The stelo ("star"; plural: steloj) was from 1945 to 1993 a monetary unit of Esperantists, one of whose aims was to achieve a single world currency. Attempts at an earlier currency, the speso, were cut short by the First World War. For a time the Universal League (Esperanto: Universala Ligo), part of the Esperanto movement, issued coupons and coins denominated in steloj, making attempts to link the Stelo to existing currencies on the basis of relative purchasing power in different countries.
A currency by the same name is used in some Esperanto youth meetings from 2012 to the present day. It has plastic coins in several colors.
The speso
For Esperantists concerned with international relationships, the need for a currency with a fixed purchasing power was very important. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Esperanto in 1912, the Swiss firm Holy Frères made coins for the Universal Esperanto Association — the Speso (plural: Spesoj) — in the denominations spesdeko (10 spesoj), spescento (100 spesoj), spesmilo (1,000 spesoj) and spesdekmilo (10,000 spesoj). The First World War, however, put an end to this initiative.
Founding of the Universal League On 14 April 1942, the 25th anniversary of the death of L. L. Zamenhof, a group of faithful Esperantists had gathered in secret in a private residence in The Hague to remember him. The Netherlands were then under Nazi occupation and the group had already experienced the tyranny of the police state. Esperantists had been among the groups especially persecuted and even exterminated by the Nazis, and they now wanted jointly to undertake a concrete task to help save mankind from "world catastrophe."
After discussion, the Esperantists agreed to form the Universal League as an organization whose principal purpose would be to implement Zamenhof's original program: to unite humanity in peace through a common language. Employing the motto "One World, One Language, One Currency," the Netherlands-based group promoted the use of the Stelo as a universal currency unit.
With the founding of the Universal League, an express wish of the now-deceased Zamenhof and of Esperantists from many different lands both before and during the Second World War was coming to fruition. The original participants secretly invited other well-known Esperantists to take part in the discussions. A preparatory committee was constituted to develop and fix the ideas further. On 1 April 1945 the committee revealed their basic concept to the world. One of their stated purposes was: "to strive for the creation of a world currency, based on an international monetary unit, the Stelo."
On 16 March 1946 its first international assembly was held in The Hague. The 1294 members at the meeting approved a constitution, one of the stated goals of which was the issuing of Stelo currency with a stable, internationally agreed value. The members elected a committee to work out further details for the use of the Stelo. The contribution for a lifelong membership was at first set as the "cornerstone" value of one Stelo. Soon, however, it was announced that the value of a Stelo would equal the price of a standard loaf of bread in the Netherlands, which at that time cost 0.25 Dutch guilders.
The 1946 assembly re-emphasized the motto "One World, One Language, One Currency." The League had commercial relations with banks in six countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland), as well as with three Dutch banks. For all these bank accounts the Universal League maintained parallel systematic accounting in the local currency and in Steloj, and appointed agents in 14 other countries. These representatives submitted their financial operations reports on the basis of the Stelo.
Monetary stability The archives of the Universal League show that the intention was to mint a coin with a fixed value. The League saw this stability as the only way to lift the world from the pressures of economic differentials that tended to result in conflicts among peoples. Exchange rates for the Stelo outside the Netherlands were based on 1946 exchange rates for other currencies quoted by the largest Dutch commercial bank.
Coupons
At first the Esperantists had to forgo further steps, such as the establishment of their own bank with a worldwide cheque endorsing and payment system and the issuing of coins and banknotes. At that time the various nations had strict rules governing international financial operations that were designed to shield them from outside financial attack.
Even in the early period (1945) the Universal League nevertheless brought out the 1-Stelo Premio-Kupono, which remained valid till 1950. Every new coupon issue brought on the market was intended to be valid for five years. The coupons were used to pay for subscriptions, advertisements, activity participation costs, etc. League members also received the coupons as rewards for introducing new members or as competition prizes. According to a report in La Praktiko the use of Premio-Kupono flourished, and it became habitual for Esperantists to pay with them, for example during Esperanto world conferences.
Later development of the Stelo stagnated. The Universal League founders wanted to show their good will by maintaining a constant value for the Stelo, but their efforts were doomed to failure. The Dutch price of bread gradually increased, but nobody thought to adjust the relationship between the Stelo and the guilder. The ratio remained four Steloj to the guilder, and bank currency conversion tables were used to fix the value of the Stelo in other countries. Moreover, even the Universal League gave up the idea of recording bookkeeping transactions in Stelo monetary units, so nobody gained experience with a coin of constant value. It is no wonder that the Stelo lost its reputation and that its use even by Esperantists became rare.
Minting of coinage
During the 1950s membership in the Universal League grew to 15,000 Esperantists. In 1959, they realized the longstanding dream of minting Esperanto coinage in denominations of one Stelo (bronze), five Steloj (yellow copper) and ten Steloj (cupronickel). Rich from worldwide commodity sales receipts, the Universal League had placed a large order for with the Royal Dutch Mint (Rijksmunt) in Utrecht to strike the coinage. This investment was swiftly recouped, with the result that in 1965 the League was able to issue a fourth denomination, a silver 25 steloj coin, which also sold very well. Cupronickel and gold variants of the 25 steloj denomination were also minted.
But the other dream of the Stelo retaining a constant value was almost forgotten except among the very old Universal League members. The League fell quiet and scarcely did anything, though still publishing the illustrated magazine La Praktiko. The new subtitle was A journal for citizens of the world; previously it had been A journal for instruction and recreation. Publication of the periodical stopped only in 1970, when Andreo Cseh, who had been editor since 1946, had to retire due to weak health. Dr. Cseh remained in a care home until his death in 1979.
List of coins:George S. Cuhaj and Thomas Michael, Unusual World Coins, Krause Publications, 2011
Image Value Diameter Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse Mintage 1 stelo 20 mm 3 g Bronze Plain Heraldry of radiant star with text "UNU MONDO · UNU LINGVO · UNU MONO" ("One world, one language, one currency"). Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 10,000 5 steloj 23 mm 5 g Aluminium bronze Milled Globe with text "LA MONDO ESTAS UNU LANDO ★ LA HOMARO UNU POPOLO" ("The world is one country, humanity one people"). Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 10,000 10 steloj 28 mm 9 g Cupronickel Plain Effigy of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof with text "D-RO L.L. ZAMENHOF KREINTO DE ESPERANTO" ("Dr. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto") and "1859–1917" Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 10,000 25 steloj (cupronickel) 37.8 mm 19 g Cupronickel Plain Effigy of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof with text "D-RO L.L. ZAMENHOF KREINTO DE ESPERANTO" ("Dr. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto") and "1859–1917" Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 1,000 25 steloj (silver) 37.8 mm 25 g 90% Ag Plain Effigy of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof with text "D-RO L.L. ZAMENHOF KREINTO DE ESPERANTO" ("Dr. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto") and "1859–1917" Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 5,000 25 steloj (gold) 37.8 mm 50 g 98.3% Au Plain, each coin with an individual number engraved Effigy of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof with text "D-RO L.L. ZAMENHOF KREINTO DE ESPERANTO" ("Dr. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto") and "1859–1917" Value over star, "UNIVERSALA LIGO", year 10
Lawrence Mee's role Lawrence Mee was to breathe new life into the Universal League. In 1973 Mee and his wife became co-workers at the head office of the World Esperanto Organization. The following year the Universal League selected a few faithful members to lead a renewal of the League in striving for peace through cooperation with the World Association for World Federation (now known as the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy) and the World Esperanto Association.
For two years they promoted development of the Stelo as an international currency. After long discussion they concluded that the Stelo should be revalued from a fourth of a guilder to a half-guilder. Further discussions led the Universal League to fix the value of the Stelo. Mee was later to write a significant and comprehensive essay on the development of the Stelo, "De stabiele munteenheid van de esperantisten: de stelo" ("The stable monetary unit of the Esperantists: the Stelo'"), which first appeared in the 2000 Yearbook of Europees Genootschap voor Munt- en Penningkunde, a federation of Dutch-language numismatic associations.
Fixed value Setting a fixed value for the Stelo meant that, as of a certain date, its purchasing power would thereafter remain the same and would not be subject to inflation. On the chosen date, 1 January 1977, the purchasing power of one Stelo was defined as equal to a half guilder; i.e., one guilder was set equal to two Steloj.
Dr. Josef Hartl of Vienna had devised a detailed plan for fixing the value of the Stelo. Around 1977 Dr. Hartl had circulated a pamphlet on the Stelo that appears to have influenced Lawrence Mee. Hartl's article suggested the circulation of a currency with a constant value as an answer to inflationary devaluation. His basic idea was that regardless of its level of development each country could calculate in its national currency an average family's monthly expenditure. One could then arbitrarily assign the value of 1,000 monetary units to this average monthly expenditure. Thus by definition, the loss to a family in any country of, say, 10 units would be absolutely equal to 10 "international monetary units."
By careful calculation, therefore, the conversion rate between the international monetary unit and the national currency could be adjusted as necessary according to the inflation rate in any particular country. By basing transactions among different countries on the international monetary unit, the national currencies would be beyond the attacks of speculators; indeed, speculation in currency values would become useless.
As often occurs, several unconnected events happened to coincide: In 1976 the Internacia Scienca Asocio Esperantista (ISAE: International Esperanto Sciences Association) urged the Universal League to revalue the Stelo; New members took a leading role in the League; In the League a forgotten supply of Stelo coins was rediscovered; At the same time the publication of a new magazine began; A Dutch monetary reformer published an article concerning the unsuitability of currency systems in the industrialized lands; and Dr. Hartl launched his pamphlet.
A new treasurer for the League