Mexico: Charles IV "Black Joke" 8 Reales 1803 Mo-TH XF (Shipwreck Effect),...

Description

A Pirate Shipwreck

Charles IV "Black Joke" 8 Reales 1803 Mo-TH XF (Shipwreck Effect), Mexico City mint, KM109. 20.49gm. Accompanied by COA. Salvaged from the "Black Joke" (sunk in 1828 off Cadiz, Spain). Recovered from the Pirate ship Black Joke, whose Captain Benito de Soto is famed as one of the last, and most cruel pirates to sail the Atlantic.

The Black Joke was a merchant vessel captured and renamed by the Benito de Soto, a brutal Galician pirate active in the 1820s. Originally the "Morning Star", the ship was seized by de Soto and his crew, who then used it to terrorize the Atlantic shipping lanes. De Soto became notorious for his cruelty, particularly for the brutal attack on the original Morning Star in 1828, where he and his men murdered passengers and crew, and subjected survivors to horrific abuse. Sailing under the name Black Joke, de Soto continued his reign of terror until his capture in 1829. He was tried and hanged in Gibraltar in 1830, and remains one of the most feared figures of Atlantic piracy in the post-Golden Age era. The legacy of his crimes contributed to the decline of romanticized views of pirates, revealing the violent and grim reality behind such maritime outlaws.

Metal: Silver

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