Emperor Norton

What happens when a man moves to San Francisco and calls himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico? When Joshua A. Norton did this in the late 19th century he became something of a local celebrity. The San Francisco Museum indicates among the decrees he claimed were to dissolve Congress, abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and ordered a bridge to connect Oakland and San Francisco. It seems incredulous to believe that police officers saluted this person and that 10,000 attended his funeral.

I am not sure how Norton managed to get currency printed but the reports are that these were acceptable in the community at the time: