Westarctica began issuing novelty coinage around 2001 as a micronation claiming the unclaimed Marie Byrd Land territory in Antarctica — a region left stateless by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which froze all territorial claims without resolving the gaps between them. Sturge Island, part of the Balleny Islands, sits within the claimed territory and provided the geographic name for this denomination. These pieces circulate nowhere and were produced for collectors and supporters of the micronation project rather than any monetary purpose.
Westarctica began issuing novelty coinage around 2001 as a micronation claiming the unclaimed Marie Byrd Land territory in Antarctica — a region left stateless by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which froze all territorial claims without resolving the gaps between them. Sturge Island, part of the Balleny Islands, sits within the claimed territory and provided the geographic name for this denomination. These pieces circulate nowhere and were produced for collectors and supporters of the micronation project rather than any monetary purpose.