Item number: A22

Year: AD 1859

Material: Silver

Size: 16.0 x 16.0 mm

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2023

This 5-cent silver coin circulated in the Danish West Indies. The obverse features a profile portrait designed by the Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint, Harald Conradsen, depicting King Frederick VII. Surrounding the portrait are inscriptions rendered in Latin script denoting the royal title and the year of minting. On the reverse side is depicted a three-masted sailing ship with the stern displaying the Danish national flag. Above the ship is the inscription “Danish West Indies Coin” in Danish, while below it specifies the coin’s denomination as 5 cents.

In the year AD 1672, the Danish West Indies were established when the Royal-sponsored Danish West India Company occupied the island of Saint Thomas, which had been relinquished by France. This served as Denmark’s colonial center in the Caribbean. Following the abolition of slavery in AD 1848, the economic collapse of the colony resulted in a financial burden for the nation. Through a series of negotiations and a national referendum, in AD 1917, Denmark, through the Danish West Indies Treaty, formally sold the colony to the United States. Subsequently renamed the Virgin Islands, the colony became a United States overseas territory, a status it retains to the present day.

物件編號: A22

年代: 公元 1859 年

材料: 銀

尺寸: 16.0 x 16.0 mm

來源: 福君錢幣 2023

此硬幣為流通於丹屬西印度群島的5分銀幣。硬幣正面是皇家鑄幣廠首席設計師Harald Conradsen替時任國王法雷迪七世(Frederick VII)設計的側像，周圍的刻字是以拉丁文拼寫之國王頭銜和鑄造年份。背面有艘船尾懸掛丹麥國旗的三桅帆船，上方是丹麥文書寫的「丹麥西印度硬幣」，下方則標示幣值為5分。

丹屬西印度群島是公元1672年，由王室贊助的丹麥西印度公司佔據法國放棄的聖托馬斯島為據點，作為丹麥在加勒比海一帶的殖民中心。隨著公元1848年奴隸制的終結，經濟崩潰的殖民地成為國家負擔。經過陸續談判和全民公投後，公元1917年丹麥通過《丹屬西印度群島條約》將殖民地賣給美國，殖民地被更名為維京群島，並成為美國海外領地迄今。