Changing the schedule up

 Currently, new posts appear here three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (mirrored to Facebook and, when I remember, Bluesky), and new posts go up on Instagram on Mondays and Thursdays. However, I'm changing things up:

• Monday - Instagram - "MEDALS Monday", spotlighting something from the MEDALS archive
• Tuesday - Blog post here, mirrored to Facebook and Bluesky
• Wednesday - Tumblr - True(ish) Tales of Slabovia; Facebook - royal memes
• Thursday - Instagram - "Travel Thursday", with a picture from some part of the world I've visited
• Friday - Blog post here, mirrored to Facebook and Bluesky

So the big changes are (1) posting here twice a week rather than three times, and (2) a scheduled Tumblr post rather than the current ad-hoc posting that happens there. Oh, and I'm considering posting the occasional video on Instagram and/or going live on Facebook... but that will be something in the future, while the other changes take effect next week.

I still have a couple more posts in the queue for the "How to make your life more royal" series, too, if anyone's interested.

The annotated llama

Micronations as creative outlets

There are a number of reasons why you might want to start your own micronation, or to join an existing micronation. Some micronations are started as art projects and other creative endeavours, or in support of such efforts - Ladonia springs to mind as one such micronation. But even micronations that don't have a creative output as their primary goal represent massive opportunities for creativity in many shapes and forms. 

There are the obvious trappings of a micronation, such as flags, anthems, and even the constitution, although such efforts should be "one and done" - a country doesn't really need fifteen different constitutions or anthems. Then there are things like uniforms (if your micronation has a military), royal attire, crown jewels, and so on, which can be refined over time.

Less obviously, but offering many more opportunities for multiple iterations and versions, are things such as stamps, currency, and even medals. These also offer the opportunity for exchanges with other micronations, either by trading/giving the physical objects or by joining groups devoted to discussion of such things.

And, when (if) you run out of ideas, join one or two of the micronational communities online, or just come to MicroCon - I've said many times that I always come away from MicroCon with a year or two worth of ideas for projects.

And, finally, starting your own micronation or joining an existing micronation project can give you a lot of fodder for building a social media presence, like a blog (😀), Instagram, or other websites.

Making your life more royal (part three of a series) - Furnishing your castle

Part of the reason I set up this blog is to help people "put a little royalty into their life". To that end, I've kicked off this semi-regular series of postings about bringing the castles of Europe to you, sort of. Similar to the "Gothic Homemaking" series of videos that were put out by Aurelio Voltaire (over on YouTube), this will be a recurring series on how to make your own life, well, a bit more royal.

Part one of this series can be found here. Part two of this series can be found here.

We've already talked about thrones, but you probably need more furniture than just a throne, unless you expect all of your guests to remain standing for their entire visit. And, unless you're the king of Sweden, your furniture probably shouldn't all come from Ikea!

If you've got some money, then buying appropriate furnishings might be an option. I've seen some truly nice things on the Wayfair website, but their prices would destroy my treasury...

Search "executive desk" on Wayfair

Search "throne" on Wayfair

There are a few nice thrones over on Amazon, and the prices are a BIT lower than Wayfair.

You may get lucky and find suitable furnishings at your local charity store (Value Village, Goodwill, etc.) - I've heard that others have found thrones, etc. there, although I never have. If you're handy, you can often get beat-up furniture fairly cheaply and then refinish it at home.

If you're even handier, you might be able to build your own furniture. House Graydragon of the Society for Creative Anachronism has a webpage devoted to furniture, which includes plans for a Glastonbury chair, a simple Gothic bench, and a simple storage chest (which they use for storing bocce balls), among other things.

As further inspiration, there's a book called Constructing Medieval Furniture by Daniel Diehl (Stackpole Books, 1996) which, if you can find it, may prove inspirational for the DIY decorator. The author also co-wrote a book called Medieval & Renaissance Furniture: Plans & Instructions for Historical Reproductions with Mark P. Donnelly (Stackpole Books, 2012), but I don't know if it might overlap with the other one, or by how much. There are several other books on constructing medieval furniture available via retailers such as Amazon as well.

Bad News: Nobody Wants to Hear About Your Micronation!

Recently, in one of the micronational Facebook groups, someone announced they were organizing an online micronational conference for later this year. I thought it sounded interesting, and clicked the link for registration. Scrolling down the form, I noticed that it had a question at the end, "Would you be willing to speak about your micronation?" (Insert screeching tires and horrible car crash sounds...)

I closed the form, went back to Facebook, and added a comment to the post asking the poster (i.e., the organizer) if the conference was only going to be people talking about their micronations. They stated that no, they welcomed other talks as well, and I should message them - but they left it sounding as though the majority of the talks would be people talking about their micronations.

Yeah, no. I doubt I'll attend that online conference, much less speak at it. Why?

Well, as the title of this post says, nobody wants to hear about your micronation - or at least, not at a micronational conference. Early iterations of MicroCon suffered somewhat from this - speaker after speaker talking about their micronation for fifteen or twenty minutes each. To be blunt, it's incredibly boring for the audience most of the time. For MicroCon 2019, we set a note in the call for speakers that we would refuse any proposed talk which was "About my micronation". Other MicroCon events since then have largely followed the same rule to some degree.

Is this an absolute? No, but it's a rule that should only be broken under very specific circumstances. If there is something truly unique about your micronation - say, its system of government or some other aspect that might make an interesting talk - then by all means, talk about it. However, talk about the theory of that aspect first (say, the first 60% to 75% of your content) and then close out your content by talking about how it's working for you in practice - and include both the good and the bad. "Warts and all," as they say.

Now, there are counter-examples! At MicroCon 2025, there was a talk about Bir Tawil. At first, I thought it was going to be yet another person who can barely find the Sudan on the map, trying to lay claim to a place they'd never been to. But, no, I was wrong, and I'm glad I was - she wanted to talk about Bir Tawil from the perspective of the people who actually live there, something that the micronational claimants seem to ignore. And if Prince Michael of Sealand ever shows up to a MicroCon, I'm sure that a history of Sealand would make an amusing talk.

Overall, though, I stand by my original statement, "Nobody wants to hear about your micronation," or at least, not as a talk at a conference. 

The audience at MicroCon 2025

Micronations and territory

 A lot of micronations want to claim land, whether it's just the bedroom of the house they live in or the block they live on or half of Antarctica.

One of the reasons that so many do is because of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (more commonly referred to as just "The Montevideo Convention"). Article 1 of that document states, "The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states." (Emphasis added.) A large banner-sized copy of the Montevideo Convention has been brought to several MicroCons, and many micronations have signed on the banner, including Slabovia.

As a counter-point to this idea, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (technically the "Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta"), an international humanitarian organization that's existed for almost 1000 years, is considered sovereign under international law despite having no territory of its own (Wikipedia), so land claims are not an absolute requirement for sovereignty.  

There is some precedent (sort of) for claiming that your bedroom or your residence is sovereign territory. You could declare your residence to be your embassy, and by international diplomatic convention, embassies are considered to be an extension of the nation's borders within the host nation. And, somewhat famously, during World War Two, the government of Canada declared the hospital rooms of Crown Princess Juliana (who had fled to Canada against the German invasion) to be "extraterritorial", making them part of the Netherlands rather than Canada for the duration of her pregnancy and delivery. This ensured that Princess Margriet was born on Dutch territory, so she would be a Dutch citizen rather than Canadian, and secured her place in the line of succession for the throne. 

Someone in one of the micronational groups on Facebook recently stated that their claimed territory meant that they had over two billion citizens. This was, perhaps predictably, met with derision. You don't get to claim citizens that don't even know you exist! 

If you're determined to claim land, and you're looking for land that doesn't impinge on "macronational" land claims (i.e., so you're not accused of being a separatist), there are basically three options (at least on this planet):

Because of the way that claims on Antarctica are made (each nation claims that slice directly "under" its own territory on the globe, terminating at the south pole), there is a large chunk of land called Marie Byrd Land (Wikipedia), comprising over 1.6 million square kilometres (or over 600,000 square miles, if you prefer archaic systems of measurement).

There is a small piece of land in Africa called Bir Tawil, on the border between Egypt and Sudan (Wikipedia), which neither country wants or lays claim to, making it terra nullius (literally, "nobody's land"). However, people actually live there, so maybe they should get a say in their statehood. 

Finally, there are several small pockets of land adjacent to the Danube river in Europe, which are also terra nullius due to the border dispute between Croatia and Serbia. I'm aware of two land claims made by micronations which cover two of the four pockets in question: Liberland and someone claiming to be the new Yugoslavia both claim Gornja Siga, and "pocket three" is claimed by the Free Republic of Verdis (Wikipedia).

What about offshore options? Sealand (Wikipedia) is a neat concept, but it's a one-off - there aren't a lot of coastal defense fortresses left over from WW2 to begin with. Additionally, the UK has since extended its territorial waters claim from 3 nautical miles to 12, meaning that Sealand is now within the territorial waters of the UK, and thus exists only at the pleasure of the government of His Royal Majesty, King Charles III. There have been other attempts to build platforms or artificial islands for micronations - Rose Island (Wikipedia) was invaded and destroyed by the Italian government, who believed it was a "tax dodge", while the reefs claimed by Republic of Minerva (Wikipedia) were seized by Tonga. There was also REM Island (Wikipedia), an offshore platform hosting pirate radio and TV broadcasts. Again, the nearest country (in this case, the Netherlands) changed their law to be able to exert sovereignty over the seabed where the platform was located, then seized it. There seems to be a bit of a trend in that regard... Nonetheless, seasteading (Wikipedia) persists as an idea for many micronations, although a single-family seastead near Thailand was boarded by the Thai navy and the occupants charged with "violating Thai sovereignty" (article).

There are also companies that will "sell" you the title to land on Mars and the Moon, and possibly other planets. Some micronationals feel that, if you can't set foot on the land, it doesn't count, but that's not stated in the Montevideo Convention.

And, of course, some micronations are "virtual", claiming land in Minecraft or some other video game.

Finally, I've stated several times that Slabovia only claims "the land under our feet and the sky above our heads", but that's not strictly true. My house is officially the Slabovian embassy, we have deed to hundreds of acres of land on Mars, and we have our own star, which is named "Slabovia Prime".

An AI-generated view of the Earth as seen from space
(Generated by Meta AI - yes, it's pretty bad)

Funding a micronation?

In alchemy (and philosophy), there is a concept of prima materia or "prime material". Effectively, it's the material from which all other materials are formed.

One thing that many micronationals realize very quickly is that money is the prima materia of a micronation - if you have enough of it, it becomes possible to acquire or build all of the projects and ideas that will help flesh out your micronation and achieve your dream.

Of course, how to make more money is probably the prime concern of about 90% of the people out there anyway, whether or not they're trying to build a micronation.

I'll say this right up front: other micronations do not have a lot of money, so trying to sell goods and services in that market will not net a lot of income. Again, louder, for the people in the back: you can't get rich by selling to micronations.

Slabovia currently funds a number of our projects through a 50% tax on lottery winnings, although the tax is currently only applied to the monarch. (If I ever win a jackpot prize, as the saying goes, "I won't tell anyone, but there will be signs." Like, we'd be the first micronation to have an actual castle? At the time of writing (August 2025), the "Lotto Max Jackpot" is estimated at $70 million CAD... )

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of useful advice when it comes to raising money legally though. If you're producing micronational currency or stamps, there is a small market for selling those things to others, but (as noted above), you're not going to make a lot of money that way. Apparently, donating plasma pays fairly well, and you can do it twice a week. Here in Toronto, for example, it's possible to make over $1000 in six weeks of regular plasma donations, if you're healthy. Depending on where you live and your state of health, there might be other fluids you can sell? Apparently, the movie "El Mariachi" was funded in part by the director taking part in a month-long study in a research hospital.

Or, if you're scouring the second-hand stores for royal household items anyway, as I discussed in a recent posting, and you've got a good eye for it, you might be able to find stuff that you can re-sell for a lot more money. I once bought a bag of assorted used Lego(tm) for $9.99 and there was a General Grievous minifigure in it that'd be worth $50 or more to the right collector.

Otherwise, you'll have to budget for it. Maybe have a coin box for donations/tithes/taxes when people visit your realm (Molossia charges a toll of "all of your pocket change" when people enter, as I understand it), and also empty your own pocket change into it at the end of the day? The Slabovian treasury (picture below) started out as a plain pine box from Michaels (crafts store). I applied stain and attached brass fittings, and I think it's quite a nice treasury now!

The royal coffers are a little bare right now...
Mind the "guard llama"!

From the King's Table - a (somewhat) Slabovian cookbook

 Last year was both my silver jubilee (25 years on the throne of Slabovia), and Slabovia's ruby jubilee (40 years as a micronation). One of the things I did as part of the celebrations was to put together a cookbook of some of my favourite recipes. Initially I only distributed it to our citizens, but I've decided to make it accessible to all. You can find it here. Enjoy!

So what am I working on these days?

 As is typical when I return from a MicroCon, I came away with a whole bunch of ideas, and I've been slowly progressing on multiple fronts over the last couple of months:

• I continue to expand my social media presence, with active accounts on Bluesky, Instagram, and Tumblr, as well as an "alt" account on Facebook. And this blog, obviously. 😀
• I've started working on a book about microphaleristics. If it comes together the way I hope, I will probably publish it through Amazon (physical books only, not ebook).
• I had an initial conversation on Wednesday this week with Dr. Robert Motum, who wrote the Globe & Mail article about micronations and MicroCon recently. We're hoping to find something to collaborate together on - either a chapter in a book he's pitched to a publisher, or an article.
• I've started thinking at least semi-seriously about micronational currencies. I've obtained some "high rag content" paper to run some experiments in printing paper currency, and I'm also thinking about minting coins. And maybe stamps will follow?
• The queen expressed interest in having a military unit of her own, so I've been helping her lay the groundwork for what will become the Queen's Able Company of Knights, or QuACK for short. Their unit symbol will be a duck, naturally.
• As I previously hinted, I'm looking to maybe organize a regional "summit of micronations" for May or June of next year. Once I have the date and location fixed, I'll start publicizing it.
• I'm currently planning an expedition that will tie in to the "Intermicronational Year of Exploration" planned and announced by President Zar Antonov of the United Republic of Obscurium. I'm hoping to actually do the expedition one morning next week, if it's not too warm out.

I think that's it for active projects right now, but there are other projects that are on the back-burner  for various reasons. Some are pending more state funds, including crown jewels (a globus glama (see concept design below) and a silver crown with amethyst stones, maybe a scepter and a mace). I'd also like to figure out how to get over to Europe, both for the 2027 MicroCon in Aiges-Mortes and for at least one of the Micro European Summits.

Concept art for the globus glama

On chivalric orders and micronational honours

“Give me enough medals and I’ll win you any war”

-- Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's Art of War

Many micronations like to give awards to their citizens or rulers of other micronations, a practice I am quite fond of.  Indeed, I've developed several such awards that are presented on any occasion that merits it, including the King's Mark of Merit and the King's Mark of Friendship.

However, there is something that irks me about this practice - the overwhelming number of "orders" that are given out which, despite their name, bear little to no resemblance to actual chivalric orders! Specifically, micronational orders do not typically have multiple tiers.

First, a bit of history - the concept of an "order" dates back to the Crusades of the 11th through 13th centuries with the military orders of knights. Over time, they transitioned to more courtly orders (i.e. Order of the Garter, Order of the Bath) - such orders would have a monarch as their fons honorum, and would be bestowed on any person deemed worthy, not just knights who had proven their martial prowess. 

Regardless of their provenance (modern or medieval), many orders (at least in Europe) tend to follow the five-tier system used by Napoleon for the French Legion of Honour. The highest rank might be referred to as "First Class" or "Knight Grand Cross" of the order, and lower ranks might include Knight Commander, Commander, Officer, and Knight, for example.

While not exactly aligning to the five-tier system used in Europe, the Order of Canada does have multiple tiers, including Companion, Officer, and Member. Again, the Crown (as sovereign ruler of Canada) is the fons honorum of the order, with the Governor-General as Chancellor of the order.

There is one micronational order that I can think of which does follow the idea of tiers of precedence: Westarctica has the Order of the Snow Flake, which includes Knight, Knight Commander, and Knight Grand Cross ranks.

Westarctica's Order of the Snow Flake

Finally, in a case of "Do as I say, not as I do," I must confess that Slabovia's highest honour, the Order of Slabovia, does not have multiple tiers or levels. If we were to recreate the order today, I would press for a multi-tier system as is used in Europe.

The Order of Slabovia
A case of "Do as I say, not as I do"

Make your life more royal (part two of a series) - Decorating your castle

Part of the reason I set up this blog is to help people "put a little royalty into their life". To that end, I'm kicking off a semi-regular series of postings about bringing the castles of Europe to you, sort of. Similar to the "Gothic Homemaking" series of videos that were put out by Aurelio Voltaire (over on YouTube), this will be a recurring series on how to make your own life, well, a bit more royal.

Part one of this series can be found here. 

One way of doing that is by taking the old adage, "A man's home is his castle," a bit more literally - and this is true whether you're a man, a woman, or anything else. While you can buy literal castles over in Europe (sometimes for less than what a house in Toronto, Canada will cost these days - see footnote), many of us aren't on that sort of budget, or can't relocate to Europe easily. So, absent a rich relative suddenly leaving you their fortune, let's see how we can "work with what we have" in terms of decorating your living space. We're not focusing on furniture today - that will be another post later. I'm talking about other adornments and accessories that will make it clear this is a palace, not a studio apartment.

Also, I'm not talking about spray-painting everything with gold paint or covering it all with gilt leaf and calling it a day. Frankly, that looks ugly and gauche.

Fortunately, as I write this (summer 2025), the retail stores near me (particularly the discount retailers like Marshall's) are just starting to enter "Code Orange", meaning they are starting to get their Halloween stock in. Who knows what sort of candelabras, wall sconces, and other quasi-gothic housewares - err, castlewares - you'll be able to pick up?

I picked these bat wall appliques up in the post-Halloween sales last year!
(Yes, I haven't used them yet - I sometimes buy things
without knowing exactly how/when they will be used.)

If your royal treasury is flush with gold, there are some very nice things to be found in the online shop of the Royal Collection, a registered charity in the UK that administers "almost the entire contents of all the royal palaces" (which are not owned by the current monarch, but held in trust by them for the future). By purchasing from them, you'll be supporting their efforts to preserve British history.

However, even if you're on a budget, there are things you can do/make/buy to "royal up" your castle. First, never underestimate your local second-hand stores - you can often find amazing things that other people have discarded. I found these pewter plates at our local "Value Village" a couple of years ago, complete with the hardware to hang them on the wall:

Pewter plates from a second-hand store

Some of your thrift store finds might need a bit of work, but it's amazing how a fresh coat of paint (again, NOT gold!) or refinishing can make something look new again. (On the other hand, having things that were already "well-loved" can also lend them a bit of authenticity.)

Similarly, check out local garage sales, etc. I don't have them any more, but I once found two wall plaques at a garage sale, each of which had two miniature (steel!) swords tucked behind a coat of arms.

Don't forget about Amazon wish lists! Amazon has lots of nice "royal" home furnishings such as statues and wall plaques, swords, and even chainmail and helmets, so if you build a wish list and share it to your friends and family, they can buy you things off of it for your birthday or other occasions!

Speaking of online shopping, you can check out the "fast fashion" websites like Temu, although the quality is often uneven, to say the least. And check the sizing on those sites - a 6" banner won't look that impressive on your wall!

You can find surprising things at dollar stores, too! The lion wall plaque at the left of the photo below came from a dollar store (and the portrait on the wall behind it was another find from the local "Value Village").

Royalty is where you find it...

Something you can do that's pretty cheap and easy to do is to find pictures of gargoyles online, print them out, put them in cheap frames from the dollar store, and hang them above your doors, stairs, etc. If you already have 8.5x11" document frames around the house, it'll only cost you the paper and printer ink/toner!

Framed gargoyle picture from the Internet.
Note the "Queen's Chambers" sign in the background

If you have some spare fabric lying around, or you can pick some up cheap, you can always hang it from the walls as a ceiling-to-floor drapery.

Also remember to look for inspiration in "castle-adjacent" things - in that last picture, you can also see a "Queen's Chambers" sign hanging up, near the bottom of the photo. I found that at the Michael's Arts & Crafts chain store as part of the Bridgerton-inspired collection they released last year.

Footnote: Yes, I'm serious about a castle in France costing less than a house in Toronto - I recently saw a listing for a castle in Ax-les-Thermes, France, with five bedrooms selling for $633,800 USD, or about $870,000 CAD. At the time of writing (July 2025), the average price for a detached house in Toronto is about $1.4 million CAD. So, you could buy the castle and still have enough left to furnish it, for what you'd pay for a house in Toronto.

What's a YAMO?

I've been in a couple of Facebook groups devoted to micronations for a number of years now. Something that tends to happen on a regular basis in those groups is someone (always someone relatively new to the group) says, "Hey, we should organize a micronational United Nations!" This is invariably met with a number of comments that include the acronym "YAMO", which means "Yet Another Micronational Organization".

We really do not need a micronational United Nations, for several reasons. First, the reason why the macronational United Nations was formed (the aftermath of World War Two) doesn't exist in the micronational world. Second, trade between micronations is, for the most part, non-existent, and what there is can be negotiated directly between those micronations. Third, frankly, many micronations are fairly short-lived, so the membership would be constantly fluctuating and it would be a nightmare to try to elect a "secretary-general" or equivalent. And I prefer micronational diplomacy to be more, well, personal - I like meeting the representatives of other micronations, either at MicroCon or otherwise.

I'm not going to say that micronational organizations aren't possible or can't be successful, just that the idea of a massive umbrella organization equivalent to the United Nations isn't viable or needed. There are other micronational organizations that have been established, with varying degrees of success:

• Apparently there's a World Micronational Chess Federation but it seems to be dormant at this time
• The Organization de la Microfrancophonie is an organization of French-speaking micronations, although I understand there has been some recent disagreement among the members that caused a number of them to leave earlier this year
• MicroCon itself is, in some respects, a fairly loose organization of micronations
• There is a group on Facebook devoted to micronational postal systems (see also my previous post about micronational stamps) and one for micronational bank notes (ditto)
• After MicroCon 2025, a group of micronations (including Molossia) formed Mikro-Esperantujo, an international micro-organization to build cooperation and mutual assistance between Esperanto-speaking micronations

The MicroWiki site lists many other intermicronational organizations, some of which I've never heard of. Conveniently, they also have a list of defunct/inactive organizations.

My ongoing quest for a suitable throne

What's the difference between a chair and a throne? Simply put, a throne is a symbol of the power of the occupant. Every sovereign needs a good throne to rest their royal seat on, and I've been searching for an appropriate throne for quite some time. In this post, I'll show you a few of the thrones I've experienced or considered over the years. Enjoy!

My coronation, err, throne. Moving on!

Replica Viking throne at a museum in Stockholm, Sweden -
made for a rather wide seat, or possibly it's a throne for two?

There's a similar one over on Etsy, which looks fantastic,
but I can't imagine what shipping from Ukraine would be!

I do like the look of this one, but I think it would be rather uncomfortable for long periods

There's always a more futuristic option...
(Taken at the wonderful Star Trek Set Tour, Ticonderoga, NY)

This one was at Disney World in Orlando, Florida
(Note also the "King of the Castle" shirt - it pays to advertise!)

And then there's, well, THIS - the donut throne.
(Universal Studios Orlando)

I spotted this over on Wayfair - I love the look, but the price is giving me pause, to say the least...

Spotted on Wayfair. Sigh.

If I can find someone with a well-equipped wood shop, this Gothic Arch break-down char, originally made for the Society for Creative Anachronism, might do for now, although I'll need to find a cushion - the "royal seat" isn't as well-padded as it used to be! There are also videos on YouTube showing throne-building, such as this one and this one.

If neither buying nor building are currently in your budget, another option might be to cover an existing chair with a nice length of cloth. At the end of the day, though, it's the occupant that makes the throne - not the other way around!

Increasing my social media footprint

 I've added a presence over on Tumblr as well. You can check it out here if you're so inclined.

It's never too early to start planning for 2027

 MicroCon 2027 is still almost two years away, but we're already registered! Actually, that's only half-correct. In 2027, there will be TWO MicroCon events, one in San Diego (hosted by Slowjamastan) and one in Europe (hosted by Aigues-Mortes), and we're registered for the San Diego event, happening August 6-8. 

https://us.microcon27.com/seriously-silly-dangerously-dignified-slabovia-crashes-microcon-27/ 

My presentation at MicroCon 2023 in Joliet, IL

I'd like to attend the France one as well, but we'll have to see how the royal coffers look closer to the date.

Did you know? The "L" in MEDALS stands for Library!

I've previously mentioned MEDALS, the Microphalerist Educational Archive and Library of Slabovia, and shown some of the decorations that have been donated to the archive. However, MEDALS is also a library (it's in the title), and over the years we've acquired a few books for said library. Since MEDALS focuses on awards given by micronations, we try to avoid books that focus on particular macro-nations or time periods in history, and actively seek out more general works in the field.

First up is "A Glossary of Terms Used in Phaleristics - The Science, Study, and Collecting of the Insignia of Orders, Decorations, and Medals" by Alexander J. Laslo (Dorado Publishing, 1995). This slim volume (running just 58 pages plus an eight-page introduction) is largely devoted to, well, exactly what the title says. It's a glossary of terms such as "Accolated" (meaning the design has two heads, both facing the same direction), piefort ("a numismatic item struck on a planchet twice or more the normal thickness"), and saltire (describing when two objects cross to form an "X", such as the staffs of two flags).

Next we have "Collecting Medals and Decorations, Third Edition" by Alec A. Purves (Robert Stockwell Ltd., 1978) - the photo below has been edited slightly to remove the identifying label of the previous owner, this is the ugly white square in the top right corner. This volume runs to nearly 240 pages, and is much more comprehensive and informative than the slim volume by Laslo (1995), although it also includes a lot of information specific to British awards.

Finally, somewhere around here I have a copy of "Collecting Military Medals: A Beginner's Guide" by Colin Narbeth (Lutterworth Press, 2002), although I have to confess I've misplaced it at the moment... (The picture below is taken from the Amazon website.) When I find it, I'll post a summary of it here.

MEDALS currently publishes several pamphlets on different aspects of micronational awards; perhaps one day we will publish our own book as a guide to others!