My $3 estate sale find in Cheyenne turned out to be a map of a country that never existed

Sage Green · 2026-10-08T09:10:04.857379+00:00

I picked up a folded map at an estate sale in Cheyenne three weeks ago for $3 because the colors looked hand painted and the paper felt old. When I got it home I noticed the country was labeled "Republic of New Aragon" and the capital was called Port Helena, but no atlas or old newspaper I checked has ever mentioned either one. After two evenings of digging I found a small note in the corner, drawn in the same ink, showing it was made in 1974 as a prop for a high school theater club's fictional war play. Here is what bugs me, lots of folks online keep calling these "fake maps" when there is a real difference between a made up place meant to trick buyers and a prop made for a play that only has one copy. Two dealers at a Denver show in January both guessed it was a 1800s hoax and offered me $80, which shows how fast people jump to the wrong call. Does anyone here keep a list of known stage and movie prop maps so we can spot these before we overpay?

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My $3 estate sale find in Cheyenne turned out to be a map of a country that never existed | Collectors of Weird Maps - Topic Shares