Hutt River Province — officially the Principality of Hutt River — declared independence from Australia in 1970 after a wheat quota dispute between farmer Leonard Casley and the Western Australian government. Casley invoked an obscure provision of imperial law to secession, proclaimed himself Prince Leonard I, and spent decades issuing stamps, passports, and coinage that no recognized government ever accepted as legal tender.
This 1978 gold issue commemorating the "Discovery of Hawaii" is a curiosity even within that eccentric output — the connection between a micro-nation in Western Australia and the Hawaiian islands remains largely a promotional one.
Hutt River Province — officially the Principality of Hutt River — declared independence from Australia in 1970 after a wheat quota dispute between farmer Leonard Casley and the Western Australian government. Casley invoked an obscure provision of imperial law to secession, proclaimed himself Prince Leonard I, and spent decades issuing stamps, passports, and coinage that no recognized government ever accepted as legal tender.
This 1978 gold issue commemorating the "Discovery of Hawaii" is a curiosity even within that eccentric output — the connection between a micro-nation in Western Australia and the Hawaiian islands remains largely a promotional one.