$ 2,250.00 USD Size Guide
Please Note: This is an authentic Spanish Piece of Eight Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.
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.
Spanish Pillar Dollars are considered by numismatists (including us here at Cannon Beach Treasure Co) one of the most stunning coins ever minted. A transitional currency between the rough "Cob" style Pieces of Eight, and the later Portrait Dollars" this regal design bears the Pillars of Hercules, with the Old and New World between them. The Spanish Crown rests above, under the Latin legend VTRA QUE VNUM: "Two Become One."
Robert's Notes: Stunning quality coin, with VERY rare Chinese chopmarks. You may note the swastika on the obverse. Read below for details about this ancient symbol of abundance and good fortune.
This coin was found in the cellar of an old home in London. Our 14 page full color Certificate of Authenticity goes into the details.
But you can start below.
What is a Chopmark?
Our 14 page Certificate of Authenticity took me months to research and write and goes into great depth about these totally awesome coins with chopmarks. However, the short explanation is this.
Ever since coins were invented about 650 BC, there have been nefarious folks out there faking them. Typically, they would make a base metal imitation and then plate it in silver of gold. For thousands of years, people would use punches to put a dent in the surface to see if there was a different color metal below.
Fast forward to when Spanish "pieces of 8" started entering the Chinese trade markets in the late 1500s. Not long after this, Chinese merchants, and money changers started testing the coins to make sure they were real. They would weigh the coin (to make sure it was its offiacal weight), then take a steal punch with their personal design called a "chop-mark" and punch it into the coin. If it passed the test, this mark told them that they had already tested it and they could accept it again if it circulated back to them in the market place.
What do the Chopmarks Mean?
We may never know the meaning of most chopmarks. Unfortunately, their meanings, if they existed, have long been lost. In most cases, though, the marks were personal identifiers for shroffs, bankers, or merchants. However, the most common chopmarks on the cob coins are tien meaning lord or master, and ju meaning day, sky or heaven.
You may notice the swastika on the obverse of this coin. Notice the date: 1756. As in the DA VINCI CODE, symbols are not always what they seem in the modern world. The swastika is an ancient symbol of good fortune and prosperity. It actually appears on ancient Mesopotamian art. But it also appears in early Byzantine and Christian art. It is an auspicious symbol that is found in many ancient cultures and used by Hindus, Buddhists, the Maya and even the Navajo. In China and Japan, it is used to denote prosperity, abundance and long life. I would assume that the person who stamped that into their coin was living a happy and prosperous life, and wished the same to others whose hands it passed through.
Chop mark coins are VERY rare compared to standard Spanish colonial coins. I have handled hundreds of chopmark coins over the years, but have only seen 4 coins with swastikas on them.We have kept one of them in our personal collection. Now that is rare!
