The two upright “pillars” represent the Pillars of Hercules the waves below, the Atlantic Ocean. It is the same design as many of the coins recovered from Princess Louisa. The 8 real example here is from the Spanish galleon, Consolacion, which sank in 1681 off Ecuador. To see the Princess Louisa British East India Company shipwreck Pieces of Eight, click here> To view our Consolacion shipwreck coins (and learn about this real-life pirate shipwreck) click here> And since the Spanish fleets sailed from the Strait of Gibraltar, his motto became “Plus Ultra,” or “More Beyond,” which today is still Spain’s national motto. In the early 1500s, the job of organizing the Spanish Treasure Fleets coming over from the newly discovered New World mines fell to Charles I of Spain (Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire). The Pillar in the north is the Rock of Gibraltar, and in the south either Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa in North Africa. The Latin phrase “NEC PLVS VLTRA” (No More Beyond) was used to describe what lay beyond the Pillars in the Atlantic Ocean. In ancient times, legend says that Hercules created the Pillars of Hercules (that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar) to prevent sea monsters from entering the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. they were used in trade, and that is how Spanish new-world reales, minted in South America, wound up quite literally. they were melted and made into silver plate, like religious items, tableware or jewelry 4. they were melted down and reminted in Spanish mints 3. sometimes the king “commandeered” them to pay for wars and other debts Spain incured 2. Once they reached Spain, several things could happened to the coins: 1. More galleons joined them from Mexico and other Caribbean ports, and together they headed north to Spain. There the treasure would be carried across the isthmus, then loaded on other galleons that were headed to Havana, Cuba. The South Seas Fleet then began the 1,300-mile voyage to Panama. For the next 250 years they were loaded on mules and llamas to begin the arduous two week, 120 mile trek down the mountain to Arica (now in modern day Chile), where they were loaded on a small fleet of Spanish galleons (three or four) and other vessels that would sail north to Callao, the port at Lima.Īt Callao, they would pick up more gold and silver from the Lima mine and mint. In 1573, the first silver coins were minted in Potosí, Upper Peru (present-day Bolivia). In 1546, at over 15,000 feet above sea level, a mountain of silver was discovered – they called it Cerro de Potosí - some called it Cerro Rico (“rich hill”). Inspired by Cortés’ success in “conquering” Mexico, Francisco Pizarro González made several attempts to conquer Peru (including what is present-day Bolivia), and finally succeeded in 1533. They are some of the most detailed and beautiful coins produced in the Spanish colonies, as the design actually tells the story of the Spanish conquest of the “New World.”īut to understand how exactly to read them, it is helpful to take a brief trip back in time. Many of the silver spanish Reales - or "Pieces of 8" recovered from famous shipwrecks, or found in buried treasure caches, are minted with the Pillars and Waves design. This runestone dates to around 400 AD but there are no written records that can tell us exactly when it was created.How to Read the Legendary Coins of the Spanish Main. The first recorded use was found at a Viking settlement near Tängelgårda, Sweden. These ancient Norse runes have been found as far away as Iran, Turkey, England, and India. The first runes were carved into wood, bone, or stone and then painted with various colours to make them more visible. This writing system is believed to have originated from the Old Italic scripts: a variation of the North Italic (Etruscan or Raetic alphabets), or the Latin Alphabet itself. The Elder Futhark (or sometimes just “Futhorc”) is the oldest form of runic alphabet. The word “Futhark” is derived from the first six letters, which are called “Fehu,” “Uruz,” “Thurisaz,” “Ansuz,” “Raidho” and “Kennaz.” The Elder Futhark runes are a set of 24 symbols that were used for writing in Scandinavia and other parts of Northern Europe from about 200-800 AD. While there are many different types of runes, here I’ll be focusing on Elder Futhark. Writing itself was often seen as magic by other peoples who had no writing systems of their own. The word rune comes from an Old Norse term meaning a secret letter that was used for casting spells.
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