1 Cent / 5 Bit - Christian IX

This coin exists because of an awkward colonial arithmetic problem. Denmark's Virgin Islands used a dual-currency system — the Danish krone alongside the local bit, at a fixed rate of 5 bits to 1 cent and 100 cents to 1 franc — a legacy of the islands' history under multiple European monetary influences. The 1905 issue was struck in Copenhagen for circulation in the Danish West Indies, a territory Denmark was already quietly trying to sell to the United States. Negotiations had actually produced a draft treaty in 1902, which the U.S. Senate ratified but the Danish Folketing rejected by a single vote.

The sale eventually went through in 1917 for $25 million in gold.