United Transnational Republics
United Transnational Republics is a country projected started in Germany in April 2001, now boasting more than 2500 registered citizens. For more information, you can look at their website at "www.transnationalrepublic.org".

United Transnational Republics can be described as a modernization or extension of the federal system. The national issues will still be dealt with by the various national governments, international issues will be handled by the United Nations and the transnational issued by the United Transnational Republics.

The model of United Transitional Republic could be probably similar to Non-Government Organizations, representing all issues of human rights, war crimes and other crimes against humanity or the protection of the global environment (like Greenpeace).

Below is the information about United Transnational Republics and its founders, researched and gathered by Erik V. McCrea.

This idea was sparked in 1996, during a conversation between an artist named Christian Eckart and a dozen friends. He relayed a story about his Russian girlfriend, whose passport had expired. When she went to get it extended at her embassy in Berlin, the officials refused to renew it. She had lost her citizenship from one moment to the next. They found it shocking that without someone validating our identity on paper, we almost cease to exist! They then discussed “how seemingly bizarre geopolitical borders are in nowadays time. Do borders really reflect our way of life or, more importantly, our way of thinking? Yet, the people of the world depend on nations to confirm their existence with paper documents. Could there be an alternative?” By the year 2000, the societal sway of the Internet had expanded to such an extent that they began to develop a Web-site (along with a currency system, identity cards, and other documents). The TRansnationale Republik was officially proclaimed on April 16, 2001. The Proclamation Party took place at the Atomic Café in Munich, Germany. The founders included the brothers/artists Georg and Jakob Zoche and several of their friends (Tammo Rist, Jakob Schlandt, Cornelius Everding, Edwina Blush, Flo Biehler, Andor Orand). Since then, they've established Immigration Offices in several other cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, and Copenhagen. These well-traveled gents have also taken their message to special functions/events in Finland, Italy, and Switzerland. On October 20, 2001, they were fortunate enough to temporarily occupy the former Staatsbank (State Bank) of the GDR, where they participated in a symposium/concert at this Berlin landmark. More recently, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1954 Hague Convention, they've been asked to contribute a sample of their cultural assets, which shall be placed in an airtight stainless steel container and stored for 1,500 years at the “Barbara Gallery” in Oberried, under UNESCO special protection.
As for their creed, they maintain that in our age, people are not afforded sufficient representation; this is largely because globalization is propelled/manipulated by “global players”/corporations which behave like unfettered superpowers. They monopolize political influence and financial might, causing traditional nations to be monetarily dependant upon them. Moreover, they enable governments to live on the borrowed money of their indentured denizens. Additionally, there are certain global issues which cannot be solved by nations because these selfsame countries are constricted by continental/economic conflicts of interests and are unable to act transnationally. Even though there are some noteworthy Non-Governmental Organizations that engage in supra-national politics and negotiations, it is the aim of the TRansnational Republic to become an overarching representative institution; one which inspires and fuels their communal spirit/kinship, thereby providing a more effective tool for international problem-solving and activism.
To counteract our governments' stranglehold over our medium of exchange, they propose that money (the “4th power”) would rightly serve to further expand the classical separation of powers (legislative, judicial, executive). Their “community currency” (and the others that could follow their lead) will be used to exchange goods and services amongst their free citizens, and it would replace national currencies and empower their like-minded compatriots (persons linked together not by birthplace/geographical boundaries) to become more influential at home and abroad.
Their 4 Payola coin symbolizes this lofty goal, “while at the same time taking the Euro as a standard (1:4) in order to assure the tradability of this new currency.” This coin is fashioned from a genuine 2002 German Euro. “It was quite a complicated thing to do, as we had to make a minting tool that would re-mint the ‘1’ into a ‘4’ which required positioning the 1-Euro coin very precisely in the tool. The word “EURO” is removed and replaced by ‘PAYOLA’.” There is also a 2002 10 Payola coin. Both of their impressive coins were struck in 2002 for their participation at the International Biennial of Young Art in Turin, Italy. They make sustained efforts to actively exhibit and distribute these coins and banknotes. From June 29-July 11, 2002, the Central Bank of the United Transnational Republics managed an installation in Berlin's Staatliche Münze (Federal Mint).

Their Web-site has an image of the 10 Payola coin and the banknotes:
http://www.transnationalrepublic.org/centralbank/CB-payola/CB-payola.html

 
 
The following coins are produced with their mintage indicated.

01. 4 payola 2002 bimetallic (counterstamped on a 2002D German 1 euro coin) = 100 pieces

02. 10 payola 2002 copper-Nickel, diameter 30mm with reeded edge = 2500 pieces

03. 10 payola 2002 .999 Silver proof (999 is stamped on the reverse), diameter 30mm with reeded edge = 50 pieces.

I purchased all my three coins having reeded edges directly from one of the co-founder Georg Zoche. You can directly contact him at (georg@transnationalrepublic.org or immigration@transnationalrepublic.org). Since the Payola introduction on April 16th 2001, the Payola is pegged to the Euro as1 Payola = 0.25 Euro.
 
 
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