Talk Like a Pirate Geocoin

[+yanagi]

I'm sure all geocoincollectors saw this coin before. I like it very much and because there is such a great description of the designer Chris Mackey I think it is worth it, to open a thread.

 

I know for sure that there are the following versions:

- LE Antique Copper

- LE Antique Silver

 

You can get them in several shops, so just google for the coin

 

 

Here is the official description:

 

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated annually on September 19th. It is a day where speaking pirate is not only acceptable, but encouraged. This detailed coin commemorates this special day and will be available for a limited time only.

 

This coin was designed by Christian A. Mackey and measures 2 in. in diameter.

 

What is the meaning behind this design? Glad you asked...

 

The pirate skull side...

 

•The skull with mouth open of course is the pirate talking, but the patch on the right eye is courtesy of "One-eyed Willie" from the Goonies movie.

•The symbol on the patch is the crucifix found stamped on dozens of different "doubloon" coins during the reign of the pirate age.

•In latin on the left from bottom to top is "Talk Like (a) Pirate" and on the right is 9/19/2013 for this year.

•1995 is the infamous year upon which the holiday began after an injury during a raquetball game.

•The Spear/Hourglass/Heart symbols were used by a bunch of the most notorious pirates in history and each had various meanings. Most commonly the spear was a symbol of imminent attack, the hourglass was a warning to enemy ships to not try to stall for time, and the heart was a symbol of warning that no quarter would be given and all put to death if surrender was not complete and immediate.

•The S.-B. within the speaking pirate skull is a tribute to Summers and Baur who began to promote the idea for a holiday.

•The odd raised elipses on the edge of the coin were a common design element in all the coins regardless of origin in that particular era.

 

The Crest side...

 

•Cache on crown - Cache is King

•The pillars are the infamous Pillars of Hercules depicted on coinage of the era representing the old world and the new.

•Plus Vltra - latin inscription for Further Beyond and denoted new discoveries in a newly discovered hemisphere of the world.

•The floating crown was a symbol of oversight of the new colonies from the government back home.

•The 8 and R on the pillars indicates 8 Reales and what led to the coins being called "Pieces of Eight" where coins would be commonly cut into 8 equal pieces like a pizza during trades.

•Signal and Yelling man are self explanatory

•Spreading laurel in the background is symbol of victory and growth in the new world.

•The fleur de lis (lilly flower) was a common european symbol of royalty.

•The Latin on left - "Explore the World" and "Share the Experience" from the Groundspeak homepage.

•The S at the bottom is commonly the City of Origin for the coin and this case would be Seattle.

•The Dahlia is the official symbol of Seattle, The City of Flowers.

•The shield center crest is the GPS signal lightning bolts (normally the three crosses of the holy trinity on a doubloon).

[+RedjackRyan]

This is a very nice coin. I have the copper version and put in an order for the silver version this week. The coin is much nicer in person and the detailing on it is very intricate. Happy to add it to my collection of pirate-inspired coins!

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Thank you Thomas, I have a gold one and have seen a Silver for sale recently at Groundspeak, but have not seen it in person yet. I haven't seen a copper yet though. For some reason I see it's posted as a 2 inch, but the ones I have are 1.75" so I think that's a typo. The original design called for 2 inch because I didn't really think they could pull off the detail in a 1.75, but I was pleased to be proved wrong on that one!