What woudl be the best representative of a "pirate" coin?

jhusman

I am looking for a really nice coin that might have been "pirate treasure". What should I look for, and how much should it cost me?

satootoko

A nice pillar dollar (8 reales) "piece of 8" can be found for not very much modern money.

Doubloons, on the other hand, are generally more expensive than common 8 reales; obviously because gold coins have a much higher value "floor" than silver ones.

TwoKopeiki

I would have to say a Spanish Cob from 16th-17th Century, either Silver (Reales) or Gold (Escudos). Phillip II, Phillip IV, Carlos II date range, something like this:

All images courtesy of CoinArchives

Weiss

The age of what I think most of us think of when we think of pirates was from about 1650 to about 1720. So to me at least a nice 8 reales from no later than that period would be perfect.

lordmarcovan

Spanish or Spanish Colonial silver reales or gold escudos are the coins you want.

The first type are the "cobs". These are crude, irregularly struck coins struck on often oddly-shaped flans which were cut off a bar of silver or gold. ("Cob" comes from the Spanish cabo de barra, or "end of the bar").

If you buy a cob 8-reales piece, you can buy a parrot with it, and train it to squawk, "Pieces of Eight! Pieces of Eight! Aaawk!"

Neither cob 8-reales nor talking macaws (parrots) come cheap, however.

Then there are the "pillar" type silver coins that superceded the cobs in the early to mid-1700s.

Lastly, you've got the later "portrait" type silver and gold coins that were made from the late 1700s on into the early 1800s.


About the cheapest Spanish gold you can get is a little portrait-type half-escudo piece. I was looking for a suitable prize for a piratey-themed contest on the Metal Detecting Forum this spring, and bought a 1788. It's a little late in the 18th century to be from the "golden age of piracy" that Weiss mentioned, but close enough.

Once upon a time you could get these little goldies for 75-80 bucks, but those days have gone. Expect to pay low three figures even for the small half-escudos.





I picked this up around the same time. A portrait type 8-reales with a shipwreck pedigree. Paid around 150 bucks or so for it because I liked the shipwreck story. El Cazador was headed from Veracruz, Mexico to New Orleans when it vanished without a trace, and was lost to history for several centuries, until some treasure accidentally came up in fishing nets in the late 20th century!

150 bucks for a corroded, common 8-reales piece is absurd under normal circumstances- one could buy a nice, problem free coin for less. But the story intrigued me and I liked it, so who cares. I later resold it here on the forums.



If you're a historical purist and want coins like the kind Blackbeard probably had aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge or the ones actually found on the Whydah galley (the only sunken pirate ship to have been found so far), then you want to go with the cobs.

However, one could argue that the later, portrait-type coins were also "pirate money" because they were the primary currency of the world for a long time, and certainly what pirates would've had in their treasure chests.

lordmarcovan

Let me boil down my answer and condense it into a single coin.

The best single representative of a "pirate" coin is gonna be an 8-reales silver cob. The "Piece of Eight" of myth and legend.

jhusman

Thankee

Hyperion

if you're looking for something similar for a party or a demo, I actually saw boxes of fake cobs at a local 'party store', I thought it was VERY COOL, but my wife told me "let's keep on walkin" DOH

jhusman

I'm looking for the real thing. I've always wanted a "pirate" coin.

crito

I happen to have a couple 4 reales cobs in my hand right now from the reign of Philip II bearing the Potosi mint mark. The mint began production in 1574 and Philip II's reign ended in 1598.

Blackborder

If you want an ACTUAL pirate coin, as close as you can come anyway, then you want a Piece-of-Eight from the "Lucayan Beach" shipwreck.

Named after Lucayan Beach Grand Bahama Island, where the wreck was discovered in 1964. Popular belief ties this wreck to the Dutch hero Piet Heyn who captured the entire 1628 Spanish fleet at Matanzas Bay, Cuba. Two of his ships were lost near Grand Bahama Island during their return voyage home; it seems likely that the Lucayan Beach wreck is one of Heyn's lost ships.


Or a Piece-of-Eight from the Consolacion shipwreck.

The Consolacion, a Spanish Armada del Sur (South Sea Armada) galleon, was lost in 1681 after striking a reef near Guayaquil Ecuador. A delay in receiving silver coins from the mint in Potosi prevented the Santa Maria de la Consolacion from sailing with the rest of the armada from Callao, Chile. When the lone ship met pirates, the captain decided to ground the Consolacion on Santa Clara island, nicknamed Isla de Muerto (Island of the Dead), but struck a reef in the process. The vessel was evacuated and intentionally set on fire by the crew to prevent the plunder of treasure. Modern day salvage operations has resulted in the recovery of the remaining material, mostly Spanish colonial pillars and waves type cobs from the famous Potosi mint.

danglen

<< <i> Or a Piece-of-Eight from the Consolacion shipwreck. >>



Consolacion coins

crito

I can appreciate the history of some sea salvage coins, I just don't like the look, even when they're in higher grades.

Pic is of cobs I previously mentioned. First is original, second is sea salvaged (wreck unknown).