When Ever I Hear The Phrase, 'Pieces Of Eight',

I always think of a parrot on a pirates shoulder speaking the phrase,

and I have always assumed each one was worth a vast fortune, but according to Elizabeth Bailer of auctioneers Hansons of Derbyshire you could own a piece of history for as comparatively little as £30-£50, the coins are from the wreck of the H.M.S Association,


the ship was launched from Portsmouth Dockyard in 1697, and was in use at the capture of Gibraltar, but lost at sea mysteriously in 1707, described as the ‘greatest maritime disaster of the age,’ the wreck was left at the bottom of the ocean until dredged up in 1967,


as for the coin, 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, so if you fancy a piece of history, which is worth as much today as it was then, pop along to Hansons Auction Centre on 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd February and make a bid!