Someone mentioned last week that I didn’t include pieces of
eight in my examples of coins from around 1700, so this week I thought I would
look around for some definitions of what a piece of eight was.
I missed getting the URL of one web site, but you’ll get the
idea from these others!
Enjoy!
Pieces of eight were the world's first global currency. As
the coins of Spain they were used across the vast Spanish Empire, stretching
from South America to the Philippines, but were also used outside the empire as
well. In 1600 one coin would have been worth the equivalent of a modern £50
note. The front of the coin is decorated with the coat of arms of the
Habsburgs, the rulers of Spain and the most powerful family in Europe.
Where did the silver for pieces of eight come from?
The inscription on this coin - King of the Spains and the Indies - refers to
European Spain and the great new Spanish Empire in the Americas. The silver
used to create the coins and finance Spain's armies and armadas came, above
all, from the 'silver mountain' of Potosi in Bolivia. This wealth came at a
terrible cost to human life. Thousands of indigenous American Indians and
African slaves died in the brutal conditions of the mines to support Spain's
thirst for silver.
Pieces of eight were legal tender in
the USA until 1857
piece
of eight
n.
pl. pieces of eight
An old Spanish silver coin.
[From its original value of eight
reals.]
Definition
of piece of eight
: an
old Spanish peso of eight reales
piece of eight in British
nounWord forms: plural pieces of
eight
You can even go indulge yourself and acquire this Piece of Eight:
