Principality of Outer Baldonia, Outer Bald Tusket Island

Started by Alex Island, March 03, 2021, 04:45:23 PM

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Alex Island

Outer Bald Tusket Island map

8) HOW THE GRAND PRINCIPALITY OF EXTERNAL BALDONIA DECLARED WAR ON THE SOVIET UNION  ???

In 1948, the American businessman and lawyer Russell Herundel, who was on the board of the Coca-Cola Company, purchased an uninhabited island off the coast of Canada for $ 750. Erundel was fond of tuna fishing and built a house on the island for himself and his fellow fishermen. For a joke, he proclaimed his island the Grand Duchy, and himself - the Grand Duke, the highest court and ministerial positions went to his friends.
Outer Baldonia would have remained a funny joke if it hadn't occurred to Aroundel to add the new state's "consulate" number to the D.C. phone book. He was probably very surprised when he received the first invitation to attend a diplomatic reception, but soon he got involved and was already joking at the world level.
At that time, a parade of sovereignty had already begun in the world, associated with the collapse of the colonial system, and no one was surprised at the appearance of a representative of an unknown country on the list of invited guests. In addition, the UN was still making its first steps at that time and, it seems, was ready to accept any new state into its ranks. Erundel became a regular guest at UN events, and appeared at the ceremony in a suit decorated with beer bottle corks and sardine jar lids. It seemed that the matter was heading towards international recognition of the false state.

In 1953, the Soviet Union noticed Erundel's UN activity. An article criticizing the Constitution of the Grand Duchy was published in Literaturnaya Gazeta, which in particular stated that: "The population of the state is made up of fishermen. Fishermen are endowed with the following rights: the inalienable right to freedom from questions, whining, shaving, taxes, politics, war, hypocrisy. and any prohibitions. They had the right to swear, lie, drink, gamble, the right to sleep all day and sleep all night. " With a sense of humor, the Soviet press resolutely rebuffed the Baldonian "imperialists".
In response, on March 9, 1953, the Principality of Outer Baldonia declared war on the Soviet Union. At that time, 70 people were considered citizens of Baldonia, 69 of them bore the rank of admiral. The armdale yacht club, allied to the principality, took its fleet out into the open sea towards military glory, which it really did not achieve, since the Soviet government avoided a direct military confrontation, limiting itself to a small company in the media.
After the declaration of war, Erundel was no longer invited anywhere, and he, deciding that the joke was dragging on, abandoned his project. In 1973, he sold his island at all for $ 1. And yet, the Grand Duchy managed to play its role in world politics, exposing UN diplomats to the ridicule.

This is a variant of the gold coin:
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Alex Island

Here is a post about it on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Outer_Baldonia

It turned out that in addition to the famous gold coins, there were also silver ones. I found only one photo in this quality:
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Gusev

It was interesting to know.
Your topic about islands and tokens is always informative and non-standard.  :like:
"Those at the top of the mountain didn't fall there."- Marcus Washling.


Alex Island

For some unknown reason, I could not find a photo in good image quality of the silver version of the coin for comparison for many years. And now when I found it, you can see both options with the inscriptions:

"STERLING SILVER" & "826 FINE GOLD"
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