$ 1,870.00 USD Size Guide
Please Note: This is an authentic Spanish Reale Piece of Eight Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.
FOR PENDANT SIZE SEE COIN DETAILS BELOW
This pendant is part of our Tortuga Collection featuring our exclusive hand-hammered sterling silver settings. Each is unique, like the treasure coins they surround. Please see below for more details.
When we think of the treasure coins of pirate lore, the silver Spanish colonial coins of Central and South America immediately come to mind. Next time you read about the great pirates of long ago, Henry Morgan, Edward Teach (Blackbeard), John Rackham (Calico Jack), Mary Read, Anne Bonny and many others, these were the coins that drove their raiding and pillaging of land and sea! Even the great, and often maligned, “pirate hunter” Captain William Kidd used these coins to purchase rum and wine for his crew.
Crudely shaped and hand-hammered, these silver pieces of history are some of the most intriguing and beautiful coins ever minted. And because each coin was minted by hand, they are one of a kind. Unlike a machine minted coin, it is impossible for anyone else to posses a coin exactly like yours!
This silver "Piece of Eight" bears the Pillars and Waves design. This type is one of the most detailed and beautiful coins produced in the Spanish colonies, as the design actually tells the story of the “New World.” Read about this design below!
Robert's Notes: This is one of the most incredible coins I have ever seen from this collection! It has a stunning cross and details, thick, chunky piece. Amazing condition and beautiful double dated in red. Most of the time the date falls off the edge of the planchet.
Beautiful strong cross, "4" denomination. The joy of this type of Reale is the depth and detail of the strike. Thick and strongly angled, each detail is highlighted in the gleam of silver. And, most of the coins in this collection, like this one, were barely circulated before they were buried!
This is a statement piece, for sure. Sidle (it's sidle if there's no horse) up to an oyster bar wearing this and you will turn heads.
While each coin does not have every detail, the most striking feature is the two upright “pillars” which represent the Pillars of Hercules; the waves below, the Atlantic Ocean. Starting in the 10 o’clock position there is a “P” for Potosi, next is a number for the denomination. Next is the assayer’s initial. The two or three numerals above the center wave are the date. Through the center runs the phrase PLV SVL TRA – “Plus Ultra” – More Beyond the Pillars of Hercules. On the reverse is the crusaders cross, with lions and castles in the four quadrants representing the early Spanish kingdoms of Leon and Castile. Coins minted in the 1700s will have three digits, i.e. 737 for 1737.
To Learn How To Read a Pillars and Waves Coin Click Here
With settings hand-Forged from solid sterling silver, and hammered to perfection, each piece of Tortuga Collection jewelry is as unique as the authentic Spanish Reale... the "Piece of Eight" it highlights. Each setting is hand-crafted using the same techniques and hand tools used by the minters of the coins themselves. Because only historic techniques, hand tools and pure sterling silver are used, each Tortuga Collection setting is completely unique - an heirloom piece of artisan jewelry that can be worn every day.
