Country Of The Day: Guyana, 1887 20 Centimes French Colony Specimen Essai PCGS SP-64

This coin is not from the country we call "Guyana" today, nor from the territory of French Guiana. Some history might put this in perspective.

The "Republic of Independent Guiana" was a short-lived unrecognized state to the south-east of what is now French Guiana, in the Brazilian state of Amapa. In 1862, Brazil and France declared this disputed border region a neutral zone, neither side wishing to go to war over what both sides considered to be a patch of worthless hostile jungle. But in 1886, French settlers arrived and proclaimed a republic. Both Brazil and France refused to recognize the new nation and the surviving colonists had all left by 1891. Gold was discovered in 1894, making the place no longer worthless, but the region remained an official neutral zone until 1897 when Switzerland was asked by both France and Brazil to arbitrate between them, with the Swiss awarding most of the territory to Brazil.

I had not heard of it until I looked it up after this article was posted. They never made any actual circulating coins, but were obviously in the process of arranging for the Paris mint to strike some before diplomatic recognition was denied.