Nine pieces of Eight

In the third installment of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise of movies, early in the movie there is a scene in which the character Lord Cutler Beckett is sitting at his desk with “Nine Pieces of Eight” on the desk in front of him.  

The term “Piece of Eight” can refer to numerous coin types that are numismatically distinct, even if they might not have been considered distinct by living persons that used them when they were the common currency of the time.  

This got me wondering, does anyone know which specific coins are sitting on the desk in that scene?  (if they are authentic coins [I rather doubt it] which ones are they, or if they are props [much more likely] do they appear to be reproductions of any specific historical coin, and if so, which one?)

Also, if we were to assume that the wildly fantastical version of history portrayed in the film was actually set in the real world history, what are the most likely coins for a ‘real’ Lord Beckett analogue to have sitting on his desk?

That one?

N#6109

No, Beckett actually has 9 coins laid out in a row on his desk in the scene.  (I'll have to try and get a screen grab)

I was referring to these. (Sorry about the poor image quality … taking a picture of a screen)

Probably referring to Spanish silver 8 Reales coins (Dollars, Crown sized coins). Doubloons were the gold ones worth 16 times as much (128 Reales).

The coins look like copies of “Cobo de Barra” or roughly cut and hammered 8 reales coins issued between 1520 and 1732, when milled ones became standard (Although I have seen rough ones as late as 1750 under Ferdinand VI). There were some nice milled 8 reales coins issued as far back as 1590, but most were these rough ones.

These coins were issued from ¼ reale up to 8 reales and thus known as pieces of 8, or 8 reales. A real was known as a bit in the English speaking world or 12½ cents, hence a quarter was 2 bits, a dollar 8 bits. And also as these coins were often cut up into pieces in the 18th century.

The other coin shown was a Disney boo boo, not old at all, it was a low denomination Burmese coin issued around 1950 and minted in the UK.

harthag

I was referring to these. (Sorry about the poor image quality … taking a picture of a screen)

I'd say it probably something like these:

N#14998

N#14999

N#317108