$10 Westarctican Dollars Coin

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The $10 Westarctican Dollars Coin or $10 WAD coin has been a popular and frequently-produced denomination of Westarctica's coins. $10 WAD coins were minted by the Central Bank of Westarctica in the years 2005, 2008, and 2011 in a total of five different designs.

Historically, the $10 WAD coins paid homage to the ruler of Westarctica, however, when the 2011 mintage was created, it was the year following the overthrow of Grand Duke Jon-Lawrence, therefore Westarctica had no Grand Duke upon the throne.

2005 $10 WAD coin

$10 WAD coin featuring Grand Duke Travis

The 2005 $10 Westarctican Dollars coin was the third coin minted by the Central Bank and the first bearing a likeness of a person. It features an image of Grand Duke Travis on the obverse, which was created from a portrait session. The reverse provides a rare example of a color version of Westarctica's arms as they were in 2005.

Aside from being the first coin to feature a person, it is also unique in that both sides of the coin are encased in a malleable plastic to protect them from wear and damage. This makes the coin particularly resilient, leading Grand Duke Travis to comment:

Metal can rust away in a few hundred years or less, but plastic can take a thousand years to break down. Considering the fact that this coin is metal encased in plastic, thousands of years from now, some future archaeologist could find this coin in a landfill somewhere and they would still be able to make out my portrait and the name of Westarctica. This single coin ensures our nation and the dream that created it will echo into eternity.

The $10 Westarctican Dollars coin has proven immensely popular with collectors around the world and it is one of the most difficult Westarctican coins to find.

Original design sketch presented by the Marquis of Williamson to the Grand Duke

When Jorge Fernandez Vidal, Westarctica's first Minister of the Treasury, proposed the idea for a coin that would celebrate the Grand Duke, he acknowledged that there would be some technical design challenges to overcome in the production of the coin. However, Grand Duke Travis was so enthusiastic about the coin moving forward that he had a proper portrait photo taken on the spot and sent it to Jorge so that it could be incorporated into the design and the coin could be minted as quickly as possible.

The initial sketch design created by Jorge Vidal that was used to create the coin looked less than impressive, but once the coin was minted, everyone in the government was incredibly pleased with the final result.

$10 Grand Duke Travis
Year 2005
Material Copper-Nickel
Denomination 10 Westarctican Dollars
Mintage 175
Diameter (mm) 39

2008 $10 WAD coin

The 2008 $10 WAD coin

The 2008 $10 WAD coin is one of the smallest coins produced by the Central Bank and one of the few coins with a reeded edge, as well as one of the few tri-metal coins (the three metals being copper, nickel, and zinc, i.e., German silver).

On the obverse, the coin has a stylized map of Antarctica superimposed by a compass with an emperor penguin in the east direction and the arms of Westrctica in the north direction.

It is the only coin to bear the name of Grand Duke Philip, who ruled Westarctica from 2006 to 2008, abdicating the throne shortly after the coin was minted. As no stamps were produced during the 2006 - 2008 era, this coin remains the only lasting artifact of Grand Duke Philip's four years as ruler of Westarctica.

$10 Grand Duke Philip
Year 2008
Material Copper-Nickel-Brass
Denomination 10 Westarctican Dollars
Mintage 100
Diameter (mm) 26

2011 $10 WAD coin

2011 Cruzen Island bronze coin

Following the 2010 coup that removed Grand Duke Jon-Lawrence from power, Westarctica briefly ceased to be a monarchy, so the Central Bank was unable to issue any coins featuring the non-existent monarch.

Instead, the $10 WAD coin was dedicated to the islands of Westarctica as well as some of the animals that roam the vast wilderness of Westarctica: the orca, the Brown Skua, and a fluffy emperor penguin chick.

2011 Pranke Island bi-metallic coin

The 2011 $10 WAD was released in a set of three, and all three coins are unusual in that they are square (or diamond) shaped instead of being round. They were released in two separate kind of metallic profiles: one set was made of bronze, and the other was bi-metallic comprised of nickel and bronze.

2011 Driscoll Island bronze coin

The standard bronze coins were minted in a run of 300 coins for each of the three designs while the bi-metallic coins were minted in a limited run of only 30 coins for each design.

$10 Islands of Westarctica - Standard
Year 2011
Material Bronze
Denomination 10 Westarctican Dollars
Mintage 300 of each design
Diameter (mm) Not Round
$10 Islands of Westarctica - Bi-metallic
Year 2011
Material Nickel-Bronze
Denomination 10 Westarctican Dollars
Mintage 30 of each design
Diameter (mm) Not Round

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