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Piece of Eight (item)

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This article is about the trinkets of the Pirate Lords. You may be looking for the Spanish silver money of the same name.

"To confirm your Lordship and right to be heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow cap'ns."
―Hector Barbossa to the Pirate Lords of the Fourth Brethren Court[src]

The Nine Pieces of Eight, also stylized as Piece of 8 and often referred to as piece(s) 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 happened to have in our pockets at the time?' Oh, yes. That sounds very piratey."
―Pintel and Joshamee Gibbs[src]
When the First Brethren Court met, they used the Nine Pieces of Eight to bind the sea goddess Calypso into human form.

When the First Brethren Court met, they used the Nine Pieces of Eight to bind the sea goddess Calypso into human form.

By the dawn of the Age of Piracy, the great Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court was a governing body of the Seven Seas that originally existed at a time when the waters were untamed, the world a rougher place, and a sailor made his own fate.[2][4] Calypso, the Goddess of the Sea, ruled the ocean with her powerful magic, but the Pirate Lords of the First Brethren Court used a magic even more ancient than her own,[2] taming her wild fury and bringing the sea under their command with the help of Davy Jones, the captain of the Flying Dutchman, who showed them how to bind her into human form.[3] They sealed her fate with Nine Pieces of Eight, so that the rule of the seas would belong to men. These Pieces of Eight were passed down through the generations as each Pirate Lord names his or her successor to the Court.[4] The original plan was to use coins, specifically pieces of eight, but because the First Court "didn't have a pence between them" or "were to a one skint broke" they used a variety of items and trinkets, but everyone liked "Nine Pieces of Eight" because it was "pirate-y" and so the name stuck.[2][3] Every Pirate Lord has a sacred "Piece of 8"—the object each one used in the past to bind Calypso and swear their allegiance to the Pirate's Code,[5] which was produced by the Second Brethren Court.[2]

Over the years, the Nine Pieces of Eight exchanged from one Pirate Lord to another. For example, during the Court of Inquiry, Boris "Borya" Palachnik gave a block of wood to Hector Barbossa, who didn't know the meaning behind the item, until Jack Sparrow informed him about the Pieces of Eight and suggested to talk to Edward Teague about it.[6] Under Barbossa's direction, it was kept safe by Ragetti, who used it as a replacement eye.[7][8][3] Several years later, Captain Jack Sparrow was given his Piece of Eight, wearing it as one of his many trinkets,[7][8] though legends and pirate lore suggested that Jack got the Moroccan beads from a French lady of questionable reputation, and the coin was an ancient coin from Siam, one of the first two bits he ever pirated, with his hat being bought with the second bit.[9] Additionally, while it was believed that Sao Feng acquired the Captain's Knot from his father,[9] Sao Feng actually acquired it from his brother Liang Dao.[10] Shortly afterwards, Gentleman Jocard took his Piece of Eight from King Samuel.[11]

The nine pieces of eight burned to release Calypso.

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 during a mass execution at a fort 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.[3][4]

Pieces of eight of the Pirate Lords[]

Sao Feng's piece of eight.

Sao Feng's piece of eight.

"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[src]

Behind the scenes[]

Jack Sparrow's trinket and Ragetti's wooden eye first appeared in media relating to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[8] notably described or pictured in Irene Trimble's junior novelization.[7] Although they appeared in various Pirates media, their importance as one of the Nine Pieces of Eight belonging to the Pirate Lord of the Brethren Court, with Ragetti's eye belonging to Hector Barbossa, wasn't revealed until the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,[3] with the name "Nine Piece of Eight" being first used in T.T. Sutherland's junior novelization,[2] further detailed in the "Inside the Brethren Court" bonus feature in the DVD/Blu-ray release.[9] "Piece of 8" was used in the Master Replicas products.[5]

The original pieces of eight was a heavy silver coin considered to be the most valuable currency in the New World, except for the gold doubloon.[6] In At World's End, it was revealed that before "pieces of junk" were used, the original plan to bind Calypso was for the Pirate Lords of the First Brethren Court to use nine pieces of eight, but when the First Court met, they were "to a one skint broke."[3] The film's junior novelization revealed that they were to use coins, but they "didn't have a pence between them" and "everyone liked 'Nine Pieces of Eight,' so the name kind of stuck."[2]

According to various media in At World's End, the Third Brethren Court ended badly, including a late production draft,[13] the junior novelization,[2] The Pirates' Guidelines.[4] In Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours, which featured time travel, 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 Brethren Court meeting ended in violence.[14]

In the At World's End video game, the Pieces of Eight were depicted as actual coins, specifically the old-gen versions.[15]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of At World's End, the Nine Secret Pieces of Eight appeared for the meeting of the Brethren Court, including a comb, a sailing needle, and a dice. Capitaine Chevalle's piece of eight was Magellan's signet ring, which he lost to Cutler Beckett in a game of cards in the South China Sea some years prior to the Brethren Court meeting.[16] The storylines regarding the pieces of eight changed by a late production draft,[13] as well as the final cut of the film.[3]

A few sources incorrectly claim that Chevalle's piece of eight was the pair of spectacles and that Ching's piece of eight as a fishing line and hook. So far, this information was found in some older versions of the official Pirates of the Caribbean website,[12] and the "Pirates Code of Conduct" included with the Ultimate Trilogy Collection.[17] In At World's End, Ching is seen handing over the fishing line and hook with the spectacles dangling from it, both apparently forming a single talisman.[3]

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ The nine pieces of eight were created when the Pirate Lords bounded Calypso to human form, which occurred during the First Brethren Court.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization)
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Pirates' Guidelines
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Master Replicas Jack Sparrow Pirate Beads Replica
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The Price of Freedom
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: "Inside the Brethren Court"
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 DisneyPirates.com - Archived
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  14. ↑ Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
  16. ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, original draft
  17. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Ultimate Trilogy Collection
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