic, Norwegian and English are the primary secondary languages with Gaelic and English being the most common. As for a specific culture or heritage, there is little that is remarkable. The population seemed more concerned with survival than culture. Even so, a few societal traits are fairly unique.” The islanders are humble and modest: “The people consider anything not useful to sustaining life on the island to be vain. It is thought this is derived from Christian teachings. If the item is not needed in everyday life, it is considered a negative attraction designed to divert one away from the job at hand. This is explained in writings of visits from wealthy who adorn themselves with items that islanders see as not practical and designed to delegate unneeded attention to oneself or to elevate the person above others. Thus, clothing is for keeping warm and protecting one from the elements, not a fashion statement or a symbol of status. The attitude prevails in all aspects of life. Excess and flashiness is considered a form of vanity. Even local celebrations are centered around survival. Each spring a Seed Exchange is a reason for the daily life to grind to a halt. The exchange continues several days with much information shared among participants. The only true festival of sorts is the celebration of Midsummer on the longest day of the year. Locals prepare for months, trying to bring something unique to the crowd. New clothing is always a part of this event and an exchange of gifts of little value is always a part of this event that generally goes a couple of days, so long as the weather holds. The date can vary due to weather. In the event of stormy weather, the event kicks off on the next sunny day.”
Mr. Turner provides more cultural details about the islanders: “On such an outpost, one must learn to entertain themselves. With long nights and days of stormy weather, keeping the mind occupied is crucial. Those on Nuikviss Aoi are storyteller-singers. Songs are stories ranging from a couple of minutes to almost a quarter hour. The art of the story-song is the emotion the singer shows. It is not unlike telling spooky stories around a campfire at night. There are songs for all ages from learning to life lessons, to historical and fantasy. From spooky to warm, gentle songs, they are sung to familiar melodies without accompaniment. They are even used in school to teach children. Hymns are a part of daily life as well…Speaking of hymns, the population is Christian and regular services are held. Villagers assemble in homes or common buildings and generally hold a daily morning devotional each morning. There must have been some contact at some point with the British Isles as the hymns are sections of the Psalms, a characteristic of a Presbyterian sect originating there.” As for schooling, this “is handled by residents. Because of the cost and hassle of poor transportation, classes are either taught by local residents or are received by radio. Education is very important to the islanders. This includes instruction on the knowledge needed to be self-sufficient and academic instruction. Knowledge is considered very valuable and the key to a good life. It is felt that the more knowledge one has the better equipped the person is to handle emergencies and unexpected situations.”
Mr. Turner also gives us details about the economy of the island. “Commerce is not so much in the form of storefronts. Most people have a list of customers who come to them because they are known to be especially good at a certain trade. In the villages, various goods and products are sold, usually at a common building in the village. Saturday is a popular day for selling at common buildings. In many respects it resembles a flea market or farmer’s market in the USA. Fishing is a primary occupation and the waters around Nuikviss Aoi are teeming in quantity and species of aquatic creatures. It is likely the waters will remain teeming with fish although Nuikviss Aoi claims a 200 mile economic zone as their territory. Some of this zone is within waters claimed by other governments and Nuikviss Aoi officials refuse to resolve the dispute stating their claim is beyond dispute. By refusing to negotiate, no company is willing to sign a fishing agreement although some individual fishing vessels have negotiated minimal fees to fish the more immediate waters. Most of these vessels provide the needed transport for what little trade the island has secured. With no budget to enforce the claim to these waters, it is not likely the claim will ever be resolved. Still, most of the 4.3 million dollar economy comes from fishing.” For the most part, “Nuikviss Aoi is fairly self-sufficient. Sheep are raised, providing ample material for clothing and cattle are raised for primarily milk and cheese. Cheese and bread is a dietary staple. Fish is the primary ‘meat’ consumed.”
As we have been told, “Nuikviss Aoi is a hotbed for mermaid accounts.” In the “civilized” world, “The average person dismisses the mermaid as a myth. Nuikviss Aoi does not dismiss this thinking but there are enough accounts to make one believe there might just be mermaids.” Mr. Turner goes into some specific details about these mythical denizens of the sea: “The mermaid legend was around before the island was settled, but it became front and center when two of the surviving male settlers claimed they saw mermaids.” Furthermore, “Stranded sailors have reported seeing mermaids. Even the locals have claimed such. Mostly the locals claim to see evidence. This evidence is something brought from the seas onto land. There is simply no explanation. In short, the accounts of mermaid sightings and contacts on or near Nuikviss Aoi have some common threads. Accounts a century apart even give identical details. In fact, it can be said there are five types of mermaids around Nuikviss Aoi. They all have names and distinct personalities.” The first one is named Alfrún. She “is the future-telling mermaid who views the future through the glass fishing floats found amid the waters. This alluring mermaid is quite beautiful but the most feared of all the mermaids. Her predictions always come to pass. When she cannot tell someone, she brings something ashore, placing it at a spot beyond the reach of the high tide. Alfrún usually brings bad news but she has predicted births and their sex. It is said that Alfrún has brought glass fishing floats and other various items to the outskirts of settlements. Locals point out that these items are found beyond the high tide point and had to have been carried ashore. Some say it was just children playing a trick, but items have been found when everyone was home, so some accounts remain a mystery.” The second one is Ginna. She “is the sexy young mermaid so beautiful men can barely resist her beauty. Some sailors have claimed their buddies would not swim for the surface as if spellbound by Ginna. She is said to have a sweet scent that lingers about you for some time after coming out of the water. Ginna is considered dangerous because of her beauty and charm. She seems to long for a man to stay with her but at the same time she seems to tease. A local tale says her good favor can be hard with the lure of shiny yellow, blue or green objects such as a piece of gold, a sapphire or emerald. A local tale speaks of Ginna. It seems Ginna will come to lure boys who are full of themselves. She lures them to the sea and they are so spellbound they are helpless. Ginna keeps her ‘boy toy’ as a servant to her whims, never to return to his family and carefree life above the water.” The third one, named Frakokk, “is the outgoing, friendly and giving mermaid. She swims with the dolphins and seems carefree. She is quite charming in her innocence. Frakokk is been said to be about like a 15 to 16 year old teenage girl, full of life but not well versed in the lessons of life. She seems innocent, a bit awkward and lacking the teachings of life. Even so, she is the first to spot someone or something in trouble and the first to come to their rescue. There are many accounts of her lifting sailors out of the water and leading them to land. She loves to sing and is frequently heard on stormy nights singing. Frakokk has been seen leading the men to a good fishing spot or warning them to return to shore. In short, she is the mothering mermaid and always found amid schools of other underwater species.” The fourth one is Dísa. She “is a more petite mermaid with long thick flowing hair. She also rescues sailors. She talks and chatters, telling the sailor tossed in the sea to grab her hair for a ride to the shore. She is a very mesmerizing singer. She loves to sing in an unknown language. Survivors say her lyrics in an unknown tongue are as comforting as a mother’s voice to a scared infant. Dísa has been known to guide the stray vessel through the maze of rocky outcrops just below the surface at night. Some have claimed she has the ability to illuminate herself much like a firefly.” The fifth and final one, Dagmær, “is the child-like mermaid. Her youthful face and actions are like those of a young child. She flutters and chatters, smiling and playing. She tries to get the poor sailor to play. As the man struggles to reach the shore, she swims around the person over and over in an attempt to get the man to play a game. As the man reaches the shore she sings a mournful song survivors call a song that can bring you to tears. Even though the words are not understood, they are felt. The lyrics, the accounts say, form a sad song where she says she will always remember you and yearn for you to return although you never will. She seems the most limber of all the mermaids around Nuikviss Aoi.” Overall, the quintet of water goddesses seems “to be the protectors of the island and waters around the island. They seem to warn of bad things before they happen and other mysterious messages seem to remain unknown. The mermaids as a whole are considered friendly but their sightings are normally not a sign of good. They tend to show up at man’s time of need.”
Mr. Turner also discusses the money of Nuikviss Aoi: “There had been a few paper notes that circulated but they seemed to have been made for collectors. The number was very few, not more than a total of 500 notes were made. It is thought all were quickly snapped up. The notes were created on handmade crinkled paper that had a gold paint on the printed side. The printing was faint and difficult to read except in the right light. The notes were in several denominations. This issue is no longer circulated. Few made it off the island.” From Mr. Turner, I learned that the first Nuikviss Aoi paper notes were made circa late 2007 or early 2008. As for non-paper items, “The catalog of coins from Nuikviss Aoi is short with only one release. The single release consists of a set of clay tokens in the denomination of 2 Aul. There are ten clay tokens: 5 are adorned in a metallic blue while the basic [plain] token comes in one color, a yellow-orange. There are five different designs with an adorned and unadorned coin for each design…The design is intricate and quite stunning.” Each piece “is a one-of-a-kind handmade coin with imperfections.” They are indeed quite lovely.
After he began making the coins, Mr. Turner told me that “Nuikviss Aoi is a place I've been toying with a couple of years. I knew the coins would feature a mermaid because in the constructed Firdiskt language, Nuikviss Aoi, means Mermaid Island.” Ever on the prowl for interesting ideas/material, he strove to find some appropriate mermaid designs to incorporate into the coinage he envisioned for Nuikviss Aoi. “On the mermaids I only have a couple of requirements: I want them to have a beautiful face and appear seductive. I always thought the sailor legends of being more or less hypnotized by the mermaid should be evident in the mermaids for a coin.” While searching in cyberspace for creative inspiration, he found a Web-site called The Enchanted Gallery (http://www.enchantedgallery.com), which is run by a very talented “girl that makes molds and rubber stamps of her own creation”. Her name is Kimberly Crick. She allows her customers to freely make/sell handmade crafts and hand-stamped/hand-crafted/hand-molded artwork using her craft supplies. As an artist, she “understands the needs of the independent crafter to be able to sell their work without heavy restrictions. The images are still copyrighted, but use of them is allowed when you follow certain terms.” According to her policy, “you may create artwork for sale using my molds or rubber stamps.” She provides visual examples of crafts that have been created with her products. Mr. Turner was so happy to learn that she has some exceptional mermaid molds (he refers to them as “push molds” and “press molds”) that he purchased five of them. In fact, having five molds is what inspired him to compose a legend — along with a name and a personality — for each of the 5 different mermaids. “I really like these mermaid images. A couple of them are sexy but not offensive…I figured each image needed an identity and a story.” Here is a description of all five mermaid designs: “Alfrún is the one holding the round object (ie crystal ball to foretell the future)…Ginna is the one with the starfish to the left of her head…Frakokk is the one with the dolphin on the right at her mid-section…Dísa is the one with the thick hair that covers her breasts [she appears to be sleeping, while both of her hands are cradling the left side of her head]…Dagmær is the mermaid that is curled up with part of her fin up to her head [she seems to be sitting up, with her legs folded up, and she is reaching up and touching her knees]”.
In April of 2009, the Blue Waters Mint was finally “authorized” to begin producing a limited number of coins (“Commissioned by the Council of Nuikviss Aoi”) for the island. The pieces pertaining to this “first minting”, though undated, are referred to as the “2008 Mermaid Edition”. Why? “The Nuikviss Aoi had been planned for a good while but just not as clay tokens with push molds. I think that as I wrote everything up, I figured I should date them as 2008, thinking getting the coins from the fantasy location to my hands might take several months.” Mr. Turner commented that “The process on making these is rather primitive.” He initially tried using “the ‘bake in a conventional oven’ clay [Super Sculpey] and porcelain clay but neither seemed to work well.” After his experimentation phase (trial pieces, prototypes), Mr. Turner settled on a definitive approach to produce the mermaid coins. He decided to use Plus Clay (“which does not require baking”). The first step involves “pressing the push molds into a big piece of rolled out clay and then with a butter knife, I cut them out and trimmed the unused clay.” In other words, he snipped off portions of clay from around the edges so that the coins would be “shaped like the object they portray” — this way, the contour of each coin would conform to the irregular/uneven shape of the image made by the rubber mold. Mr. Turner added: “Luckily, getting a good image with the push molds is not too difficult so I think these will be a bit better quality than most.” He then allows the pieces to dry for about a day. Once he is sure they have hardened sufficiently, he peels “the aluminum foil away from the backside or blank side. I need this side very flat and uniform” (this is where the text will go). “Since the color of the clay is ‘ivory’, I needed color to show off the texture. I purchased the ‘Lemon’ and ‘Turquoise’ colors of Vitrea 160 [a ‘transparent colour for glass’ — manufactured by the Pébéo company — that can also be used for crystal, metal, and pottery]. The turquoise was too dark, so I needed to lighten the color. For this I use ‘Pearl Ex’ pigment in turquoise color. This has a metallic [blue] look which helps to highlight the impressions. Size and thickness were a factor. If I did not vary the size of each coin to match the size of the push mold impression, I found the clay curled. Those that are too thin are too fragile (several broke before finished). The yellow version is simply coated with Vitrea 160 without adding [brushing on] any Pearl Ex.” The Lemon finish gives “it a more ‘school bus yellow’ look but the impressions look really nice.” For the text on the reverse of these pieces, he used a rubber stamp that he ordered from Ready Stamps. He purchased it because “I was losing some of the detail [on the obverse] by stamping an impression on the reverse”. Basically, he wanted to attain better (more uniform) results from the hand-stamped text. However, when the size of the stamp doesn’t mesh with the size of the coin, “I ‘make the stamp work’ adding Labelon lettering when I must.” After “allowing the ink to dry and then coating it with” the Vitrea 160, he was relieved to learn that “the ink does not smear. Even though I don't really like rubber stamping the clay, it does work well. The problem I have is to get a deep enough impression with the lettering, I end up losing a bit of detail on the obverse. By rubber stamping, I can let the clay become firm before stamping, saving all the detail on the obverse.” Mr. Turner also decided to number each Nuikviss Aoi coin: “I figured with such a low mintage, numbering would not be a problem. I figured an individually numbered coin would have better lasting value to some as a collector's item versus a coin that is not numbered. The COA printed on yellow onionskin paper would match the coin number and describe the design by mermaid name, matching the names of the mermaids in the Nuikviss Aoi brochure.” Finally, once all of the ink has dried, the pieces are coated with the Vitrea 160 sealant. “Previous attempts at sealing the clay had resulted in the clay pieces being a bit sticky when placed in coin flip.” The Vitrea 160 offers “a nice strong finish that is not sticky.” He commented further on this “unusual” product: “It is strange goo. It is not like paint or glaze. When you stick the brush in it, the brush does not go below the surface but it forces a depression around the brush,” so the Vitrea 160 is more like “[halfway] hardened jello”/“half-firm jello” than a liquid. “Just the tip of the brush gets anything on it and this is fine with me. I tried it as a sealant. It is perfect. It is dry, hard and see-through. The clay coin becomes like the chocolate in an M&M, if the chocolate was protected by a translucent shell [I really like the shell it gives the clay]. This stuff will make sure the [Nuikviss Aoi] clay coins will not melt in [a] protective cover, get sticky or break off (I think)…I tried using a wet brush when using the thick Vitrea 160 and discovered it caused air bubbles that popped leaving pock marks exposing the clay. There was much trial and error in doing these. I estimate I have gone through $200 and about 30 hours trying to get the ‘right’ process.” Clearly, the mermaid coins were not easy to make. “Since these take so much work and my expertise in working with clay is so poor that my waste is pretty substantial (at least 50%)…Clay is by far the most difficult medium to work with. What you begin with is not always the end product. The clay expands or curls or the great impression fizzles as the clay dries. I'm sure I could resolve all of these issues with the right equipment but that equipment is designed and priced for somebody who intends on using it for years.” Nevertheless, these coins turned out spectacularly.Return to the Main Index