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- "To confirm your Lordship and right to be heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow cap'ns."
- ―Hector Barbossa during the Fourth Brethren Court
The Nine Pieces of Eight, often referred to as just pieces of eight, were an important symbol in Pirate Lore as the items owned by the Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court.
History
- "Those aren't pieces of eight, they're just pieces of junk!"
"Aye, the original plan was to use nine pieces of eight to bind Calypso, but when the First Court met, the Brethren were, to a one skint broke."
"So change the name."
"What? To 'Nine Pieces of Whatever-We-Happen-to-Have-in-Our-Pockets-at-the-Time?' Oh yes, that sounds very piratey." - ―Pintel and Joshamee Gibbs
Jack Sparrow's unique piece of eight.
Each of the nine Pirate Lords agreed to hold a piece of eight to be presented during a meeting of the Brethren Court, though the term came to apply to a variety of items and trinkets as the pirates found themselves short on money, simply keeping the original term as it sounded more 'piratey'. Each piece of eight reflected something about the lord who possessed the piece, and altogether, the nine pieces were used to bind the sea goddess Calypso to a human form, after Davy Jones informed the Brethren on how to capture her.
The nine pieces of eight burned to release Calypso.
Pieces of eight were used to call the Brethren Court to assemble at Shipwreck Cove. The sea shanty Hoist the Colours was called forth by Hector Barbossa and sung at Fort Charles during Lord Cutler Beckett's drive to eradicate piracy on the Seven Seas, and the coins reverberated with the song. The nine pieces of eight were burned as part of the incantation to release Calypso prior to the Pirate Lords' battle against the East India Trading Company.
Pieces of eight of the Pirate Lords
- "A piece of eight. Nine of them, you say?"
"Our new friend in Singapore was very specific, sir. Nine pieces of eight."
"What's the significance of that, I wonder?" - ―Cutler Beckett and Ian Mercer
- Small pewter brandy goblet (Ammand the Corsair) Received from outcast sisters from a Spanish convent. They were outcast for a reason. That reason was Ammand.
- Wooden eyeball (Boris Palachnik/Hector Barbossa)
- Queen of Spades playing card (Chevalle) Chevalle is a compulsive gambler. His preferred hands in cards always use this card.
- Pair of spectacles (Ching's husband/Mistress Ching) Ching used these before she went blind.
- Jade Captain's knot (Sao Feng's father/Liang Dao/Sao Feng/Elizabeth Swann) Made from silk from the famous Silk Road and a traditional jade gemstone.
- Pair of tobacco cutters (Grandmama/King Samuel/Gentleman Jocard) This is from the plantation where Jocard was enslaved. He used them to cut out his former master's tongue.
- Siamese coin woven into Moroccan beads (Don Rafael/Esmeralda/Jack Sparrow) Jack got the Moroccan beads from a French lady of questionable reputation. The coin is an ancient coin from Siam, one of the first two bits he ever pirated. According to pirate lore, he bought his hat with the second bit.
- Calf-horn Snuff box (Sri Sumbhajee Angria) A souvenir from his temple in India.
- Broken bottle-neck with a cork; on a string (Eduardo Villanueva) This aided Eduardo in winning a famous bar fight.
Behind the scenes
- The original pieces of eight, also known as Spanish dollars, were first made after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Each piece of eight was made of silver, and had worth of eight reales.
- During the Third Brethren Court, a pirate thief named Tartaglia attempted to use the Timekeeper as a false Piece of Eight to fool the assembled Pirate Lords into thinking he was one of them. His plan failed and the third Brethren Court ended in violence.
- In the first screenplay draft of At World's End, Capitaine Chevalle's piece of eight was Magellan's ring, which he lost to Cutler Beckett in the game of cards in the South China Sea some years prior to the Fourth Brethren Court.
Appearances
- Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours (Mentioned only)
- The Price of Freedom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (First appearance)
Notes & references
- ↑ The nine pieces of eight were created when the Pirate Lords bounded Calypso to human form, which occurred during the First Brethren Court.