I saw this article on the BBC and thought it worth sharing with fellow coin collectors: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21572359
I remember a short story I read a long time ago about a man who bought some kind of devil's rabbit foot which gave him magical powers. He had to sell it within a certain time for less than what he paid for it. He had bought it for a US cent and was running around trying to sell it, finally went to the Philippines and sold it for a small coin.
Sounds like a variation on the theme of the Monkey's Paw - one of the scariest short stories ever written: http://classiclit.about.com/od/monkeys-paw/a/The-Monkeys-Paw-Short-Story.htm
I read this today and was going to start a thread. Made me think of the mexico 5 centavo, I think it is still around, which is worth about 4/10 of a us cent. That is assuming I can still do math.
I found the short story. It is "The Bottle Imp" by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1891. The man and his wife finally sell the bottle in Tahiti, not the Philippines.
The lowest denomination coin still made in Mexico is 10 centavos. They are very small. Interesting link. I collect foreign coins but mostly have no idea what they are actually worth where they circulate. I'd be interested to see a chart with more nations included.
The way we are printing money in the U.S.- shortly it will take 1,999 cents to equal on Tiyin. Or maybe even 1,999 dollars equal 1 Tiyin. :>(
