A real coin from a fake country...

terribleredmonster · July 2, 2013 2:44PM

Those of you that read the thread I posted a while back requesting help identifying ancient coins may recall that I mentioned buying a small box of assorted coins from a friend at his insistence several years ago. Recently I finally decided to take on the task of identifying each item in that box (and deciding just what to do it) and it has resulted in a bit of fun and a few interesting finds. While most of the pieces in the box are ancient coins there are a few oddballs, a couple of which have proven to be relatively hard to come by and moderately valuable. Today I got around to tracking down the origin of my last oddball piece and found it to be strangely amusing.

Apparently, some time ago a coin dealer by the name of Allen G. Berman decided that he'd like to be the founder of his own personal fantasy country. I'm not sure what one has to do in order to have your fantasy country recognized by anybody or how to go about doing it, but it seems that Mr. Berman worked those items out as many people are on board with his creation: the Kingdom of Bermania.

Now, I suppose that anybody can pull a name out of thin air and get folks to hop on the band wagon. Fair enough. It got fun (for me, anyway) when in 1998 the fake Kingdom of Bermania had real coins struck in honor of a "royal" wedding. According to the websites I found ( which you can peruse here and here) there were 1000 of these coins made in this composition. Somehow one of them wound up in that little black box that continues to surprise me.

So here it is:

1998 Kingdom of Bermania 5 Denar Plumb

Also, the entire concept of this fake country is tied to world numismatics as evidenced by the existence of the kingdom's official numismatic organization, BeGON, and the fact that the only "official" state events occur at major coin shows.

JerseyJoe · July 2, 2013 2:51PM

I picked one up at coinfest 1 from the person who had these made. He was very nice
entertained my 10 year old with stories. There is a website also with hidden links.
I forget the details now.

terribleredmonster · July 2, 2013 4:08PM

Do you happen to know the exact composition of this coin? It's listed as Nickel-Silver, but that's as much information as seems to be available. It'd be nice to know how much silver is actually in it.

Sapyx · July 2, 2013 5:06PM

"Fake country" is harsh. I prefer the term "diplomatically challenged country".

<< I'm not sure what one has to do in order to have your fantasy country recognized by anybody or how to go about doing it... >>

"Recognized" by whom? Recognition by your friends, family and customers is fairly easy to do. Recognition by other world governments is much harder. The "Countries Club" does not readily accept new members, especially if one or more of the current members objects to the new admission.

There is an entire spectrum of "realness". Some DCCs are fully functional governments, with hundreds of thousands of citizens, tax collection, service provision, circulating coins, and everything one normally associates with an independent national government - all they lack is diplomatic recognition. Taiwan, Transnistria and Somaliland are three examples that come to mind.

Some DCCs have, or think they have, attained some degree of physical or geographic separation for their claimed territory, but are in truth too small in area and/or population to be viable countries. The Hutt River Province and Sealand fall into this category.

Some DCCs are fronts for fringe religious or philosophical groups. Nova Roma is one that comes to mind.

Others are simply just a bunch of guys having fun playing secessionist. Writing constitutions, designing flags, striking coins, that sort of thing. Bermania is definitely in this lattermost category. Some in this category are only in it for the prestige of making their own coins. A decade ago when I wrote this article on the subject for my coin club magazine, I received a nice e-mail from the self-styled Ministerpraesident of Nichtsburg & Zilchstadt, informing me of his own coinage production efforts.

theboz11 · July 2, 2013 7:12PM

Cool piece.

Some DCCs have, or think they have, attained some degree of physical or geographic separation for their claimed territory, but are in truth too small in area and/or population to be viable countries. The Hutt River Province and Sealand fall into this category.

Here is a Hutt River Provence Gold

SaorAlba · July 2, 2013 8:54PM

<< There is an entire spectrum of "realness". Some DCCs are fully functional governments, with hundreds of thousands of citizens, tax collection, service provision, circulating coins, and everything one normally associates with an independent national government - all they lack is diplomatic recognition. Taiwan, Transnistria and Somaliland are three examples that come to mind. >>

I have surreptitiously visited Transdnestr(Transnistria) because as is common in ex-USSR states or breakaway places you often have to travel on a road that doesn't exactly know political boundaries. It is a rather scary place - sort of a throwback to Stalinist Russia in the 1950s with all the hammer and sickle decour etc. People are nice there though.

WillieBoyd2 · July 2, 2013 10:36PM

Joel's Coins of California lists coins from dozens of these places ("Micro Nations"):

http://www.joelscoins.com/nationsnon.htm

Check out "A Coin from Mars (Barsoom)".

JerseyJoe · July 3, 2013 12:45AM

Perhaps related I had the hardest time finding Lithuanian coins listed in the PCGS pop reports.
Then someone pointed that they are listed under Russia. I thought this strange.

SaorAlba · July 3, 2013 2:25AM

My cointribution to this thread - one that eluded my clutches for awhile until I found for melt earlier this year:

This piece caused quite a ruckus in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, my tribe, because there are competing tribal governments or attempts at government and this coin was issued by one of them that is not recognised by the US BIA nor any tribal governments. A lawsuit ensued and the people selling these coins were forced to cease and desist.

LochNESS · July 3, 2013 10:20AM

Well then you did very well to buy at melt! I've never seen one of those before.

I am very familiar with micro-nations myself. I generally try to avoid, but I do own a few examples from the desk of Joseph Lang (consignment director at Stephen Album): Andaman & Nicobar Islands; Cabo Dakhla; Darfur Sultanate; and Kurdistan.

In my experience, the only time numismatists get truly upset over micro-nation coins is when they pay a pretty penny for what they believed was actual legal tender from a recognized nation (non-DCC ;P ).

coinkat · July 3, 2013 10:25AM

I was hoping to see a coin from Freedonia with a portrait of its fearless leader Rufus T. Firefly

terribleredmonster · July 3, 2013 10:32AM

<< "Fake country" is harsh. I prefer the term "diplomatically challenged country".

<< I'm not sure what one has to do in order to have your fantasy country recognized by anybody or how to go about doing it... >>

"Recognized" by whom? Recognition by your friends, family and customers is fairly easy to do. Recognition by other world governments is much harder. The "Countries Club" does not readily accept new members, especially if one or more of the current members objects to the new admission. >>

Well, specifically I was thinking of this tidbit on their BeGON web page:

<< It was announced that in the past year the American Numismatic Association had officially recognized the Kingdom of Bermania, designating the Royal Couple as ANA Region 10 Country Ambassadors to Bermania. >>

lordmarcovan · July 3, 2013 1:28PM

Many of these are of course listed in the Krause "Unusual World Coins" volume.

JerseyJoe · July 3, 2013 2:19PM

<< Some DCCs have, or think they have, attained some degree of physical or geographic separation for their claimed territory, but are in truth too small in area and/or population to be viable countries. The Hutt River Province and Sealand fall into this category. >>

I was reading about the Cherokee Nation coins. I forget which one but a 1/4 Cherokee texan
purchased a 400 acre island in the Rio Grande. By treaty neither the U.S. or Mexico could claim it.

terribleredmonster · July 3, 2013 4:24PM

<< Many of these are of course listed in the Krause "Unusual World Coins" volume. >>

Hey, Lord M, if you have the Krause Unusual World Coins volume I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me the composition of the Bermanian coin I posted.

Sapyx · July 3, 2013 5:03PM

The "unusual" book is listed on NumisMaster; you can find coins listed in it on there or on the NGC database. The 5 denar plumbum 1998 has three possible options: KMX# 4b silver (mintage 18), KMX# 4 "nickel-silver" (1000), and KMX# 4a aluminium (452). I assume yours is either option 2 or 3; you should be able to discern the difference by weight.

LochNESS · July 3, 2013 8:33PM

I think the "DCC" coins from actual places - like Greenland, Antarctica, Galapagos Is. - cause the most confusion amongst novice darksiders. As always, read before you buy.

SaorAlba · July 3, 2013 9:45PM

<< 

I was reading about the Cherokee Nation coins. I forget which one but a 1/4 Cherokee texan
purchased a 400 acre island in the Rio Grande. By treaty neither the U.S. or Mexico could claim it. >>

I have both the 1979 and 1989 examples plus some medals that were struck ca. 1979. Herbert Williams was the name of the guy that purchased the island, but he was out of the picture in 1989 - the people that issued the later coins were also subject to some fraud allegations and lawsuits. I will have to image the other coins sometime - they have been sitting in the SDB for years.

terribleredmonster · July 4, 2013 1:02AM

Thanks for the info, Sapyx! I really enjoyed your article as well. I do believe my coin is the nickel-silver composition. I'll soon know for sure!

Kaline6 · July 4, 2013 2:00AM

That is very cool!

I knew Allen years ago when he had a B&M in Fairfield, CT, and he was always so ready to talk about coins and educate me, a real teacher/dealer. I still see his Village Coin ads in Coin World, featuring ancients. Great guy and I'm glad he is still in the biz.

lordmarcovan · July 4, 2013 8:59AM

<< Hey, Lord M, if you have the Krause Unusual World Coins volume I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me the composition of the Bermanian coin I posted. >>

I do have it, and if nobody else chimes in with the info you seek, I'll look it up and give you the specs on it when I get home. (At work right now.)

(Edit- aha- looks like Sapyx came through with that. Cool.)

PS- I met Allen Berman at a show, once. Really neat guy. He was a big fan of my "Holey Coin Vest". In fact, he bought one coin (a holey Draped Bust half dollar) right off my vest!

Bailathacl · July 5, 2013 8:03AM

Should anyone see one of these Bermania bear & fox coins show up for sale somewhere, please let me know. I'd love to get one, for personal reasons involving bears and foxes that would be entirely uninteresting to others...!

terribleredmonster · July 6, 2013 9:24AM

So Krause doesn't list the exact composition of this coin. It will remain a mystery. Unless, of course, there is a way to test composition or fineness of metals without damaging the coins. I once saw a jeweler test a ring to see if it lived up to the 18k stamp on it with a device like a small pen attached to a small metal pad. It would be really cool if there was something like that which was universally successful on coins of different compositions.

ormandh · July 6, 2013 9:28AM

There is, but it will cost you $20K or more. -Dan

A real coin from a fake country...

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