Dedicated to the memory of my great-grandfather Hovhannes
It was January 1945.
Grandfather got up and slowly sat up on the bed, he had not got out of bed for a long time. Today grandfather felt better. The old man understood that the disease was serious, that he would not live to see the end of the war and would not see his sons who had gone to fight - all four of them. It is good that there are grandchildren and they are nearby - three boys and two girls, the eldest of them is Vanya, 13 years old.
The old man was tired of sitting, but he didn’t particularly want to lie down either. He waved his hand. Vanya helped his grandfather to settle down reclining on high cushions. The boys understood this as the grandfather's desire to tell an episode from his life. The grandchildren pulled up the stools and sat closer to their grandfather.
What to tell you? grandfather asked.
“About gold coins,” said Hamlet, the liveliest of the boys.
- Cursed coins, - grandfather sighed.
- Why cursed? asked the middle grandson Volodya in surprise.
- I was so happy with them, but the coins did not bring me joy, I even lost my horse - the best in the village.
- Did you have a lot of them? Gold coins, - said Volodya.
- A chest, - the grandfather answered and after a minute added, - a small chest.
The children looked at each other. Volodya blinked at Hamlet. These two believed that the grandfather was inventing, because each time the grandfather added something new to his story about the coins.
After all, there were not only coins in it, - the grandfather fell silent: he was resting or thinking.
- What else? Volodya asked, smiling at Hamlet.
“Dagger,” answered the grandfather, and fell silent again.
The boys fidgeted impatiently on their stools—grandfather didn’t talk about the dagger.
- Big dagger? Hamlet asked.
- No, a large dagger would not fit in that chest, - the grandfather clarified and showed with his hands, - normal, like this. But what a handsome precious stones. All burned, sparkled, you couldn’t take your eyes off - such a beautiful dagger was.
- Where did the dagger go? Volodya asked.
Perhaps I’ll start with something else, - the grandfather sighed, - I’ll tell you everything in order.
I liked to look at them, but secretly. He sent the children to the field, and he himself remained alone and admired. Then he hid in a safe place. Troubled times have begun. Yes, however, we almost always had troubled times: either bandit raids, or war, or epidemic. Anything happened. Once a neighbor boy came to us and said that they had a guest from the city, he was calling everyone - he wanted to show something. Many neighbors have gathered. The guest showed us the money, which we have not seen yet - long rubles, silk fabric. “Now such money is in use,” the guest explained, “I can give it away in exchange for gold.”
I don't know why I believed him. Everyone believed, I'm not the only one, - the grandfather sighed and continued. - I took him a lot of gold coins, but not all, I left most of it just in case. Traded gold for rags. That guest collected our gold and quickly fled the village. Very soon we learned that these are useless rags and they are worth nothing. That guest deceived us, turned out to be a fraudster. I was glad in my heart that I gave away only a smaller part of the coins.
- Where are these rags? asked the incredulous Volodya.
- I burned it in the tonir, who needs them? - Grandfather frowned and continued, - time passed and I thought that I could spend the rest of the coins wisely. Oh, how wrong I was. Although no, I was not mistaken, but those coins turned out to be cursed. Grandfather took a deep breath and thought.
I wanted to buy a house with these coins in a resort town. Wonderful place. I rested in it once, - a happy smile played on his face. - I got ready for the journey, dressed in all the best. I took coins, a dagger and food for the journey. He sat on his beloved horse and set off on his journey. Eh, to know.
He closed his eyes for a long time. The children are bored.
- Grandfather Hovhannes, - the impatient Volodya called quietly.
- BUT? Grandpa seemed to wake up.
- Did you get to the city? - said the grandson.
- No, he didn’t go far, he was still in our mountains of Syunik. I wanted to drive as short as possible, but I was ambushed by bandits. How could I forget about the bandits? - the grandfather lamented.
In our country, after all, all sorts of gangs often robbed on the roads - this has been the case at all times. Bands of nomadic tribes disturbed us - they took away cattle, robbed travelers, abducted our beauties. Once my wife, your grandmother, Margarita, was almost stolen. Good thing I had a gun with me. I fired, they ran away in fear.
- But our grandmother's name is Gayane, - Volodya was surprised.
- No, Gayane is my second wife, not your grandmother. Margaret was beautiful. She came out, saved me from typhus, but she herself weakened, poor thing, fell ill and died, - grandfather began to cry.
Grandfather, but about coins, - quietly reminded Hamlet.
- Oh, yes, coins. Bandits surrounded me. How happy they were, dragged me off the saddle, searched me, found coins and a dagger, - grandfather shook his head sadly, sighing heavily.
- Oh, and it hurt me. But it wasn't enough for them: they made me undress. All have been selected. In my underpants I ran away from them. It's good that he was alive. It was already dark when I reached the village. Someone saw me and immediately the rumor spread that the bandits had robbed me. I confirmed but did not tell them about the coins and the dagger. Why did they need to know that I had them?
Volodya and Hamlet looked at each other, the grandfather fell silent.
- Grandfather, where did you get gold coins from? - Volodya decided to ask a question that had been of interest to him for a long time.
- Found, - quietly answered grandfather.
- Where did you find it? - the grandson did not let up.
- Eh, you don’t know where it is, even if I explain, you weren’t in those places, and Vanya drove by, but he was small to think.
- You explain, and maybe we'll go when we grow up.
- Okay, remember: you will go to Vaik, there was the city of Moz. Many centuries ago, a strong earthquake destroyed the city to dust. My grandfathers told me that that city was very rich. For many years people dug into those ruins and found gold. Literally whole jugs full of gold and jewelry, chests with coins. This is how I found this bag.
- Gold is only for swindlers and bandits, - grandfather added sadly.
***
In 735 in the area modern city Vayk was hit by a catastrophic earthquake that destroyed the large and rich city of Moz.
The mystery of funerary coins
19:05 You are attacked by the Pyromancer's Ghost.
19:05 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" began.
.....
19:07 You leaned over the defeated monster and saw something glittering next to it. Reaching out your hand, you picked up an unusual gold coin with the image of a grinning skull. What a curious little thing... Might be worth taking a closer look at. Received: Funeral Coin x1
19:07 The battle "Attack on the Triumvirator" is over.
Click "Use" on the coin:
19:08 You are carefully examining a gold coin, but you cannot understand what its purpose is. Given that she was found in the halls of King Magish, it is worth showing her to an experienced undead hunter paladin Shiko.
19:08
started for you Quest "The Secret of Funeral Coins". Good luck!
It is for this purpose that I hastened to you, paladin: look at what an unusual trophy I managed to get.
*You pull out a gold coin from your pocket and hand it to Shiko.*
Wait, wait, this is...
*Brings the artifact to his very eyes and carefully examines it.*
It can't be: it's a funerary coin! Now everything fell into place ... That's good luck!
How lucky are we, paladin?
From time immemorial, funerary coins have helped to keep the undead in the other world: so that the creature does not rise up, such a coin was thrown into its crypt. Now I understand that some warriors, overwhelmed by the desire to get hold of gold, plundered the halls of Magish, but fell victim to their own greed and turned into undead. As a result, these coins were never used for their intended purpose, and the dead are rising from their graves again!
It's horrible. What should I do with the coin?
Travel to the halls of the fallen king and place the coin in the crypt of his fallen minion. Hurry, warrior, time is running out!
Your goal: Go to the halls of King Magish, kill any of his minions and use the funerary coin next to his remains. Return to Paladin Shiko.
posAfter that, we return to the halls to finish off the walls. Coins will fall as a drop:
19:15 Received: Funeral coin 1 pc.
19:15 The battle "Attack on the Triumvirator" is over.
20:36 You attacked Levret.
20:36 The battle "Attack on Levret" began.
.....
20:39 The battle "Attack on Levret" is over.
Use the coin from the chest:20:39 Rebellious Levreta attacked you.
20:39 The battle "Assault on the Triumvirator" began.
20:39 Before you had time to put a coin to the remains of a monster to expel him from the world of Faeo, as it fell into several parts. A rebellious monster has burst out of it and attacked you! Seized: Funerary coin 1 pc.
.....
20:40 Completed the achievement "Defeat the rebellious henchman of King Magish"
20:40 The risen monster is defeated! Return to Paladin Shiko and tell him what happened. Quest - The mystery of funerary coins.
20:40 The battle "Attack on the Triumvirator" is over.
The rebellious Levretka 1284 HP has no casts, it hits without a block of 95-125, in general it is killed easily and quickly...
Royal tombPaladin Shiko
Perhaps I should have cast some kind of spell?Excluded! The ritual is very simple: you place a grave coin next to the remains of a slain monster, and it remains forever in the other world.
Perhaps the funerary coin itself is to blame?
This is what we have to find out. I'm afraid we can't do without the necromancer's advice here. Hurry to him and find out why the coin did not drive out the monster.
Your goal: Find out from the necromancer why the burial ritual failed.
Vassal Crypts Necromancer
*The tome slams shut in their hearts, above which a cloud of sparkling magical dust rises.*
Don't have a coin? So what do you expect from me? You are wasting my time!
I'll get one exactly like this and bring it to you!
I have no doubt that you will succeed, warrior. But hurry up: the hour is not far off when evil spirits will begin to rise from their graves.
Your goal: Find the grave coin and bring it to the necromancer.
Vassal Crypts Necromancer
*The necromancer mutters an intricate spell, and the coin begins to flicker in his hand.*
Woe to you, warrior. No wonder you exude oblivion, despair, suffering, pain... Your coin is cursed! And how did paladin Shiko not see this?
But I just completed your order! You asked me to bring a funeral coin, and I did!
*Continues casting the spell, fingering the coin.*
I see... Now I see... Since ancient times, grave coins had only one purpose: to keep the undead away from the world of the living. And they coped well with this task. This is due to the greed of people and magmars, who, trying to lay hands on the treasures of the dead, turned into shameful dust, covering the floor of the Magish crypt, as a result of which the coins themselves were saturated with the energy of decay. Now they must be destroyed!
Can you do this?
*Necromancer impatiently waves his hand.*
In this, warrior, the paladin Shiko will help you, because he is the most experienced fighter against the undead in Faeo. Now go, we've wasted a lot of time already.
Your goal: Return to Paladin Shiko and give him the funeral coin.
Royal tombPaladin Shiko
*Shiko's eyes flash through the slits of his helmet, and he decisively raises his axe.*
So what are we waiting for? Put a coin on this stove!
*You drop the coin onto the cold rock and take a step back.*
However ... let's not rush, warrior.
*Shiko lowers the axe.*
A happy thought came to my mind. Even these cursed coins can serve a good cause. Did you manage to defeat Magish's rebellious henchman? Excellent! So know that with the death of a ghostly double, its real incarnation also receives tangible damage. Do you understand what this means? You can choose how to deal with the coins: either place them in the halls with the defeated minions, summoning them from the ghostly world and killing them, or bring them to me for me to destroy. Which solution do you prefer? The choice is yours!
*The paladin lowers his ax to his shoulder and looks at you proudly.*
I know my craft, warrior. As soon as you get new coins, immediately bring them to me. And rest assured, your diligence will be rewarded. See you!
Reward: Old kovets 1 pc. or Wonderful kovets 1 pc. or Intricate Kovets 1 pc. or Precious Kovets 1 pc. or Secret kovets 1 pc.
Reward drops randomly
20:51 Achievement "Courageous Destroyer of Funerary Coins" completed
20:51 Seized: Funeral coin 1 pc.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Miraculous kovets 1 pc.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Precious Kovets 1 pc.
etc.
Oh, the vast expanses of the seas, the ships plowing the waves, stuffed with countless treasures, rum and whores. Romance, burst my spleen, whistle everyone overboard! I mean a movie about pirates. It has everything a good movie needs, and a beauty, and an epic thieving pirate, and curses, and treasures. The first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. But far from the last.
End of the 17th century. A Royal Navy ship from Port Royal spots a blown up ship in the Caribbean. A girl named Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter, finds a little boy, Will Turner, next to the ship in the ocean. As he is hauled aboard, Elizabeth finds a pirate medallion on him and takes him away so the adults won't think he's a pirate.
Since then, 10 years have passed. Elizabeth still keeps the medallion and is now determined to put it on. Will works as an apprentice to a blacksmith and has a (noticeably mutual) passion for her, but at this time Commander James Norrington has already proposed to her. Meanwhile, a young pirate and charming rogue - Captain Jack Sparrow - arrives in Port Royal. When meeting with the guards, he explains that he intends to requisition the ship and recruit a team in order to regain his old ship on black sails - the Black Pearl. He manages to board the high-speed ship "Interceptor", but at this time, Elizabeth, who was walking with the commander, under the influence of the tightly tightened corset of her new dress, from lack of air, falls from the rocks into the ocean.
Jack Sparrow notices this, rushes after her, pulls her on board and tears her corset. The pirate medallion still on it turns out to be familiar to Jack. But at this time, the commander finds him and orders his execution. Thanks to Elizabeth's attempts to intercede for him, he manages to take her hostage, return his belongings and escape. Jack Sparrow is hiding in the forge where Will Turner works. The latter has been going to stab some pirate for a long time and starts a fight with him. At the end of the fight, Sparrow takes out a gun and aims at Turner, but does not have time to shoot - Jack is stunned with a bottle by Will's always drunk mentor, Mr. Brown. As a result, the pirate is taken to prison, and the death penalty is announced to him at dawn next to other pirates. At night, the Black Pearl sails into the port, and on it are pirates led by Captain Hector Barbossa, who 10 years ago raised a rebellion against Jack Sparrow on this ship. Then Jack was dropped off desert island with a sword and a pistol loaded with one bullet.
According to legend, he got out of there on sea turtles and now he intends to return the ship and teach Barbossa a lesson. Pirates, who have been visiting this port for a long time, are attacking the city. An accidental hit on the prison frees the prisoners - all except for Jack (the cannonball has broken through the wall mostly where the other prisoners were sitting), who senses the approach of his ship. It turns out that the pirates came to the port for the medallion, but Elizabeth thought they wanted to kidnap her. Therefore, she said that according to the pirate "code", she should be taken to the captain. Under Barbossa, she introduces herself as Elizabeth Turner. Pirates, recognizing the surname, kidnap her and sail away. The next morning, William finds the commander wondering what course the pirates could take, and invites him to ask Sparrow, but Norrington refuses. Then William turns to Jack Sparrow and frees him. Jack, hearing his name, guesses that he is the son of Bill Turner, known as "Bootstrap". Together, they quietly move to the Interceptor and sail to the pirate base - Isla de Muerte.
Along the way, Jack reveals that Will's father is a pirate. Turner is indignant, but nothing can be done, you need to get to Jack's proposed Tortuga. There, Jack meets his former boatswain, Joshami Gibbs, and informs him that with the help of Will Turner, they can return the ship and take revenge on Barbossa. At this time, Barbossa arranges a dinner with Elizabeth. Meanwhile, he tells her the legend of the Aztec gold, which was cursed by the gods years ago. Among them is Elizabeth's medallion, one of 663 gold plaques stolen by Barbossa's team from the chest.
After that, they become immortal ghosts, and by the light of the moon, Elizabeth notices their appearance, even Barbossa's monkey turns into a skeleton. They can neither die nor enjoy life. In order to regain life and death, they must return all the gold stolen from the chest and bathe it in the blood of every damned pirate. There was a lack of Bootstrap Turner's blood, and since Elizabeth used his last name, they took her with them, mistaking her for a pirate's daughter. Mr. Gibbs recruited a team on the Interceptor, and Anna Maria becomes its captain, from whom Jack had previously taken her brig without permission.
On the way, Gibbs tells Will the legend of Jack's imprisonment on the island. After the rescue, he keeps the gun given to him with one bullet for Barbossa. At this time, the "Black Pearl" reached the appointed place, and Jack too. He asks Will not to go ahead and wait for the right moment, but he disobeys. At the time of the arrival of Jack and Will, the pirates performed the ritual of returning the stolen medallion - they poured Elizabeth's blood on it and threw it into the chest to the 662 plaques already there.
Due to the origin of Elizabeth (who, of course, is not the daughter of Bootstrap at all), the rite has no effect and does not free the pirates from the curse. Realizing this, Barbossa throws Elizabeth down a slide into the water. Will emerges from the water and takes Elizabeth along with the "bloody" locket. Barbossa notices the loss, and his team goes looking for it. At this time, Jack appears, not quite recovered from the stun, who is taken prisoner. Elizabeth, already on the Interceptor, gives the medallion to Will. According to the law of the pirate code - "Do not wait for those who are behind" - they sail away, but the "Pearl", known as the fastest ship, catches up with them, along with Jack in captivity.
There is a battle going on. Barbossa takes the medallion and takes the entire team prisoner. William demands to let everyone go, threatening suicide. This is unacceptable, because in this case the curse will never be lifted. But Barbossa locks the team, and drops Elizabeth and Jack on the island (the same one from which Jack got out last time), also giving them one pistol with one bullet. On the island, Jack admits that he did not get out with the help of turtles, but with smugglers on the ship. Here they had a cache of food and rum, and by evening Jack and Elizabeth were having a good time. But in the morning, Elizabeth burns all the rum and palm forest on the island in order to attract the attention of the Royal Navy. Jack is angry with her because he loves rum, but soon notices the ship "Striking" from this fleet. "Smasher" saves Jack and Elizabeth, but Jack is still sentenced to death again.
At the request of Elizabeth, Jack is offered a deal - to show the way to Isla de Muerte in exchange for an indulgence. Two ships sail to the island. Jack proposes a plan to the commander: he lures the opponents into the sea, and the "Striking" shoots them. No matter how much Elizabeth tried to explain that they could not be killed, the governor's people did not listen. Jack Sparrow swims to the island, where Will's blood is about to be sacrificed to the gods, and warns Barbossa that the fleet is approaching and that the spell should be broken later. Barbossa's team goes into battle with the Striker, while Jack fights Barbossa. Meanwhile, Elizabeth swims off the ship to the island and fights Barbossa's remaining men. Jack, using one of the plaques, became immortal himself, thereby saving himself from certain death when Barbossa stuck a saber in his stomach. During the fight, he throws a plaque to Will, and then shoots Barbossa with the coveted pistol. He says that Jack wasted the bullet, but then sees that Will throws the plaques, along with his blood and Jack's blood, into the chest. Barbossa sees that his wound is bleeding and dies. The entire Barbossa team on the Razorer notices that they have lost their immortality and surrender to the authorities. (In the second film of the series, two pirates from this team appear - Bald and One-Eyed - in prison they were able to lure a dog with keys and escaped. The fate of the rest is unknown.)
Everyone returns to Port Royal. Jack, despite his help, is re-sentenced to hang. When they hang him, Will throws his sword at his feet, and Jack is saved. Elizabeth also goes over to Sparrow's side and distracts the Commander and Governor by pretending to pass out from lack of air. Then Jack escapes, and the impressed Commander doesn't really protest, giving him a day's head start. Jack, saying goodbye to the young couple, swims to the moored "Pearl". Anna Maria declares Jack to be her captain, and a small part of Barbossa's crew returns to Jack Sparrow.
After the credits, there is a short scene in which the action takes place in a cave on Isla de Muerte. Barbossa's monkey, left on the island, sneaks up on a chest containing cursed Aztec gold coins and steals one. In a beam of moonlight, you can see that the monkey becomes cursed and immortal again. For this reason, in all the following films, she is invulnerable.
In May, the Russian premiere of the fifth tape from the series "Pirates of the Caribbean" - "Dead Men Tell No Tales" will take place. Gold, treasures, doubloons and piastres have always occupied important place in a pirate life. Imagine the world of Captain Jack Sparrow and his fellow criminals from a financial and economic point of view.
ALEXEY ALEKSEEV
Cursed Gold of Cortez
In the first film of the epic, "The Curse of the Black Pearl", gold is one of the main springs of the plot.
"This is Aztec gold. One of the 882 identical plaques that the Indians brought in a stone chest personally to Cortes. Blood money, a payment for stopping the massacre unleashed by his army. But Cortes' greed was insatiable. Then the gods of the pagans cast a terrible spell on the gold. Any mortal who takes even one plaque from the chest will be damned forever."
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" greatly overestimated the "dead man's chest" - by the standards of the ancient pirates, there was not enough gold in it
Strange, but in the Russian voice acting of the first film of the epic plaques for some reason, 663. Where did the 219 plaques go on the way between the Caribbean Sea and Russia is a mystery shrouded in darkness. Let's assume that there are still 882 plaques, as in the original. 881 in the chest, and the medallion of Elizabeth Swann was made from the latter. Pirates from the Black Pearl ship are chasing after the medallion in order to remove the curse of the ancient gods. In addition, to get rid of it, you need to perform a symbolic ritual. It is necessary to return to the gods of the Aztecs a bloody debt - all 882 plaques stained with the blood of a descendant of the pirate Bill Bootstrap.
881 gold plaques from the Aztec hoard lay in the chest of Cortes, and one was used to make Elizabeth Swann's medallion
And now a small reproach to the film company Walt Disney Pictures. 882 gold medallions with a skull are very, very few by the standards of the ancient Aztecs and conquistadors. In 1521, the warriors of the historical Cortes captured and sacked the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards got gold in the amount equivalent to 130 thousand Spanish gold coins. Apparently, this amount seemed to them extremely insignificant. The conquistadors tortured the ruler of the Aztec state Cuautemoca, hoping in vain to find out where the Indians were hiding the main treasures.
Having plundered the capital of the Aztecs in 1521, the warriors of Cortes captured only 130 thousand Spanish gold coins - an amount, in their opinion, not too large
Let's try to roughly estimate the cost of a stone chest. One plaque is approximately equal in size to the largest Spanish coin of the 16th century. This is an eight escudo coin. It contained 27.468 grams of 916.7 gold (22 carats). The chest thus contains 24 kg 227 g of gold. The price of one gram of 916.7 gold today is $37.05. Thus, in April 2017, a full chest of cursed gold could cost about $900,000. Even if one of the pirates had grabbed it alone, he would not have reached the title of a dollar millionaire.
Now let's see how rich the pirates got when they divided the Aztec gold among themselves. The exact size of the Black Pearl team is unknown. Actor Geoffrey Rush, who played the role of Captain Hector Barbossa, named a number from 20 to 50. Suppose there were 22. Roughly speaking, when dividing the treasure, there were 40 plaques per brother. Gold cost 16 times more than silver. The silver coin of eight reales (half an escudo) was known as the peso, the dollar, or "a piece of eight reales", pieces of eight. In the Russian translation of Treasure Island, the parrot calls such coins piastres. So, the members of the damned team got rich on 640 (16x40) similar silver coins.
What did they spend their money on? We know this from Captain Barbossa's complaint to Elizabeth Swann-Turner "for drink, food and pleasant company." "But drink did not quench our thirst, food turned to ashes in our mouths, and the most pleasant company in the world could not satisfy our lust. We are damned people, Miss Turner."
The creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean" attributed the time of the epic to about 1720-1750. Then the exchange rate of the peso-dollar-piastre to the pound sterling, established by decree of Queen Anne in 1704, was in effect. One peso was equal to six shillings. £1 is 20 shillings, one shilling is 12 pence, and one pence is 4 farthings. Therefore, 640 pesos is 3840 shillings, that is, £192.
According to the calculations of the British statistician of the 17th-18th centuries, Gregory King, in 1688 (the situation did not change much over the next half century), a laborer earned £7 per year. The income of soldiers and sailors was £14-20 per year. Officers of the army and navy received £5-7 not a year, but a month.
After the division of gold from the "dead man's chest", each pirate could get the amount that was only enough for "food and drink"
If we assume that there were not 22 sailors on the Black Pearl, but 44, then each of them would be entitled to £96. And if we take the figure from the historian of piracy Mark Rediker, according to which the average pirate crew had 80 people, then the income of each would have decreased by almost half.
So, the money received by the pirates could live for quite a long time. Although without pleasure, as Captain Barbossa rightly noted.
Eat and drink for a shilling
In "Pirates of the Caribbean" we hear the word "shilling" at the very beginning of the first film. It is the shilling that is demanded from Jack Sparrow for the parking of the ship in the bay. He offers three, raising for not giving his name.
Unfortunately, not all information about the prices of food, alcohol and escort services in the ports of the Caribbean Sea in the golden era of piracy has survived to this day. The prices in the metropolis, in England, are much better known.
However, the cost of rum is not a secret, "the most disgusting drink that turns even the most well-mannered people into animals." In Philadelphia in 1740, local rum sold for 1 shilling 8d a gallon, and higher-quality Caribbean rum sold for 2 shillings 5d. It is logical to assume that in the Caribbean, at the place of production, Caribbean swill was cheaper than on the continent. If we assume that the same 1 shilling 8 pence paid for Caribbean rum where it was considered local, and not imported, then in the measurement systems more familiar to us, the price of the product will be 4.4 pence per liter. If we assume that a self-respecting pirate needs to drink a liter of rum daily to function normally, then every 54 days he would spend £1 on a drink.
Another one bad habit, very popular with pirates, smoking was also inexpensive. 45 kilos of Virginia tobacco in 1750 cost £1 wholesale.
Now about food. What could one buy at that time with a shilling in England (prices in the colonies could not have been very different)?
Let's return to the statistics of Gregory King. In 1695, the average Englishman spent £3.85 a year on food and drink. Of this amount, £0.79 was for bread and flour products, £0.61 for meat, £0.42 for dairy products, £0.31 for fish, game and eggs, £0.22 for fruits and vegetables, £0.2 for pickles, £1.06 for beer and ale, £0.24 for hard liquor. In the middle of the 18th century, a 200-gram product made from wheat flour was called a "bun for a penny."
The food basket of a pirate of the Caribbean and the average Englishman probably differed in composition, but the level of prices shows that the crew of the Black Pearl did not face starvation for quite a long time. Even if we take into account that the average Englishman was often cooked by his wife, and the pirate probably ate in catering establishments. On the North American continent in the second half of the 18th century, one could dine in a tavern on the principle of "eat as much as you like from a common cauldron" for one or two shillings.
The most expensive was the favor of girls of easy virtue in London - about £ 2, in ports the prices were much lower - the girls were called twopence
But the cost of a pleasant company in the metropolis and in the Caribbean could differ dramatically. In London, a rich client could pay £2 for a meeting, and if the counter was a virgin, much more. In ports, the price level was comparable to the lowest price category in the metropolis. The girls were traditionally called twopenny, but in fact the standard rate sounded like this: "shilling and booze."
Piracy as an advanced business model
If pirates were content with such modest entertainment, how to explain the popularity of this profession in the Caribbean region in the first half of the 18th century? The number of active sea robbers in the golden age of piracy is estimated at 2,400 people. True, in 1716-1726, approximately 400-600 people from this number were executed by the authorities of different states.
So why did people become pirates?
With a good combination of circumstances, the pirates could "earn" a lot: for example, in 1695, Henry Avery's pirate ships captured booty worth £600,000.
Let's start with the fact that when hiring "pirates" there were no many restrictions on rights traditional for that time.
The black crew members of the Black Pearl are not a tribute to American political correctness (or not only it).
Already in early XVIII centuries, among the crew members of pirate ships were Africans, while the "civilized world" before the abolition of slavery was still very far away. On ordinary ships in that era, dark-skinned sailors also sailed, often sold or given "for rent" by the owners. They did not receive payment for their work and did not have the right to vote in solving ship problems. On a pirate ship, the crew members were equal. The pirate captain Edward England on the ship had only one in five had a white skin color.
The captain of a pirate ship was made democratically - through elections, and was also deprived of this position - by the decision of the majority of the crew members (which happened quite often). So the story of Jack Sparrow, who was removed from the captain's post and landed on a desert island, is quite plausible.
William Snelgrave, a slave trader and ivory merchant who was captured by pirates in 1719, recalled in his book the story of the pirate captain Christopher Moody: he, along with 12 sailors, was forced by the rest of the crew to board a boat, which was sent to free navigation. "And no one ever heard of them again."
On an ordinary merchant ship, the captain's power was enormous. He determined which of the sailors should do what, decided what to feed the crew, how much money to pay crew members, had the right to subject any sailor to corporal punishment. Such an atmosphere in the workplace became the basis for someone to move from the merchant marine to the pirate business.
On a pirate ship, a quartermaster shared power with a democratically elected captain (in Treasure Island, John Silver was captain Flint's quartermaster). The captain was primarily to deal with military operations, and the quartermaster - economic issues. On some ships, the quartermaster had more real power than the captain.
The cardinal difference between pirate ships, on the one hand, and military and merchant ships, on the other, was in the level of income. On pirate ships, booty was divided equally among all sailors. Only the captain received two shares instead of one, the quartermaster - one and a half, sometimes a share and a quarter went to "leading specialists" - the boatswain, ship's doctor, gunner, first mate. Anyone who tried to deceive his comrades by hiding part of the booty was threatened with punishment - "such as the captain and the majority of the crew consider appropriate."
On merchant ships, the income of the "commanders" was five or more times higher than the earnings of ordinary sailors.
It is striking (especially from the point of view of a law-abiding sailor) that pirates care about their disabled comrades. Anyone who lost an arm or leg in combat received compensation of £1,500.
The downside to the pirate wage system was that no loot meant no income. Generally. Whereas on a merchant ship the sailor was guaranteed his miserable earnings.
A big plus of the pirate system is that with good production, incomes could be very high. In 1695, several pirate ships led by Henry Avery captured booty worth £600,000. Each of the sailors got at least £1,000. At the beginning of the next century, they earned £1,200 per brother as a result of one robbery, after which they went out of business.
In 1721, the people of John Taylor and Oliver La Bouche set a record: £4,000 each for one attack. Unfortunately for the pirates, such luck was rare. Many sea robbers were content with more modest incomes. But a free criminal life with the opportunity to hit the jackpot seemed to many more attractive than law-abiding poverty and lawlessness.
