XENOSTROV
In dealing with the country lists of the Everycountry and Unrecognized States Numismatic Society Yahoo groups, it is obvious that, alphabetically, there are no countries, real nor imagined, that begin with the letter "X" that have issued any coins. In addition, there are no countries listed in any of the Krause World Coin books nor the Unusual World Coins book that begin with "X". To fill this alphabetical void, numismatically speaking, I have created the fantasy realm of Xenostrov. To honor this event, I have had minted coins from Xenostrov.
Xenostrov is my fantasy world located in Bohemia in the Czech Republic, the homeland of my ancestors. The country name is derived from "xeno", of Greek origin, meaning strange or foreign, and from "ostrov" which in the Czech language means island. The design on the obverse of the coin is meant to represent an "H" for Havelka and an "X" for Xenostrov. The legend on the coin is "Havelka D.G. Dux Fan. St. Xen." meaning "Havelka, by the Grace of God, Duke of the Fantasy State of Xenostrov". The tomaš denomination is based on a Czech variation of my first name, Thomas.
The first Xenostrov coin is a 40 mm, antique bronze-finish, 100 tomaš coin. The owl on that coin (in honor of my extensive collection of owl coins and exonumia) is a Eurasian Owl (Bubo bubo), found in Bohemia.
The second Xenostrov coin is a 44 mm, shiny silver-finish, 250 tomaš coin. The owl on the coin is a Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus), also found in Bohemia.
The third, and final, Xenostrov coin, dated 2010, is a 51 mm, matte gold-finish 500 tomaš coin. The owl on the coin is a Barn Owl (Tyto alba), also found in Bohemia.
Only 100 of each coin have been minted. No more coins will be made.
A 1,000 tomaš banknote has also been produced. It is dated 2010, as well.
