For the first time in three years, Sandus will have a new issue of its national currency, the Persuma. As part of a nascent movement towards generating tangible artefacts of Sandum culture and development, the State will in the coming months commission the minting of a new Persuma coin, to be minted in Sandum Ulterior Province. As a result, it has been declared that the design for these coins is to be put to competition, with entry open to any design by Sandum citizens and with the victor decided by the Sôgmô.
The basic specifications for the competition are as follows:
- All submissions must be in block colours, with colours demonstrating relative heights;
- All submissions must be between 200x200px and 300x300px as the coin is to be between 20mm and 30mm across and the resolution of the fabrication method is 0.1mm, giving 10 pixels per mm;
- The final image should be between 320px square and 220px square with a 10 pixel border to prevent clipping;
- The coin can be any shape, but must include space for the year of minting and the denomination of the coin.
This new coin minting is the first step in what is being called, amongst several Sandum citizens, a new policy under Realism. This so-called “matter Realism” will focus on the creation of objects and developing techniques of creation. This new policy, advanced by Jacob Barnet Pharmacologus, seeks to generate Sandum modes of production and help to fulfil previous Sandum plans for economic development.
Thus, this first step seeks to illustrate both to the citizens of Sandus and the people of other micronations a new path to take in micronational Realism: alongside the more common political Realism, there should be a productive and material Realism which serves to bring people together in the production of pieces of culture with economic and political importance. Thus, the first production of this new mode of Realism is both a piece of economic technology (a piece of currency) and a piece of cultural furniture in the life of citizens.
Moreover, these coins will be available both for purchase and for currency exchange. In future, as this matter-Realism advances, it is hoped that these coins will be exchangeable for Sandum goods and services, at preferential rates to macronational currencies to afford a level of advantage which will make them an attractive prospect within the community.
On top of this, these coins are to be a symbol of what Sandus has stood for in the past and what it will stand for in future: a more outward looking and grounded state of play both internally and diplomatically which will seek to apply the underpinnings of Sandum political philosophy to the mechanics of a developing nation.
We will realise growing Libera by developing means to produce vital resources (such as art, the trappings of state, and so on) and an independent currency which is not only culturally important but politically and economically expedient for Sandus and her allies.
We will cultivate a more grounded Realism with burgeoning co-operatives and with modes of production which allow us to more fully realise what it is to be a state (and more importantly a nation) through economic and cultural production, together.
Importantly, we will bring Philia to a less abstract level by rooting it in the actions of citizens with and for each other, creating cultural and economic capital which will enrich us all in both literal and metaphorical ways. Through this new policy of matter-Realism, the focus will shift to a fuller balance between theory and praxis, for the benefit of Sandus, her people and allies. Let this competition and minting be the symbol of that new age.
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