Stelo

Decades after the Spesmilo's initiative, as Humanity lives yet again in dark times as the Second World War rages, a group of persecuted Esperantists gathered in 1942 and founded the Universala Ligo, whose goal was to concretize the Zamenhof’s aspirations of a peaceful world without barriers. For them, this would not only be achieved with a common language, but also a world currency, and they thus created in 1946 the Stelo, a spiritual successor to the Spesmilo. The initiative gained traction over the years, with even coins being minted by the Royal Dutch Mint in 1960 and 1965.

Unfortunately, the project did not gain further traction and stalled for decades before effectively dying when the Universala Ligo was dissoluted in 1993.

Like de Saussure and the Universala Ligo, Stelo.xyz supports the idea that Humanity will benefit from a widely used common currency. We believe that Bitcoin can be considered as the spiritual successor to the Spesmilo and Stelo, and also support a currency that has more suitable properties for this purpose: Riecoin.

Coupons

Steloj first existed as Premio-Kuponoj coupons that expired after several years. Their use became common between Esperantists, for example to pay subscriptions or as rewards.

Coupon For 1 Stelo — A Premio-Kupono for 1 Stelo. The Universala Ligo members agreed to define the value of one Stelo as one kg of bread, worth 0.25 NLG at the time. A couple of 0.25 NLG coins are also shown with the coupon.

Coupon For 1 Stelo, Back — A Premio-Kupono for 1 Stelo. The Universala Ligo members agreed to define the value of one Stelo as one kg of bread, worth 0.25 NLG at the time. A couple of 0.25 NLG coins are also shown with the coupon.

Coins

In 1959, 100 years after the birth of Zamenhof, the Universala Ligo decided to mint and put into circulation 1, 5, 10 Stelo(j) coins, and later in 1965 25 Steloj coins, which mainly exist in Cupronicked and Silver, but ten Gold ones were also made. The exact alloys of the coins are unknown.

Steloj coins can occasionally be found on auction sites at reasonable prices unlike Spesmiloj coins that are very difficult to find. We have the complete collection, including the elusive Gold 25 Steloj!

Denomination	Diameter	Thickness, Edge	Mass	Alloy	Mintage
1 Stelo	20.0 mm	1.4 mm, Plain	3.3 g	Bronze	10000
5 Steloj	23.2 mm	1.6 mm, Milled	5.0 g	Brass	10000
10 Steloj	27.8 mm	1.85 mm, Plain	8.8 g	Cupronickel	10000
25 Steloj	37.8 mm	2.2 mm, Plain	19.3 g	Cupronickel	1000
25 Steloj	37.7 mm	2.6 mm, Plain	25.0 g	Silver 900	5000
25 Steloj	37.7 mm	2.8 mm, Plain with Number between 1 et 10.	49.8 g	Gold 983	10

Edge and Original Box of the Gold 25 Steloj Coin. Inside the Box is written "'s RIJKS MUNT UTRECHT". We got it from an auction of the Monato Magazine.

References

Esperanto and the Dream of a World Currency by Chaim D Shiboleth.
The Revuo Esperanto from April 2017 contains an Article about the Spesmilo and Stelo Coins.
De Stabiele Munteenheid Van De Esperantisten: De Stelo by L. Mee.
Wikipedia's Stelo Entry.
NGC's Entry for some of the Coins: X#5, X#6, X#7, X#8.