Well, in April 2011 it took parity with dollar (1 BTC = $1), so I guess that there wasn't any purpose to broadcast a transaction valuated around $0.01 just like you can't now for something smaller than 547 sats. If you check the transactions back in 2011,
you'll notice that the majority transferred more than 10 BTC.
Not sure if there were a minimum set back in the days. But I don't think it's safe to use an outdated version of software, especially if it's a piece of software which is targetted by scammers to steal the most valuable asset of the planet right now.
I don't think OP intended to use it, it probably just seemed just odd to him.