Coins of Westarctica
The Coins of Westarctica are a collection of commemorative coins minted by the Central Bank of Westarctica on behalf of the micronation of Westarctica. Starting in 2005, Westarctica minted 31 unique coins released in 14 different series, each commemorating a different element of Westarctican culture, history, or geography. The creation of coins by the Central Bank ceased in 2013; however, both Grand Duke Travis and the former Minister of the Treasury, Jorge Fernandez-Vidal, have expressed interest in resuming production of coins.
History
The impetus to mint coins under the name of Westarctica began with Jorge Fernández Vidal, of A Coruña, a city in an autonomous region of northwestern Spain named Galicia.
He learned about the Balleny Islands while researching unclaimed land in Antarctica. His intention was a find an area or region suitably outside the jurisdiction of other countries, that could be used as a basis for minting coins of his own design. Jorge settled on the Balleny Islands in March 2004, after closely examining the language used in the Antarctic Treaty and realizing that New Zealand's claim to the Balleny Islands could not be legally recognized by any nation, including their own. Therefore, it was highly unlikely New Zealand would ever mint coins for the islands on their own, and they were equally unlikely to assert any kind of legal jurisdiction if Jorge were to mint coins under the name of the Balleny Islands. In his own words, the islands were: “officially unclaimed. A beautiful free land to mint a coin.”
Central Bank of Westarctica
In late 2004, Jorge stumbled upon the Westarctica.com website. He was intrigued by the fledgling nation and applied for citizenship. As part of his citizenship request, he shared his ideas for minting coins with Grand Duke Travis who happened to be looking for someone to lead a numismatic project to create coins on behalf of Westarctica. Jorge was promptly appointed to the post of Minister of the Treasury and given full authority to mint coins bearing Westarctica's name and symbols. The Central Bank of Westarctica was created with Jorge as it's head officer.
The initial arrangement between the Central Bank and the Grand Duke was that Jorge would assume all responsibility and cost associated with minting the coins, and would also reap 100% of the profits from the sale of any coins. The Grand Duke would be given three copies of every coin minted to be deposited in the Royal Collection. Management of the program and design of the coins would remain the sole responsibility of Jorge, while Grand Duke Travis' involvement was limited to some creative input and final approval of the coin designs.
The Balleny Islands became a colony when Westarctica formally annexed it from New Zealand on January 14, 2005. Mr. Vidal was appointed its Governor, and following the first successful minting of the Balleny Islands coin, Jorge was given the title Count of Sturge.