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Product Details
The new Silver
Shield Pieces of Eight physically represents the deadly history of
silver. Praedatum In Mundo translates into “A Predatory World” that defines
the struggle of man against nature to extract this rare, precious metal, but
also violent clash of civilizations to control the treasure of the world.
The ocean and
sky in the background of the Silver Shield Pieces of Eight
represent the treacherous seas that would claim many a men in search of this
glorious treasure. Explorers sought to find new trading routes with Asia
soon discovered the new world and all of its riches.
The Silver
Shield Pieces of Eight has an Aztec inspired lower border that represents
the powerful Native American empires that arose long before European discovery.
The Aztecs, Mayans and Incas as well as many more Native American tribes
conquered the Americas and spread their power throughout the Western
Hemisphere. That is until another predatory power came to the new world...
The Spanish
Conquistadors brought Christianity, brutal tactics and most importantly disease
to conquer the indigenous populations and steal their natural wealth.
Perhaps the most brutal example of the dangers and deaths associated with
silver, is the legendary Cerro de Potosí mine in Bolivia. The Potosí
mine was known as the mountain “made of silver” or the “mountain that eats
men”. Since the Spanish first forced indigenous populations to mine the
mountain, an estimated 8 million souls have died mining silver out of that one
mountain. It is said that with the amount of silver taken from Potosí, the
Spanish could have built a bridge of silver back to Spain. Local legends
also say that they could build a second bridge back to the new world from the
bones of the men that perished in the mining of that silver.
Despite and
estimated 33 million Indigenous People and African slaves that worked the
Potosí mine over the past 500 years, she is still yielding silver today. At
over 15,000 feet above sea level, young boys as young as 14 years old work all
day in medieval conditions hauling rock on their backs or breaking the rock
with hammer and iron chisel. To think that even today, these boys risk their
lives to work in brutal conditions in the dark for $14 a day is amazing.
Everyday, they face almost certain death from either the dangers of the job, or
if they are lucky enough to get to their 40’s, they will certainly face
numerous lung diseases associated with this dangerous job.
As powerful
as the Spanish Empire was, soon other colonial powers sought to dominate the
nature and their fellow man. The eight swords of the Silver Shield
Pieces of Eight represent the 8 great colonial powers that fought
countless wars in dominating the world. Spain, England, France, Portugal,
Denmark, Netherlands, The United States and Belgium all fought in foreign lands
for the natural resources of other poorer people. This colonial warmongering
continues to this day with the resource wars in the Middle East and Asia.
And no matter
how powerful any one nation or empire is, on the open sea they were all subject
to yet another predatory power, the Pirate. Despite the very bad reputation of
the pirates, they actually had a very egalitarian code among them. It
gives us a strong example of a true democracy that would put modern American
democracy to shame. Pirates not only directly voted for their captain, but they
also had the power to depose their captain at any time. Pirates also had a
worker’s comp program that stated that if any pirate should become a cripple or
lose a limb in service that they would receive 800 Pieces of Eight from
the common stock.
The Silver Shield Pieces of Eight was styled after the original Spanish Dollar or Eight Reales coin. Like the original Spanish Dollar, the twin pillars of Hercules are adorned with the early manifest destiny motto of the Spanish Empire, PLVS VLTR, or "further beyond". These adorned pillars are also the reason why we have the dollar sign ($)today. For many years of the early American history, the Spanish Dollar was used as an official currency of the new colonies.
The Spanish
influence on the American monetary system is still evident today. The original
Spanish Dollar was a one-ounce silver coin was valued at eight reales.
This "piece of eight” could be fractioned into halves (four reales)
or quarters (two real1 OZ es) much as we do with modern dollars. These
"pieces of eight” were also why the stock market traded stocks for
hundreds of years measured in 1/8 until the decimalization in 2001.
Like the
original Spanish Dollar, the only way to cut the Silver Shield Pieces
of Eight into its eight pieces, is a lot of effort and strong tools.
Unlike the original Spanish Dollar, Silver Shield Pieces of Eight has
a unique reverse that shows the purity and weight of the (8) 1/8 oz pure silver
pieces of the 1 ounce pure silver strike.
The Silver Shield Pieces of Eight is a 1-ounce Brilliant Uncirculated strike. Directly from Charlie's Old Pawn.
Weight: |
1 Troy Ounce |
Composition: |
.999 Fine Silver |
Mint: |
Golden State Mint |
Collection: |
Silver Shield |
Condition: |
Bullion Strike-Mint Fresh |
Diameter (≈): |
39.3 mm | 1.55" |
Thickness (≈): |
3.2 mm | 0.125" |
Edge Design: |
Reeded |
Year: |
|
IRA Approved: |
Yes |
Packaging: |
Coin in Capsule |
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