Pirate Coins
From the fictional adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow to the real-life exploits of Blackbeard, pirates have fascinated people for hundreds of years. These stories of seafaring thieves have a knack for capturing our attention in both history books and movies. Most modern pirate tales are rooted in fantasy, often featuring skeleton sailors and phantom ships. However, some details of these stories are real, such as the money that pirates work so hard to steal. The gold doubloons and “pieces of eight” that fictional pirates love to fill their treasure chests with are very real and were used throughout history.
Gold Doubloons
While it seems like gold doubloons only belong in stories about sunken ships and treasure chests, they are real coins minted in Spain and its viceroyalties from the 16th to 19th centuries. Doubloons get their name from the Spanish word doble (“double”) because they were worth twice as much as a ducat, another coin from this period. Much like other coins from this era, doubloons were handmade. This gives them an uneven shape and thickness.
Gold doubloons feature the Hapsburg shield on the obverse and the Crusader’s Cross on the reverse. The Hapsburg shield represents the house of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. These famous Catholic monarchs of Spain are known for financing all four of Christopher Columbus’s transatlantic voyages. The Crusader’s Cross on the reverse of these doubloons is very recognizable and represents the significance of religion in Spain at the time these coins were produced.
Doubloons also made their way into American numismatic history. In 1787 a man named Ephraim Brasher created a gold coin called the Brasher doubloon. This coin is extremely rare, with only six of them produced. The pieces are also unique because they were privately minted, which adds to their value. These curious coins are very valuable, with one Brasher doubloon selling for $9.36 million in a 2021 auction.
Pieces of Eight
Commonly used between the 16th and 18th centuries, the so-called “pieces of eight” often associated with pirates are actually Spanish dollars. These coins were worth their weight in silver, so they were divided into eight pieces to make change. These pieces are also known as “bits.” The word “bit” became slang in America for one-eighth of a dollar, with “two bits” meaning a quarter.
Splitting coins to make change was a common practice for the time. This technique can be traced all the way back to the Middle Ages when pennies were halved or quartered. Coins were also cut in a different way by swindlers throughout history. They would shave or “clip” the edges of a coin, reducing its precious-metal content. To combat this, coins with reeded edges were minted to make it obvious if a coin was clipped.
Pieces of eight became widely associated with pirates because of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 book, Treasure Island. In this classic adventure novel, pieces of eight are frequently referenced and are part of a buried treasure. In fact, the phrase “pieces of eight” are the last words written in Treasure Island.
Conclusion
These two coins—gold doubloons and silver pieces of eight—don’t only belong in pirate tales. They are a very real and important part of history and can be seen in collections and museums around the world.
Kelly Barker is a college student studying English and was the ANA’s 2022 Young Numismatist of the Year. She started collecting at a young age by searching for Wheat cents with her dad. Participating in an ANA essay contest at age 12 helped her to uncover her passion for writing, which led to her pursuing an English degree. She can be found studying and feeding the ducks on campus.