Coins of Mava

The coins of Mava are unofficial issues of currency from Mava, a group of islands in the Sarosan Ocean and dependency of Atitlan. The coins were first issued in 1932 by Apurnat Poassattinek (1870-1941), a native businessman and entrepreneur and the richest man in Mava for much of his life. Issued in denominations of "one Maava" and "two Maava", and later a "five Maava" from 1936, these coins are fantasy tokens not intended for circulation and without any formal denomination.

The coins became popular amongst Maveans, becoming a symbol of national identity. On Apurnat's death in 1941 his son, Poassattinek Manatik, continued to mint coins. Since 1954, the coins have been minted by the Casa de Moneda de Tlanexticue in Atitlan.

1932 first issue

The first issue was issued in 1932 by Apurnat Poassattinek. Having made his wealth in a business partnership with Atitlanese-born Matias Cozahtli, he attempted to buy the island of Taak, the smallest in the Mava Islands. His failure to do so prompted attempts to subvert Atitlanese authority, one of which was to mint his own coins, which was illegal under the Ley de 1872 sobre la producción de moneda. There were two coins - the One Maava and the Two Maava - which took the Mavean-language name of the islands and were based on the circulating one and two peso coins.

The obverse (front) of the coins depicted a portrait of Apurnat with the legend 'SR·APURNAT·POASATTINEK'. The abbreviation 'SR' means 'siuruk', a Mavean honorific equivalent to 'mister' or 'señor' and which asserted his respectable character against anticipated claims of eccentricity or mental incapacity.