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2 Dollars - The Byers' Island

Issuer United States Pacific territories
Year 2018
Type Fantasy banknote
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Obverse description Left vignette of Benjamin Morrell (1795–1839), American navigator and explorer, holding a globe and compass against a sailing vessel underprint. Central coat of arms with naval anchor and Latin motto on ribbon. Floral guilloche at upper right; holographic security strip vertically inserted; facsimile signature of Thomas Jefferson at lower centre.
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Reverse lettering 2 DOLLARS
THE BYERS' ISLAND
TWO DOLLARS
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Comments

Byers Island is one of the most obscure entries in the long catalogue of U.S. unincorporated insular territories — a low, uninhabited coral formation in the Pacific whose claim to American jurisdiction rests on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. That Act allowed U.S. citizens to claim uninhabited islands for their guano deposits, and the federal government has since treated dozens of such claims as sovereign territory. No population, no economy, no central bank.

Notes issued under this "territory" designation are fantasy or novelty issues — no legal tender status, no issuing authority with actual jurisdiction over currency. The security features suggest deliberate mimicry of official instruments.

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