The Story of Gold Pieces of Eight

From the old folklore stories of hidden treasure and pirates sailing the seven seas, the Spanish Doubloons are known and remembered the world over. The references to Pieces of Eight were mostly the Spanish silver dollars, but also the gold “escudo” or “eight escudo” was also known as a Doubloon and a Piece of Eight.

In the famous Robert Louise Stevenson book, Treasure Island, the colloquial phrase “pieces of eight, pieces of eight”, as was squawked incessantly by pirate Long John Silver’s parrot upon his shoulder, stamped the words permanently on our collective memories. In the 15th and 16th centuries the doubloon was a primary international currency, where the coins were divided in eight equal parts to create smaller denominations, or Bits. That is where the term, 2 bits, equaling a quarter or 1/4th came into the zenglish language, and is still used today in country-side Americam slang. It is also speculated that this is where the digital crypto currency, Bitcoin, got its name. Now, not only can a Bitcoin be split into eight equal pieces, it can be divided into 100 million Satoshis. Any increment smaller than an Eighth can be termed a “Tidbit”. Napoleon Bonaparte stated, “Empires rise and fall on mere tidbits of information.” The axiom still holds true today.

In the New Horizons portfolio, the Phase I of Mandarin Oceanview boutique resort has 8 luxury two-bedroom condominium units. And, therefore, the theme of the Horizons’ website, and the Projects therein, became the Doubloon Collection: An eclectic array of luxury property opportunities in a true tropical paradise, and old stomping grounds of freeloading pirates from long ago. The coin featured on the Homepage is the extremely rare and valuable 1787 Brasher doubloon. A fitting icon for the New Horizons.