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"!