Cazique of Poyais:
Gregorio MacGregor
1820's

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Gregor MacGregor (24.12.1786 - 3.12.1845) was a soldier in the British Army and later fought with Bolivar throughout South America. He captured Amelia Island, Florida from the Spanish and issued Customs Scrip while Amelia was considered a separate country.

After visiting the Mosquito(Miskito) Coast of Honduras he is said to have been given a land grant of 12,500 sq. mi. by a local tribal King and was appointed Cazique (Chief). He later sold land to British and Scottish people who wanted to settle in Poyais. MacGregor also issued loans, land backed scrip and other financial instruments in Poyais in addition to having printed 5,000 Poyais banknotes.

His scheme of selling Poyais land was promoted to settlers as a country already developed by printing elaborate brochures. Two ships of settlers went to Poyais only to find that it was just an undeveloped  jungle territory with questionable ownership by MacGregor. The settlers came back to Britain and MacGregor then tried to promote this same scheme in France.

MacGregor was arrested briefly in France for his land scheme but settled in Venezuela where he wrote his memoirs and died in 1845.

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(1) This banknote was offered by Staples Numismatics and sold on eBay for $3,950 on 16.12.2008.

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SN   We gratefully acknowledge Pete from Staples Numismatics, Inc. for providing these images.