8 Real coin (tails)
Exeter City Council. Scale in centimeters
8 Real coin (tails)
Exeter City Council. Scale in centimeters
'Piece of 8' found locally
By Danielle, PAS Finds Liaison Officer
An exciting find from St Thomas was reported to me recently. A local resident came in to the museum with what turned out to be a silver 'piece of eight'. These coins have long been popularly associated with Pirates in literature and films.
The formal name for this type of coin is an '8 Real'. The coin was minted at the famous Potosi silver mine in Bolivia, and dates to 1689. The Spanish Real was a very stable unit of currency and so these coins were used all over the known world. Potosi was one of several mints set up in the New World by the Spanish. We don't know how it came to be in St Thomas. It probably wasn't brought by pirates, but you never know!
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What does the inscription on the coin mean?
The obverse (heads) shows symbols of Spain: a cross with a castle in the top left and bottom right, and a lion in the top right and bottom left.
On the reverse (tails) are two pillars, symbolising the Pillars of Hercules, or the Straights of Gibraltar. The pillars intersect three lines of text which read:
Top line: P 8 VR
- P= the mintmark, Potosi
- 8= the denomination of the coin ie 8 reales
- VR= the initials of the assayer, the person checking the quality of the silver
Middle line: PLUS ULTRA
A latin motto adopted by Charles I of Spain meaning 'Further Beyond'
Bottom line: VR 8 P
A repeat of the top line, but with the assayer initials and the mint mark the other way around.
Sarah, the Curator of West Exe adds:
The motto reminds me of Buzz Lightyear (an astronaut in children's films) whose catch phrase is 'To infinity and beyond'. In those days European explorers - and pirates - must have felt they were sailing to the end of the universe.