A message from the President of the RepublicIn 1999, my predecessor as President of the Republic--the despicable despot whose name not even I may speak--made the Argentine Peso the official currency of the Marivellas. It must be conceded that, at the time, the Peso had demonstrated remarkable stability vis-a-vis the American Dollar compared to other currencies. (But, of course, this was also true--and is still true--of the Disney Dollar.)
As we all know, at the beginning of this year, the Argentine Peso's value declined precipitously. This decline threatened our nation's recovery from the effects of the disasterous reign of my despicable predecessor which ended only with my humble acceptance of my office on Bastille Day last year. This crisis, however, did present a unique opportunity to create a truly national currency for our beloved nation which would reflect its virtually unique history and future.
To end the crisis and seize the opportunity, I offered, with the unanimous consent of my Father's other surviving heirs, to make available to our nation one of my Grandfather's greatest legacies--the so-called "Bon Chance Louis Gold". In exchange for a couple of smaller islands, certain mineral rights throughout the Republic, an exclusive franchise to develop "Jake Cutter's Beach", and other trifles not worth mentioning, I transferred title to the Bon Chance Louis Gold--independently valued at over 100 million American Dollars by my American accountant Arthur Andersen Jr--to our nation's depleted treasury, on the condition that it be used to establish a new national currency honoring my Grandfather, the hero of our nation, Louis "Bon Chance Louis" Bonchancelouis né Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche.
Today, that new currency was based on the "Sing d'Or" (or Gold Monkey"), which was, and remains, valued at exactly 0.5 American Dollars and 0.323 Wotanberger Pints. This currency is backed by the material, social, and cultural wealth of our beautiful islands, not to mention the so-called "Bon Chance Louis Gold". The Republic will produce and issue both coins and bank notes based on the Singe d'Or.
The primary design element of the coins is the great seal of our Republic featuring my Grandfather's "Gold Monkey".* My Grandfather and his Gold Monkey became symbols of the Marivellan people's commitment to the ideals of the French Revolution during Japan's occupation of the French Marivellas from 1941 to 1945. When the Republic of the Maravellas was established in 1Grandfather955, my was selected to serve as President and his personal seal became that of the new nation. I am very pleased that the national seal--my Grandfather's personal seal--will now be the distinctive feature of our Republic's coinage. To learn more about the new coins, go here.
The paper currency features the great seal of our Republic, but does, and will, include various graphics recognizing the persons, places, and events that have made our Republic great. Since September 22, 2002, was the twentieth anniversary of the first showing of Tales of the Gold Monkey ("TOTGM")--the American television series which literally put the Marivella Islands back on the map--it was obvious that the first bank notes issued should honor TOTGM. From my Father's collection of TOTGM memorabilia, I donated a rare authographed photograph of the TOTGM''s major cast members which is featured prominently on the obverse of each bank note.
On the reverse of each note is both the reverse of the great seal of the Republic and a reverse image of the note's value, as well as something quite novel. As a way of offsetting the unexepectedly high cost of producing counterfeit-proof bank notes, the Republic has solicited sponsorships from corporate and other partners who will be permitted to place messages on the reverse of the notes they sponsor. To learn more about the new bank notes, go here.
*As every Marivellan schoolboy knows, but many Gold Monkiacs do not, it was my Grandfather who discovered the fabled "Gold Monkey" in 1934 and brought it to Boragora for "safekeeping". (The "Gold Monkey" must never be confused with the so-called "Bon Chance Louis Gold" discovered by my Grandfather in 1948.) With some of the other gold trinkets he discovered with the Gold Monkey, my Grandfather bought what he renamed the "Gold Monkey Bar" and installed the "Gold Monkey" (camouflaged under a thick coat of gaudy yellow paint) at a prominent place on a high shelf behind the bar. One evening in 1935, an American expatriate (perhaps Richard Blaine) was doodling on a napkin when he drew a Gold Monkey Bar "seal" with the motto (perhaps in Latin) "Don't monkey with Louis" (or perhaps "Drop the gun, Louis."). Another (more regular) patron took this doodle and had it turned it into a sign which adorned the Monkey Bar until 1945. The sign's disappearance coincided with that of the Japanese commandant of the garrison. He vanished two days before Boragora was liberated by Wotanberger and American forces led by Major Jake Cutter. After the war, a seal incorporating the essential parts of the "Gold Monkey Bar Seal" formally replaced my Grandfather's personal seal which had been based on that of Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche, my Grandfather's birthplace in Lorraine, France.
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