1 Gold Celeston - Coin of the Nation of Celestial Space
jmlanzaf
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OK, it might not be a US Coin. Although the headquarters for the Nation of Celestial Space was in Illinois. I was cataloguing this item for sale and I was amused and fascinated by its story so I thought I would share.
Per wikipedia
The Nation of Celestial Space (also known as Celestia) is a micronation created by Evergreen Park, Illinois, resident James Thomas Mangan. Celestia comprised the entirety of "outer space", which Mangan laid claim to on behalf of humanity to ensure that no one country might establish a political hegemony there. As "Founder and First Representative", he registered this acquisition with the Recorder of Deeds and Titles of Cook County on January 1, 1949. At its foundation Celestia claimed to have 19 members, among them Mangan's daughter Ruth; a decade later a booklet published by the group claimed that membership had grown to 19,057.
Mangan was active for many years in pursuing his claims on behalf of Celestia; in 1949 he notified the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United Nations that Celestia had banned all further atmospheric nuclear tests. Later, as the space race got underway in earnest he sent angry letters of protest to the leaders of the Soviet Union and United States on the occasions that their early space flights encroached upon his "territory" - although he later waived these proscriptions to allow for satellite launches by the latter.
While Mangan and Celestia were politely ignored by the superpowers, there is evidence that at least some others were prepared to entertain his claims with a greater degree of seriousness; the first unfurling of the Celestian flag - featuring a blue sharp symbol within a white disc against a blue field - was broadcast in June 1958 to a television audience of millions across the U.S., and the following day the flag was raised at the United Nations building in New York City, to fly alongside those of the member nations of that organisation.
The obverse of this 1959 solid gold 1 Celeston coin features the profile of Ruth Mangan as the allegorical figure "Magnanimity".
Despite these efforts, the Nation of Celestial Space is thought to have become defunct with the death of its founder. Its only surviving legacy is the series of stamps and silver and gold coins and passports issued in its name by Mangan from the late 1950s through to the mid-1960s.
Some of the coins minted by Celestia included a silver "1 Joule" of 4.15 grams (.925 silver) and a gold "1 Celeston" of 2.20 grams (.900 gold). Their scarcity ensures that they sell for many hundreds of dollars apiece on the rare occasions they come to market.
Comments
The Heritage auction description is also somewhat whimsical:
1961 Nation of Celestial Space One Gold Celeston. Gold (.900 fine), 14 mm, 2.2 gm. If this cataloger has done his job properly, this Celestia piece should land between Canada and China (we don't have a category for Universal Medals) ... On December 20, 1948, James Thomas Mangan gave birth to Celestia, "claiming all space in the sky as its sovereign territory." While some may have viewed Mangan variously as a crackpot or visionary, Mangan (or First Representative Mangan, as he was known in the Nation of Celestia) was quite serious in his administration of the nation and his belief in the validity of his claim.
The Nation of Celestial Space is believed to have become defunct with the death of its founder, leaving as its only surviving legacy the series of stamps and silver and gold coins issued by Mangan from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Those coins are rare today. The obverse of this 1961-dated piece features the figure of Mangan's daughter Ruth as "Magnanimity." MS63 or better.
I have some additional information about the coins of the Nation of Celestial Space:
According to a May, 1949 issue of Science Illustrated, “Mangan intends to be very strict with space ships and space stations which he feels will be actualities in 20 years and, if unchecked, will be zooming all over his nation.” According to the nationofcelestialspace.com website, “His intent was to build his nation as a beacon for peace. He recognized that outer space could be used for great scientific advancement and achievement. He envisioned a world where the same rockets made for war would transport people and satellites into space to change the world.”
There are 9 different coins issued by the Nation of Celestial Space: 6 gold celestons, 2 silver joules and one brass erg. The coins, except for the erg, are listed in “Unusual World Coins”, 6th edition, pages 702 – 703.
The 6 gold celestons include mint state issues of 1959 and 1960, and proofs of 1959, 1959 with a Small R, 1960, and 1961. (I don't understand the "Small R" comment as I can't find an "R" on the coin anywhere.) Reported mintages were 540 for 1959 and 200 for 1960, but I don’t know if these include both mint state and proofs. 1961 proofs seem to be equal in scarcity to 1960, so the mintage is probably similar. The gold coins are 22 karat gold, and 15 mm in diameter.
The 2 silver joules were issued in 1961 and include one 20 mm with a wide border and one 17 mm without a border. A “joule” is a unit of work or energy in the International System of Units (SI); it is equal to the work done by a force of one newton acting through one meter. Named in honor of the English physicist James Prescott Joule, it equals 107 ergs, or approximately 0.7377 foot-pounds. In English, this means that to lift ¾ of a pound one foot is one joule.
The 1 brass erg was issued in 1968 and is 25 mm in diameter. An “erg” is a unit of energy or work in the centimeter-gram-second system of physical units used in physics; to lift a pound weight one foot requires 1.356 × 107 ergs. It equals the work done by a force of one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter and is equal to 10-7 joule, the standard unit of work or energy. As you can see, an erg is a very small amount of energy. Remember when I said to lift ¾ of a pound one foot was a joule, one ten-millionth of that is an erg.
Values are somewhat speculative, i.e., what is someone willing to pay, but it seems that 3-coin gold sets sell on eBay around $1,500 and the joule sells around $100. I’ve never seen an erg for sale separately, but since I have the three dates of the gold coins plus the joule, I would be a willing buyer of an erg.
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Is this the currency of the great @ZoidMeister
Not sure, but I did find out how to pronounce "magnanimity" when I was researching these coins.
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Dealer Bob Rhue did extensive research on these for an ANA exhibit several years ago. He even interviewed Princess Ruth.
Since her father died, shouldn't she be elevated to Queen Ruth?
hello you have a new friend !
Interesting story to the piece. I wouldn’t pay much for one but at least it’s more interesting than many private issues are to me.
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Well, it is 2.2 grams of 0.900 fine gold. Stack's sold one for $384 last August.
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-NM4U5/1959-nation-of-celestial-space-1-gold-celeston-bruce-x-2-gold-mint-state
ATS appears to grade them
https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/california-and-state-fractional-gold-tokens-pscid-131/1961-gold-token-nation-of-celestial-space-1-gold-celeston-pf-coinid-859595
Does anyone know where these items were minted?
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I'm near Evergreen Park and bought one years ago in a box. I don't remember any clues on the box as to its origin but the dealer who sold it to me knew the story. I bought it mostly for the story.
I have not seen any reference to it.
Do they speak Esperanto? Beam me up! Peace Roy
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So in Celestia, what is the universal guiding directional point of reference? If you wander out into space, what is up/down, north/south, east/west?
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Good question, Cameonut! I guess they just point and say "thataway".
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Kinda like a mobeus strip.
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Interesting delusion, and surprising how far he was able to carry it. Cheers, RickO
Mangan also minted a silver coin called a joule, which he described as "a coin equal in value to 10,000,000 Ergs of Celestial Energy." The decimalization of his currency is as follows: 100 Ergs = 10 Joules = 1 Celeston. In his donation letter to the museum, he goes on to say that he was "praised by NASA for basing a coin on energy, which does not change as years go by.
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I would have thought NASA is smarter than that. An erg and a joule don't change, but the price of gold and silver do.
From what I can remember, although this was maybe 10ish years ago, Gordo Cooper, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, took a Celeston up to space on one of his two flights, Faith 7 or Gemini V... most likely Gemini V. As mentioned it went up for auction maybe 10ish years ago.
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If it has to do anything with 'space'
I knew @skyman would know of it
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The Nation of Celestial Space is a Great story. In fact, its mantra or creed might be more appropriate today than when it was created in 1948.
If anyone has any of the Nation of Celestial Space Coins to sell, I would be interested. Please send me a message. Thank you
Spies Bros, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois struck all of the Nation of Celestia Space coins.
The mintages for the Gold Celestons were 504 in 1959, 200 in 1960 and 275 in 1961.
Proofs are scarce, with a combined 36 struck in 1959 (some with "R", some without) Unknown how many of each. 1959 Proofs are among the scarcest variation of Gold Celeston.
1960 strike total of 200 was the lowest, with an unknown number of them being business strikes or proofs.
1961 strike total of 275 were all proofs.
The silver "Joule" coins, IMO, are the most beautiful, but also the most scarce. There are two types of silver Joule; a large flan strike (19.7 mm) and a small flan strike (17 mm). Examination seems to confirm that the small flan strikes were proofs and the large flan strikes business strikes.
Although 1961 strikes for Celeston's was 275 and silver being less expensive than gold would make you think that there would be a large quantity of Joule coins, but there are not.
Family lore confirms that the U.S. Treasury paid Mangan a visit and advised him to shut down, as he would be in violation of the law, by producing coinage -
according to 18 U.S.C. § 486 - U.S. Code Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 486. Uttering coins of gold, silver or other metal --
Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
This visit is likely to have taken place around the time of the 1961 coin strikes, based on the fact that the 1961 Celeston's are the toughest to find and the silver Joule's even scarcer.
One of the 1960 Gold Celestons graded by NGC as PF67 Cameo sold last night at Heritage Auctions for $1,080.
That's a good price. A 67 Cameo has to be pretty scarce for these.
Looks like a MS68 PL 1959 variety fetched $2000 the other day at Stacks.
Anybody have any of these (Gold or silver) for sale?
Does anyone own or has anyone ever seen an ERG Celestial Space coin?
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I get to answer my own question. Someone has a 1968 ERG on sale on eBay for $955. A lot more than I would want to pay!
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