About the thunderous expanses of the seas, the ships plying the waves, filled with countless treasures, rum and whores. Romance, burst my spleen, whistle everyone overboard! I mean a movie about pirates. There is everything a good film needs, and a beauty, and an epic thieving pirate, and curses, and treasures. The first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. But far from the last.
End of the 17th century. A Royal Navy ship from Port Royal spots a blown up ship in the Caribbean. A girl named Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter, finds a little boy, Will Turner, next to the ship in the ocean. When he is hauled aboard, Elizabeth finds a pirate medallion on it and takes it away so that the adults don't think he is a pirate.
10 years have passed since that moment. Elizabeth still keeps the medallion and now decides to put it on. Will works as an apprentice for a blacksmith and has a (noticeably mutual) passion for her, but at this time Commander James Norrington has already proposed to her. Meanwhile, a young pirate and charming rogue - Captain Jack Sparrow - arrives in Port Royal. Upon meeting with the guards, he explains that he intends to requisition the ship and recruit a team in order to reclaim his old ship on black sails - the Black Pearl. He manages to board the fast ship "Interceptor", but at this time Elizabeth, walking with the commander, under the influence of a tightly tightened corset of her new dress from lack of air falls from the rocks into the ocean.
Jack Sparrow notices this, rushes after her, pulls her aboard and rips the corset. The pirate medallion still on it turns out to be familiar to Jack. But at this time the commander finds him and orders him to be executed. Thanks to Elizabeth's attempts to intercede for him, he manages to take her hostage, return his belongings and escape. Jack Sparrow hides in the forge where Will Turner works. The latter has long been going to stab some pirate and starts a fight with him. At the end of the fight, Sparrow pulls out a pistol and aims at Turner, but does not have time to shoot - Jack is stunned with a bottle by Will's ever-drunk mentor, Mr. Brown. As a result, the pirate is taken to jail, and the death penalty is announced to him at dawn along with other pirates. At night, the "Black Pearl" sails into the port, and on it the pirates, led by Captain Hector Barbossa, who 10 years ago raised a riot on this ship against Jack Sparrow. Then Jack was landed on a desert island with a sword and a pistol loaded with one bullet.
According to legend, he got out of there on sea turtles and now intends to return the ship and teach Barbossa a lesson. Pirates, who have come to this port for a long time, are attacking the city. An accidental blow to the prison frees the prisoners - everyone except Jack (the cannonball has broken through the wall mostly where the other prisoners were sitting), who senses the approach of his ship. It turns out that the pirates arrived at the port for the medallion, but Elizabeth thought they were trying to kidnap her. Therefore, she said that according to the pirate "code", she should be taken to the captain. Under Barbossa, she introduces herself as Elizabeth Turner. The pirates, having learned the name, kidnap her and sail away. The next morning, William finds the commander pondering which course the pirates could take, and invites him to ask Sparrow, but Norrington refuses. Then William turns to Jack Sparrow and frees him. Jack, hearing his name, guesses that he is the son of Bill Turner, known as Bootstrap. Together they quietly get over to the Interceptor and sail to the pirate base - Isla de Muerte.
On the way, Jack reveals that Will's father is a pirate. Turner is indignant, but nothing can be done, you need to get to the Tortuga offered by Jack. There, Jack meets his former boatswain, Josham Gibbs, and informs him that with the help of Will Turner they will be able to return the ship and take revenge on Barbossa. At this time, Barbossa is having dinner with Elizabeth. Meanwhile, he tells her the legend of Aztec gold, which was cursed by the gods many years ago. Among them is Elizabeth's medallion - one of 663 gold plaques stolen by Barbossa's team from the chest.
After that, they become immortal ghosts, and in the light of the moon Elizabeth notices their appearance, even Barbossa's monkey turns into a skeleton. They can neither die nor enjoy life. In order to regain life and death, they must return all the gold stolen from the chest and wash it in the blood of every cursed pirate. There was not enough blood from Bootstrap Turner, and since Elizabeth used his last name, they took it with them, mistaking it for the daughter of a pirate. Mr. Gibbs recruited the Interceptor, and Anna Maria, whom Jack had previously taken her brig from without permission, becomes its captain.
On the way, Gibbs tells Will the legend of Jack's imprisonment on the island. After being rescued, he keeps the one-bullet pistol given to him for Barbossa. At this time, the Black Pearl reached the designated place, and so did Jack. He asks Will not to go ahead and wait for the right moment, but he disobeys. At the moment of Jack and Will's arrival, the pirates performed the rite of returning the stolen medallion - they doused it with Elizabeth's blood and threw it into the chest with the 662 plaques already there.
Due to the origin of Elizabeth (who, of course, is not Bootstrap's daughter at all), the rite has no effect and does not free the pirates from the curse. Realizing this, Barbossa throws Elizabeth down the hill to the water. Will floats out of the water and takes Elizabeth along with the "bloody" medallion. Barbossa notices the loss, and his team goes in search. At this time, Jack appears, not quite recovering from the stunning, who is taken prisoner. Elizabeth gives the medallion to Will on the Interceptor. According to the law of the pirate code - "Do not wait for those who are left behind" - they sail away, but the "Pearl", known as the fastest ship, overtakes them along with Jack in captivity.
A battle is taking place. Barbossa takes the medallion and captures the entire team. William demands to let everyone go, threatening to commit suicide. This is unacceptable, since in this case the curse will never be lifted. But Barbossa locks the team, and Elizabeth and Jack are dropped on the island (the same one from which Jack got out last time), also giving them one pistol with one bullet. On the island, Jack admits that he got out not with the help of turtles, but with the smugglers on the ship. Here they had a stash of food and rum, and by evening Jack and Elizabeth had a lot of fun. But in the morning, Elizabeth burns all the rum and palm forest on the island in order to attract the attention of the Royal Navy. Jack is angry with her, as he loves rum, but soon notices the ship "Shatter" from this fleet. The "smite" saves Jack and Elizabeth, but Jack is still sentenced to death again.
At Elizabeth's request, Jack is offered a deal - to show the way to Isla de Muerte in return for a favor. Two ships arrive on the island. Jack offers the Commander a plan: he lures the opponents into the sea, and the "Striker" shoots them. As much as Elizabeth tried to explain that they could not be killed, the governor's people did not listen. Jack Sparrow sails to the island, where Will's blood is about to be sacrificed to the gods, and warns Barbossa about the approach of the fleet and that it is better to remove the spell later. Team Barbossa goes into battle with the "Smite", and Jack fights with Barbossa. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sails from the ship to the island and fights with the remaining people of Barbossa. Jack, using one of the plaques, himself became immortal, thereby saving himself from certain death when Barbossa stuck a saber in his stomach. During the fight, he throws a plaque to Will, and then shoots Barbossa with the coveted pistol. He says that Jack wasted the bullet, but then sees that Will is throwing plaques along with his blood and Jack's blood into the chest. Barbossa sees that his wound is bleeding and dies. All of Barbossa's team on the Shatter notices that they have lost their immortality, and surrenders to the authorities. (In the second film of the series, two pirates from this team appear - Bald and One-Eyed - in prison they were able to lure a dog with keys and escaped. The fate of the rest is unknown.)
Everyone returns to Port Royal. Jack, despite his help, is re-sentenced to be hanged. When he is already hanged, Will throws the sword at his feet, and Jack escapes. Elizabeth also goes over to Sparrow's side and distracts the Commander and Governor by pretending to have passed out from lack of air. Then Jack escapes, and the impressed commander doesn't protest too much, giving him a head start day. Jack, having said goodbye to the young couple, floats to the "Pearl" that has docked. Anna Maria announces Jack as her captain, and a small part of Barbossa's crew returns to Jack Sparrow.
After the credits, there is a short scene in which the action takes place in a cave on Isla de Muerta. Barbossa's monkey, left on the island, sneaks up on a chest with cursed Aztec gold coins and steals one. In a ray of moonlight, the monkey is again becoming cursed and immortal. For this reason, in all the following films, she is invulnerable.
The Mystery of Burial Coins
19:05 You are attacked by the Pyromancer Ghost.
19:05 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" began.
.....
19:07 You leaned over the defeated monster and saw that something glittered next to it. Stretching out your hand, you raised an unusual gold coin featuring a grinning skull. What a curious little thing ... It might be worth examining it carefully. Received: Burial Coin 1 pcs.
19:07 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" is over.
Click "Use" on the coin:
19:08 You look closely at the gold coin, but you cannot understand what its purpose is. Considering that she was found in the palaces of King Magish, it is worth showing her to the experienced undead hunter Paladin Shiko.
19:08
It has begun for you quest "The Mystery of Burial Coins". Good luck!
It was for this purpose that I hurried to you, paladin: look what an unusual trophy I managed to get.
* You take a gold coin from your pocket and hand it to Shiko. *
Wait, wait, it's ...
* Brings the artifact to his very eyes and examines it carefully. *
It cannot be: it’s a funeral coin! Now everything fell into place ... So good luck!
Where are we lucky, paladin?
From time immemorial, burial coins have helped keep the undead in the other world: so that the creature does not rise up, such a coin was thrown into its crypt. Now I understand that some warriors, overwhelmed by the desire to get hold of gold, plundered the palaces of Magish, but fell victim to their own greed and turned into undead. As a result, these coins were never used for their intended purpose, and the dead rise from their graves again!
It's horrible. What should I do with the coin?
Travel to the fallen king's palaces and place a coin in the crypt of his defeated henchman. Hurry, warrior, time is running out!
Your goal: Go to the palaces of King Magish, kill any of his minions and use the funeral coin next to his remains. Return to Paladin Shiko.
PosLe this we return to the palaces to finish off the walls. Coins will fall as a drop:
19:15 Received: Burial coin 1 pc.
19:15 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" is over.
20:36 You have attacked Lefreth.
20:36 The battle "Attack on Lefreth" began.
.....
20:39 The battle "Attack on Lefrete" is over.
We use a coin from the chest:20:39 You are attacked by the Risen Lefrete.
20:39 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" began.
20:39 No sooner had you put a coin to the remains of the monster in order to expel it from the world of Faeo, as it disintegrated into several parts. A rebellious monster escaped from it and attacked you! Withdrawn: Burial coin 1 pc.
.....
20:40 Completed the achievement "Victory over the rebellious henchman of King Magish"
20:40 The rebel monster is defeated! Return to Paladin Shiko and tell him what happened. Quest - The Mystery of Burial Coins.
20:40 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" is over.
The rebellious Italian Greyhound 1284 HP has no castes, it hits without block 95-125, in general it is killed easily and quickly ...
Royal burial vaultPaladin Shiko
Perhaps I should have cast some kind of spell?Ruled out! The ritual is very simple: you place a funeral coin next to the remains of a slain monster, and it remains forever in the other world.
Perhaps the funeral coin itself is to blame?
This is what we have to find out. I'm afraid we can't do without the advice of a necromancer here. Hurry to him and find out why the coin did not exorcise the monster.
Your goal: Find out from the necromancer why the burial ritual failed.
Vassal crypts Necromancer
* A tome slams shut in their hearts, above which a cloud of sparkling magic dust soars. *
Don't have a coin? So what do you expect from me? You are wasting my time!
I will get exactly one and bring it to you!
I have no doubt that you will succeed, warrior. But hurry up: the hour is not far off when evil spirits will begin to rise from their graves.
Your goal: Find a funeral coin and bring it to the necromancer.
Vassal crypts Necromancer
* The necromancer mutters an intricate incantation, and the coin begins to flicker in his hand. *
Woe to you, warrior. No wonder you exude oblivion, despair, suffering, pain ... Your coin is cursed! And as soon as Paladin Shiko did not see it?
But I just fulfilled your order! You asked me to bring a funeral coin, and I did it!
* Continues to cast the spell, fingering the coin with his fingers. *
I see ... Now I see ... Since ancient times, funeral coins had only one purpose: to keep the undead away from the world of the living. And they coped with this task regularly. This is due to the greed of people and magmars, who, trying to lay their hands on the treasures of the dead, turned to shameful dust, paved the floor of Magish's crypt, as a result of which the coins themselves were saturated with the energy of decay. Now they must be destroyed!
Can you do this?
* The necromancer waves his hand impatiently. *
In this, warrior, the paladin Shiko will help you, because he is the most experienced fighter against the undead in Faeo. Now go, we already wasted a lot of time.
Your goal: Return to Paladin Shiko and give him the funeral coin.
Royal burial vaultPaladin Shiko
* Shiko's eyes flash in the slits of his helmet, and he raises his ax vigorously. *
So what are we waiting for? Put a coin on this stove!
* You put a coin down on a cold stone and take a step back. *
However ... let's not rush, Warrior.
* Shiko lowers the ax. *
A happy thought came to my mind. Even these damned coins can serve a good cause. You managed to defeat the rebellious henchman Magish, didn't you? Fine! So you should know that with the death of the ghostly double, its real incarnation also receives significant damage. Do you understand what this means? You can choose what to do with the coins: either put them in the halls of the defeated minions, summoning them from the ghostly world and killing them, or bring them to me so that I can destroy them. Which solution do you prefer? The choice is yours!
* The paladin lowers the ax over his shoulder and looks at you proudly. *
I know a lot about my skill, warrior. As soon as you get new coins, immediately bring them to me. And do not hesitate: your diligence will be rewarded. See you!
Reward: Dilapidated Brace of 1 pc. or Wonderful brace 1 pc. or Intricate loop 1 pc. or Precious ring 1 pc. or Secret Craft 1 pc.
Reward drops randomly
20:51 Completed the Valiant Burial Coin Destroyer achievement
20:51 Removed: Burial coin 1 pc.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Wonderful Goldsmith 1 pcs.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Gemstone Ring 1 pcs.
etc.
All treasure-hunting video greetings from the deaf Russian hinterland.
Today is Friday 13. This post has been brewing for a long time, I promised for a long time - I am doing it. Mysticism in search of treasures! In general, everything is as usual. One video. Below will be an accompanying story on the digging topic.
And so, I was not going to open a Ren-TV branch here, but nevertheless the video (in the second half) turned out to be just mystical. Fairy tale or legend, reality or my fantasy, you decide. But as the best hero of Jankowski said, "Yes, you must understand, Baron Munchausen is famous not because he flew or did not fly, but because he does not lie." So I, for a long time wanted to make this video and write an appropriate story. In general, Mysticism. Sitting at home on the couch, you can feel its breath only when watching a good horror movie at night, but alas, they no longer do such. But being somewhere in an abandoned village, which is no longer on the maps. Watching the sunset, standing between the old creaky birch and the ruins of a manor house, at such moments, a light breath of the breeze can greatly agitate your imagination. It becomes especially creepy when you are alone and you know for sure that there is not a single living soul within a radius of ten kilometers. So it seems like that, but then it gets dark and you hear how small knots break under someone's unhurried and heavy tread ...
There is a belief that the treasures guard the souls of the deceased owners. They cannot part with their treasures even while in the next world. And if, because of this gold, they were also destroyed during their lifetime, then the treasure will definitely be damned and just like that, the new owner will not be given. To do this, you must either give something, or be there at the right time and under the right circumstances. Otherwise, you can disappear. This story is a continuation of the video. Therefore, it is probably better to watch it first, and then read it. Spoilers below.
To say that I endured fear at that time is to say nothing. Any treasure hunter on expeditions has days when you literally feel all the pristine and incomprehensible beauty of nature. You feel some kind of unity and alienation at the same time. You feel someone's presence. Digging with enthusiasm in the twilight and even more so at night, you perceive reality through the prism of some ancient instincts, at the level of the sixth sense.
You tell me, I don’t understand, but why dig at night? Are you digging up cemeteries there? The marauders are shitty!
No, I'm not picking graves, God forbid. It's just that sometimes you get so carried away by searching in an unbeatable place that you forget about everything in the world. The finds are twig, the farther into the forest, the more ancient crosses and coins come across and sometimes you catch handfuls of coins from the hole. Well, how will it stop here?
In the process of a successful CPC, time flies by. Zipper and already getting dark. And you suddenly realize that you got carried away and did not notice how you reached the edge of some swampy thicket. The fog begins to slowly creep to your feet. In almost total darkness, you start to lose your bearings. In a panic, you walk to the left, then you accelerate your step to the right. But in the end, you either spin in place, or go even deeper into a dense forest. Suddenly you hear the crunch of branches and someone's cautious steps. With peripheral vision, you notice some movement on the right in the bushes. You sharply turn around, but there as if something slipped away from you into the fog. You listen. It seems like the silence is complete. Suddenly again a distinct rustle, only to the left and closer. You start slowly backing away, beads of sweat running down your face. Step, another. A light crunch is heard even closer. You turn your head and see a second glint of someone's eyes. In panic, you manage to take a couple more steps back and suddenly you abruptly rest your back on someone's body! It tries to grab you with its hairy hands! You jump, turn around, look into the darkness with eyes wide open with horror and ...
And you see a fluffy spruce in the middle of the forest. This is her you rested on. A meter away from you, a hedgehog slowly crawls out of the bushes and runs on about his business. The moon that came out from behind the clouds illuminates an absolutely empty clearing.
Yes, fear has big eyes. But not always everything can be attributed to your imagination and the forces of nature. I already told how 7 years ago I was lucky enough to find several gold coins in one abandoned village. I have always been and will be sure that there is still a lot of gold there, but it is very dangerous to go there alone. And not alone is meaningless. How many times I went there with a partner and there were zero finds. But it is worth going alone and the abandoned as if on purpose reveals its secrets to you, gradually luring you deeper and deeper into the forest thicket.
In this place, there is a persistent feeling that it has two masters. One is ready to share with you untold treasures, the other, on the contrary, does everything so that you never again set foot on his land. The epicenter of evil is between an old rickety hut and a century-old long-dried birch. This house once stood at the entrance to the village, now it is the edge of a deep forest thicket. Nearby is a dry pond. The hut was built on the bones. Before her there was a merchant's estate, it burned down in a terrible fire. According to rumors, many people died then, including almost the entire family of the owner of the old estate. Only one person survived, I'll tell you about him a little later.
I spent a lot of time in the local archives trying to find out all the details of that terrible tragedy. Alas, there are literally grains of reliable information. One of the legends says that on that very old birch, the merchant hanged his unfaithful wife and set the house on fire from jealousy. According to another version, she drowned herself in the same pond next to the estate, after he killed her child. No matter how everyday life was, the fact remains - the rich family of the Nikolsky was interrupted almost 200 years ago after a terrible fire.
If you think that after successful finds I never came there again, then you are mistaken. I tried it three times. He came in the afternoon, dug a lot. Nothing, one small thing. I was resting sitting on a stump and thinking - maybe the whole thing is in certain circumstances? After all, twice I found gold here and literally on the surface! Maybe one of the key success factors is complete loneliness and the right time of day? But I did not dare to wait until dusk and even more so for the night. Every time it got dark, an eerie wind rose. Around everything starts to creak, groan and rustle. A couple of times I thought I could hear someone's hoarse breathing in the bushes. Maybe it was a hog, of which there are many, but I was not going to check it. He got into the car at a run and drove away desperately squeezing his slippers to the floor.
But one day I still plucked up the courage and decided again on the night KOP. I put the metal detector in my backpack, for some reason took an ax and a gas canister - as if they could help in the fight against ghosts, and set off on a long trip. I sat in the hotel for a long time, smoked nervously, waited for 16 hours and went to my mysterious village. On departure, the weather was clear. But as soon as I turned onto a dirt road, a strong wind immediately blew. Somewhere on the horizon, clouds were gathering, I added gas. I was not going to stop this time! I get there, take out a shovel, a metal detector on the go, plug in headphones so that I don't hear anything superfluous. From the strong wind, foliage falls everywhere, the sun hides behind the clouds, but I walk with a firm gait towards the dried-up pond.
Half an hour of nerves wasted. It starts to get dark. Suddenly some inner instinct tells me - you are digging in the wrong place. I put on my headlamp and walk towards the ravine. I punch through steep bevels with a metal detector and suddenly a weak but pleasant signal 26-28 is heard. Again, like that time! I go down below and begin to rake the coastline under my feet. It doesn't work right away, the shovel gets stuck among the pieces of logs and fragments of bricks.
Suddenly, somewhere on the side, an unpleasant crunch of branches is heard. I take off my headphones, turn around but I can only see the edge of the house with empty sockets of windows. Suddenly the wind dies down and I hear the characteristic crunch of breaking slate under someone's feet. There is clearly someone in the house! In the extension of the hut, some kind of loud swarming begins. I am neither alive nor dead. I turn off the flashlight. Some kind of shadow slides from the barn through the bushes and clearly in my direction! Suddenly, a meter away from me, an angry roar is heard from a thick cow parsnip! In the same second, the edge of the ravine crumbles with a crash at my feet. Not remembering myself from horror, throwing a shovel, I run to the car. I stumble, I fall, I lose the metal detector, I run to the car and turn the keys to the ignition! Silence, the car won't start. I pray to all the gods and again try to start, something from the side approaches the car, but now my copomobile has finally started up and I give a fight at full speed!
In the morning I return there with a partner. Thank God my MD and no one took the shovel. But my backpack apparently first drowned under the collapse of the ground, and then someone or something got it and tore it to shreds. Leftovers of food were scattered on the freshly sprinkled ground. Traces were very well imprinted on it. Huge paws of either a large dog or a wild wolf.
I left the same day. More recently, I learned that the merchant's youngest son survived in that fire. His further fate is very vague and is lost somewhere in the suburbs. It so happened that now my name is Vorontsov. But once upon a time one of my great-great-great-grandfathers bore the surname Nikolsky and he was from just that region. Sometimes I think, what if I am a distant descendant of that very merchant? And he just doesn't want to share his gold with anyone. But his wife, on the contrary, every time gives me some hints. No, nonsense - you tell me? I agree, perhaps, but for some reason every year at the end of autumn I involuntarily recalled their terrible story. Anyway, the other day I realized one more thing. The day when good finds are given in that place and the date of the death of the family coincide in a strange way! Besides, only I found gold there. I know that my local partner tried more than once to dig everything around, but to no avail. The most he found was copper coins stuck together and an old bronze candlestick. If he was lucky, he would definitely be drunk.
As I said in the video, I found the remains of that house by accident, construction work was underway nearby, a bulldozer walked through the once lush apple orchard. The builders were clearing the site for the power transmission towers. The trouble is that they simply raked the entire top layer of the earth into an old dry pond or, even worse, into a large ravine nearby. In the footsteps of their technique, I walked 7 years ago. Now everything there is completely overgrown with weeds. On the site of the pond, a small hill was formed, not in the place of the estate of hogweed and nettles. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find anything this time or if it will be another empty trip, anyway this weekend I’m going back to my abandoned village. Digging at sunset. I hope everything goes well and I can make another interesting report on the treasure hunt topic. That's all. All with Friday, albeit the 13th, good weekend friends and enjoy your viewing!
P.S. You can relate to what is written above in different ways, what is a fairy tale and what is reality, the mysticism of fate or just a series of coincidences, you decide. In any case, if you like this story, I will write on such a topic from time to time. I know that there are a lot of treasure hunters here. I want to ask you a question - have you encountered mysticism while searching for treasures?
If in any crossword puzzle you come across the question "What was the name of the pirate money?", Then, undoubtedly, without even counting the number of letters, you will say: piastres. Piastres are primarily associated with pirates due to cultural and artistic trends, but historically they have enjoyed the same popularity among pirates as any other coins that have any value. Let's take a look at what kind of money the pirates came across in their loot and what they were.
Piastres
The piastre was also called the Spanish peso. This coin was minted from silver, its weight was about 25 grams. The Pillars of Hercules were depicted on the coin, therefore piastre was also called pillar dollar or piastre with columns... In the East, piastre had a more concise name - colonato... In our time, piastre should not be written off, now it plays the role of a bargaining unit for 1/100 Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Sudanese and South Sudanese pounds.
Doubloons
The first doubloon (translated as "double", hence the name) was a Spanish gold coin in denomination of 2 escudos. Coin minting began in 1566 and continued until 1849. Doubloons were widespread not only in Europe, but also in the New World. It was the doubloon that served as a prototype for the creation of many other European coins in other countries. During the colonization of the New World, the doubloon played the role assigned to the dollar in our time - it was he who was considered the reserve currency. For this reason, a large number of coins were hidden. Later, this fact of savings gave rise to many stories about pirate hoards, in which this particular type of coin often appears..
Escudo
Escudo is a Spanish gold coin. Years of minting: 1535-1833. The first coinage took place in Barcelona. The coin, as already mentioned, consisted of gold and weighed almost 3.4 grams. During the reign of Philip II, the exudo became the main gold coin in Spain, and its exchange rate, due to the rise in the price of metals, increased. But due to long wars and an illiterate financial policy, Spain defaulted four times in the 16th century. The difficult economic situation was partly due to the large influx of metals from Spanish America, it was their surplus that caused the escudos to fall in price and caused inflation.
Conclusion
Piastres, doubloons and escudos are popular coins in the New World that have become a coveted prey for pirates. This triple does not make up even a tenth of all coins minted at that time, but it is this trio that is often found in fictional and cinematic works on the topic of piracy, therefore, first of all, it is about them that it is worth learning more for those who are interested in the history of sea robbery and numismatics. I hope this material has expanded your understanding of these topics.
In May, the Russian premiere of the fifth film in the series "Pirates of the Caribbean" - "Dead Men Tell No Tales" will take place. Gold, treasures, doubloons and piastres have always played an important role in pirate life. Imagine the world of Captain Jack Sparrow and his comrades in the criminal business from a financial and economic point of view.
ALEXEY ALEXEEV
Cortez's cursed gold
In the first film of the epic, The Curse of the Black Pearl, gold is one of the main springs of the plot.
"This is Aztec gold. One of 882 identical plaques that the Indians presented in a stone chest to Cortez personally. Blood money, payment to stop the massacre unleashed by his army. But Cortez's greed was insatiable. Then the gods of the pagans cast a terrible spell on the gold." Any mortal who takes at least one plaque from the chest will be cursed forever. "
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" greatly overestimated the "dead man's chest" - by the standards of ancient pirates, there was not enough gold in it
Strange, but in the Russian voice acting of the first film of the epic of plaques, for some reason, 663. Where did the 219 plaques go on the way between the Caribbean Sea and Russia is a mystery covered in darkness. Let's assume that the plaques are still 882, as in the original. 881 in a chest, and the latter is used to make Elizabeth Swann's medallion. Pirates from the Black Pearl ship are chasing the medallion to remove the curse of the ancient gods from themselves. In addition, to get rid of it, you need to perform a symbolic ritual. It is necessary to return the bloody debt to the gods of the Aztecs - all 882 plaques stained with the blood of a descendant of the pirate Bill Bootstrap.
881 gold plaques from the Aztec treasure lay in Cortez's chest, and one of them was used to make Elizabeth Swann's medallion
And now a little rebuke to Walt Disney Pictures. 882 gold medallions with a skull are very, very few by the standards of the ancient Aztecs and conquistadors. In 1521, the warriors of historic Cortez captured and sacked the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards got gold in the amount equivalent to 130 thousand Spanish gold coins. Apparently, this amount seemed extremely insignificant to them. The conquistadors tortured the ruler of the Aztec state, Kuautemok, hoping in vain to find out where the Indians were hiding the main treasures.
Having plundered the capital of the Aztecs in 1521, the soldiers of Cortez captured only 130 thousand Spanish gold coins - the amount, in their opinion, is not too large
Let's try to roughly estimate what the cost of a stone chest is. One plaque is approximately equal in size to the largest Spanish coin of the 16th century. This is an eight escudo coin. It contained 27.468 grams of 916.7 fine gold (22 carats). Thus, the chest contains 24 kg 227 g of gold. The price of one gram of gold with a purity of 916.7 today is $ 37.05. Thus, in April 2017, a full chest of cursed gold could have cost about $ 900 thousand.Even if one of the pirates grabbed it alone, he would not have reached the title of a dollar millionaire.
Now let's see how rich the pirates became when they divided the Aztec gold among themselves. The exact size of the Black Pearl crew is unknown. Actor Geoffrey Rush, who played Captain Hector Barbossa, named the number from 20 to 50. Suppose there were 22. Roughly speaking, when the treasure was divided, there were 40 plaques per brother. Gold was worth 16 times more than silver. The eight reais silver coin (half escudos) was known as the peso, dollar or "eight reais coin", pieces of eight. In the Russian translation of "Treasure Island", the parrot calls such coins piastres. So, the members of the damned team got rich on 640 (16x40) similar silver coins.
What did they spend their money on? We know this from Captain Barbossa's complaint to Elizabeth Swann-Turner - "about drinks, food and pleasant company." "But the drink did not quench our thirst, the food turned to ash in our mouths, and the nicest company in the world could not satisfy our lust. We are damned people, Miss Turner."
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" attributed the time of the epic to about 1720-1750 years. Then the exchange rate of the peso-dollar-piastre to the pound sterling was in force, established by the decree of Queen Anne in 1704. One peso was equal to six shillings. £ 1 is 20 shillings, one shilling is 12p, one penny is 4 farthing. Therefore, 640 pesos is 3,840 shillings, which is £ 192.
According to the calculations of the British statistician of the 17th-18th centuries Gregory King, in 1688 (over the next half century, the situation did not change much), a farm laborer earned £ 7 per year. Soldiers and sailors earned £ 14-20 a year. Army and navy officers received £ 5-7 no longer a year, but a month.
After the division of gold from the "dead man's chest", each pirate could get an amount that was only enough "for food and drink."
If we assume that there were not 22 sailors on the Black Pearl, but 44, then each of them would be owed £ 96. And if we take the figure from the piracy historian Mark Rediker, according to which the average pirate crew was 80 people, then the income of each would be almost halved.
So, the money received by the pirates could be lived for quite a long time. Albeit without pleasure, as Captain Barbossa rightly noted.
Eat and drink for a shilling
In Pirates of the Caribbean, we hear the word shilling at the very beginning of the first film. It is the shilling that is demanded from Jack Sparrow for parking the ship in the bay. He offers three, adding for not giving his name.
Unfortunately, not all information about the prices of food, alcohol and escort services in the ports of the Caribbean Sea in the golden era of piracy has reached our days. The prices in the metropolis, in England, are much better known.
However, the cost of rum, "the most disgusting drink, which turns even the most educated people into animals," is no secret. In 1740 in Philadelphia, local rum was sold at 1 shilling 8p a gallon, and better Caribbean rum sold at 2 shillings 5p. It is logical to assume that in the Caribbean, at the place of production, Caribbean swill cost less than on the continent. If we assume that the same 1 shilling 8 pence paid for Caribbean rum where it was considered local, and not imported, then in the more familiar systems of measurement, the price of a product will be 4.4 pence per liter. If we assume that a self-respecting pirate needs to drink a liter of rum every day in order to function properly, then every 54 days he would spend £ 1 on drinking.
Another bad habit very popular among pirates, smoking, was also inexpensive. 45 kilograms of Virginia tobacco in 1750 cost £ 1 in wholesale.
Now about the food. What could one buy with a shilling in England at that time (prices in the colonies could not be very different)?
Let's go back to Gregory King's statistics. In 1695, the average Englishman spent £ 3.85 a year on food and drink. Of this amount, £ 0.79 was for bread and flour products, £ 0.61 for meat, £ 0.42 for dairy products, £ 0.31 for fish, game and eggs, £ 0.22 for fruits and vegetables, £ 0.2 for pickles, £ 1.06 for beer and ale, £ 0.24 for spirits. In the middle of the 18th century, a 200-gram piece of wheat flour was called a "penny roll".
The food basket of the pirate of the Caribbean and the average Englishman probably differed in composition, but the price level shows that starvation did not threaten the crew of the Black Pearl for quite a long time. Even if you consider that the average Englishman was often cooked by his wife, and the pirate probably ate food in public catering establishments. On the North American continent in the second half of the 18th century, it was possible to dine in a tavern on the principle of "eat as much as you like from the common pot" for one or two shillings.
Most expensive was the favor of the girls of easy virtue in London - about £ 2, in the ports the prices were much lower - the girls were called two pence
But the cost of a pleasant company in the metropolis and in the Caribbean could differ dramatically. In London, a wealthy client could pay for a meeting and £ 2, and if the counter is a virgin, much more. In ports, the price level was comparable to the lowest price category in the metropolis. The girls were traditionally called two pence, but in reality the standard dachshund was "shilling and booze."
Piracy as a cutting-edge business model
If pirates were content with such modest entertainment, how can one explain the popularity of this profession in the Caribbean in the first half of the 18th century? The number of active sea robbers in the golden age of piracy is estimated at 2,400 people. True, in 1716-1726, about 400-600 of this number were executed by the authorities of different states.
So why did people go to pirates?
With a lucky coincidence, the pirates could "earn" a lot: for example, in 1695, Henry Avery's pirate ships seized the loot worth £ 600,000.
Let's start with the fact that when hiring a pirate, there were no many traditional restrictions on rights at that time.
The black crew members of the Black Pearl are not a tribute to American political correctness (or not only it).
Already at the beginning of the 18th century, among the crew members of pirate ships were immigrants from Africa, while the "civilized world" was still very far from the abolition of slavery. Ordinary ships in that era were also used by dark-skinned sailors, often sold or "leased" by their owners. They did not receive payment for their labor and did not have the right to vote in solving ship problems. On a pirate ship, the crew members were equal. The pirate captain Edward England on the ship only one in five had a white skin.
They became the captain of a pirate ship in a democratic way - through elections, and were also deprived of this position - by the decision of the majority of the crew (which happened quite often). So the story with Jack Sparrow, removed from the captain's post and landed on a desert island, is quite plausible.
William Snellgrave, a slave trader and ivory trader who was captured by pirates in 1719, recalled in his book the story of the pirate captain Christopher Moody: along with 12 sailors, the rest of the crew forced him into a boat, which was sent to sail freely. "And no one ever heard of them again."
On an ordinary merchant ship, the captain's power was immense. He determined which of the sailors should do what, decided what to feed the crew, how much money to pay to the crew members, had the right to subject any sailor to corporal punishment. Such an atmosphere in the workplace became the basis for someone to move from the merchant marine to the pirate business.
On a pirate ship, the quartermaster shared power with the democratically elected captain (in Treasure Island, John Silver was Captain Flint's quartermaster). The captain was primarily to deal with combat operations, and the quartermaster - with economic issues. On some ships, the quartermaster wielded more real power than the captain.
The fundamental difference between pirate ships, on the one hand, and military and merchant ships, on the other, was in the level of income. On pirate ships, the booty was divided equally among all the sailors. Only the captain received two shares instead of one, the quartermaster - one and a half, sometimes the share and a quarter went to the "leading specialists" - the boatswain, the ship's doctor, the gunner, the first mate of the captain. Anyone who tried to deceive his comrades by hiding part of the prey was threatened with punishment - "such as the captain and the majority of the crew deemed suitable."
On merchant ships, the incomes of the "command staff" were five or more times higher than the earnings of ordinary sailors.
It is amazing (especially from the point of view of a law-abiding sailor) that the pirates care about their disabled comrades. Anyone who lost an arm or a leg in battle received compensation in the amount of £ 1,500.
The downside to the pirate pay system was that no loot meant no income. At all. Whereas on a merchant ship the sailor was guaranteed his beggarly earnings.
A big plus of the pirate system is that with good mining, incomes could be very high. In 1695, several pirate ships led by Henry Avery seized the loot totaling £ 600,000. Each of the sailors got at least £ 1,000. At the beginning of the next century, they earned £ 1,200 per brother as a result of one robbery, after which they went out of business.
In 1721, the men of John Taylor and Oliver La Bush set a record: £ 4,000 per attack. Unfortunately for the pirates, such good fortunes did not happen often. Many sea robbers were content with more modest incomes. But a free life of crime with the ability to hit the jackpot seemed to be more attractive to many than law-abiding poverty and lawlessness.
