The Spanish silver dollar, also known as a piece of eight, is one of the most important coins to both world history and pop culture, making it popular among historical coin collectors and lovers of pirate lore. But what exactly was the piece of eight and what made it such a large part of international trade in the 16th century?
Weight & Design
The Spanish silver dollar was worth eight reales (royals), a unit of currency in Spain, which is how it became known as the real de a ocho or the piece of eight. Each one contained approximately 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) of fine silver, although these weights varied slightly over time and from mint to mint. The obverse showed the profile bust of the sitting Spanish monarch and the reverse showed the Crowned Spanish coat of arms supported by the Pillars of Hercules, a classical symbol for two sides of the Strait of Gibraltar bridging the Old World and the New, with a ribbon wrapped around both pillars in a stylized “S.” Interestingly, this is one of the leading theories for the origin of the double-bar version of the dollar sign ($).
First International Currency
The piece of eight became preferred over other currency across Europe, North America, and even East Asia for a variety of reasons. First, the uniformity and standard milling characteristics made it trustworthy in silver content and difficult to counterfeit. Second, that same milling process left a patterned edge, making it more difficult for dishonest traders to shave slivers of silver off them. Cutting money was frowned on, but not illegal, and, in fact, honest traders literally cut the silver coin into eight “pie pieces” to make change. These were called bits, which is where the American custom of describing something that costs a quarter of a dollar as being worth two bits.
Additionally, North American colonists were not allowed to mint their own money, yet British mercantilism practices kept English coins too scarce for day-to-day business. However, through illicit trade with the West Indies, pieces of eight were the most common foreign coinage available to colonists. They remained popular and in regular use until the United States Coinage Act of 1857 finally outlawed the practice.
Effect on American Currency
After the adoption of the Constitution, the Coinage Act of 1792 birthed truly American currency and enacted several important requirements for US coinage. For instance, it required US dollars to contain 371.25 grains (24.057 g) of pure silver or 416 grains (26.96 g) standard silver. Alexander Hamilton arrived at these weights by ordering the Treasury to average the weights of a random assortment of well-used Spanish dollars. This made the US dollar similar enough to the 371–373 grains found in circulating Spanish dollars that it aided their use overseas.
The Ongoing Attraction of Piece of Eight
History enthusiasts remain interested in the coin for its high silver content and iconic place in the history of currency and North America. But the true fame of this coin is owed to Robert Louis Stevenson’s phenomenally popular novel, Treasure Island.
In Treasure Island, pirate captain Long John Silver taught his parrot to yell out “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” This tied the coin (and, oddly, parrots) to pirate folklore to this day. This led to “pieces of eight” becoming synonymous with treasure of any type, even into the modern era.
The popularity of this novel led to many famous retellings, including a live-action film with the same title from Disney in 1950 as well as an animated version with a science fiction twist in 2002’s Treasure Planet. The continuing fascination with pirates has led to other successful TV series and movies that keep the piece of eight in the pop cultural awareness, making this coin popular with collectors who are also fans of pirate lore. Add some pirate history to your collection today by shopping our wide array of Spanish pieces of eight.
