Frontier Partisans

The Adventurers, Rangers and Scouts Who Fought the Battles of Empire

Ill-Gotten Treasures Of the Grand Mughal

April 1, 2021, by JimC

 

Hark ye, lads! There has been yet another strike of pirate treasure.

The Associated Press reported today that  metal detectorists have found Arabic coins that may have come from the vast haul of treasure the legendary pirate Henry Every looted from an Indian treasure ship in 1695. In today’s money, the haul amounts to roughly $50 million. The incident — which was a dire and grotesquely violent affront to the Grand Mughal — sparked what is generally considered the first global manhunt, rendered most piquant by the fact that Every (also spelled Avery) is still, after the turning of  300 years and more, in the wind. No one knows what became of him. He’s the pirate who got away with it.

The finds in New England are intriguing, because they point to members of Every’s crew — and possibly Every himself, sojourning in New England. The story focuses on a find by detectorist Jim Bailey at Sweet Berry Farm, Middleton, Rhode Island.

Until now, historians only knew that Every eventually sailed to Ireland in 1696, where the trail went cold. But Bailey says the coins he and others have found are evidence the notorious pirate first made his way to the American colonies, where he and his crew used the plunder for day-to-day expenses while on the run…

…Research confirmed the exotic coin was minted in 1693 in Yemen. That immediately raised questions, Bailey said, since there’s no evidence that American colonists struggling to eke out a living in the New World traveled to anywhere in the Middle East to trade until decades later.

A 17th century Arabian silver coin, top, that research shows was struck in 1693 in Yemen, rests near an Oak Tree Shilling minted in 1652 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, below, and a Spanish half real coin from 1727, right, on a table, in Warwick, R.I., Thursday, March 11, 2021. The Arabian coin was found at a farm, in Middletown, R.I., in 2014 by metal detectorist Jim Bailey, who contends it was plundered in 1695 by English pirate Henry Every from Muslim pilgrims sailing home to India after a pilgrimage to Mecca. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Since then, other detectorists have unearthed 15 additional Arabian coins from the same era — 10 in Massachusetts, three in Rhode Island and two in Connecticut. Another was found in North Carolina, where records show some of Every’s men first came ashore.

“It seems like some of his crew were able to settle in New England and integrate,” said Sarah Sportman, state archaeologist for Connecticut, where one of the coins was found in 2018 at the ongoing excavation of a 17th-century farm site.

“It was almost like a money laundering scheme,” she said.

This sort of thing is as delicious to us history nerds as wild cattle steaks cooked on a buccan and washed down with generous swigs of rum. The pirate historian Mark Hanna, who wrote Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, which is on my maritime frontier reading list, did’t hold back on his excited reaction to seeing a photograph of Bailey’s Arabic coin.

“I lost my mind.”

Yeah, I feel ye, mate.

You may recall that I posted not too long ago on Steven Johnson’s excellent tome Enemy of All Mankind, which recounts Every’s story — which, by the way, includes his role as the Godfather of what would become the Pirate Republic of Nassau. It’s an excellent read, setting the Every manhunt in the context of the emerging modern world, with its capitalist economics and newly-potent media.  Every also, apparently, figures in a PlayStation video game titled Uncharted, which has spawned a movie starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas, which will sail next year.

 

Filed Under: Chapters

Previous Post: « ‘Life In San Francisco Is Still Just Life’
Next Post: Working The Trapline — Blades And La Recua »

Comments

  1. Matthew says

    April 1, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    Cool! This is exciting news!

    Reply
  2. Greg Walker says

    April 2, 2021 at 6:59 am

    Nothing more sexy than pirate treasure!

    Reply
  3. Paul McNamee says

    April 2, 2021 at 7:36 am

    My backyard!

    Reply
    • JimC says

      April 2, 2021 at 11:44 am

      Get that metal detector fired up!

      Reply
  4. deuce says

    April 2, 2021 at 8:13 am

    That’s pretty damned cool!

    Has anybody ever looked into whether Every sailed under Terence Vulmea, learning the tricks of the trade from a master? Vulmea’s another one who slipped the hangman’s noose.

    Reply
    • JimC says

      April 2, 2021 at 11:44 am

      The evidence is all circumstantial, but those of us versed in the lore are quite certain that there is an Every/Vulmea connection.

      Reply
  5. Jean says

    April 8, 2021 at 11:03 am

    Cool stuff. I always love treasure hunt, which is why I’m hooked on the Curse of Oak Island, and it looks like they may have found a ship.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Frontier Partisans

  • Introduction
  • Jim Cornelius
  • Trading Post
  • The Muster (Links)
  • Search this Site

Podcast Campfire Sparked

Introduction to the Podcast,
or head on over to listen:
Frontier Partisans Podcast

The Trading Post is OPEN

Frontier Partisan t-shirt: Balen-Powell's illustration of Frederick Burnham on front; "The only partisanship we tolerate in these parts is Frontier Partisanship" on back.

Trading Post Cart

Cart is empty $0

Support Frontier Partisans

What I’m Aiming For

Go Fund Me

go fund me frontier partisans

Receive Frontier Partisans Posts Via Email

Categories

  • Chapters
  • Frontier Partisan Bookshelf
  • On Your Own Hook
  • The War Chest

Recent Posts

  • The Cold War Frontier
  • Shaka Ilembe
  • The ‘Unmatched Mystique’ Of Daniel Boone
  • Simon Girty Podcast
  • Ghosts Of Culloden
  • Working The Trapline On The Edge Of The World
  • Indicting Western Civilization
  • Working The Trapline — Something Seaxy

fp@frontierpartisans.com

Copyright © 2021 FRONTIER PARTISANS, Jim Cornelius