Originally posted on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013
The lore of gold is linked, inextricably, with that of buccaneers.
Most died young (and poor).
One name stands out for wealth, social prestige, and longevity:
Sir Francis Drake.
Sir Francis Drake courtesy of Wikipedia
According to the Investopedia, one of his operations may have spawned the ubiquitous legend of “buried pirate treasure”:
As his knighthood suggests, Sir Francis Drake was a highly-respected public figure in England. He served as a sea captain, navigator, politician and even a human trafficker. To the English, Drake was a privateer, which is a civilian licensed by a government to attack and capture enemy cargo ships in exchange for prize money. To the Spanish, however, Drake was one of the most notorious buccaneers on the high seas. Drake’s first major foray into piracy came in 1572 when he and his men captured the town of Nombre de Dios, Panama. The Spanish-held town had just received a large shipment of gold and silver from Peru, and Drake and his men helped themselves to the treasures. He spent the better part of a year plaguing Spanish shipping in that region.
In 1573, Drake attacked a mule train and seized roughly 20 tons of silver and gold. However, since Drake and his men were unable to transport all that treasure safely, they opted to bury it. This likely inspired all the famed tales of “buried pirate treasure.” Unlike Bellamy, Drake managed to retire from piracy with a vast, if slightly smaller, fortune. Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1581 and was second-in-command of the English fleet that battled the Spanish Armada in 1588. Drake later served as the mayor of Plymouth, England. He died of dysentery in 1596 at the then-old age of 55.
Drake’s wealth of (in modern terms) something over $100 million is, of course, a fabulous sum. But to give some context between then and now… represents around one day’s revenue for Google.com. Even, again according to Investopedia, the first three movies of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean drew $2,681,667,528 gross revenue worldwide, the franchise maybe out-earning the collective plunder of all the buccaneers of history.
Gold, under the classical gold standard, is more important as a unit of account, than as a store of value.
And always has been. Always will be.
Avast me hearties!
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