1763 Danish West Indies 12 Skilling, KM# 6.2 AMERICANSK (US Virgin Islands)

Description

1763 Danish West Indies 12 Skilling, KM# 6.2
Scarce Only 160k minted.
KM# 6.2 12 SKILLING
3.25 g., 0.500 Silver 0.0522 oz. ASW Obv: Monogram Obv.
Legend: D • G • DAN • NOR • VAN • GOT • REX • Rev: Ship
within inner circle Rev. Legend: AMERICANSK • M • XXII •
SKILL • DANSKE
The Danish West Indies (now the U.S. organized
unincorporated territory of the Virgin Islands of the United States)
consisted of the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, and
62 islets in the Caribbean Sea roughly 40 miles (64 km.) east of
Puerto Rico.
The Virgin Islands were discovered by Columbus in 1493,
during his second voyage to America. During the 17th century,
individual islands, actually the peaks of a submerged mountain
range, were held by Spain, Holland, England, France and
Denmark. These islands were also the favorite resorts of the
buccaneers operating in the Caribbean and the coastal waters
of eastern North America. Control of most of the 100-island
group fi nally passed to Denmark, with England securing the
easterly remainder. The Danish islands had their own coinage
from the early 18th century, based on but unequal to, Denmark’s
homeland system.