What is the difference between doubloons and pieces of eight?
The Spanish mined silver and gold in the New World (Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru) for two types of coins: gold was minted into doubloons (the most valuable coin) and silver was minted into pesos called pieces of eight (each worth eight reales, another early type of Spanish coin). To provide a sense of relative value: one doubloon was worth roughly seven weeks’ pay for the average sailor; two pieces of eight could get you a cow.
