YOUR OPINION AND WHY - All welcome to join the debate - DID PIRATES BURY TREASURES ?

[ARC]

What is YOUR OPINION ?

Did Pirates bury their money and treasure ?

Little evidence exists of treasures being found that have been tied to pirates...
Whats your view as to the reason why this is...

Do you think it is because they did not in fact bury chests of treasure...
OR do you think they are still there... or have been found... OR ?

IF you have a story of treasure being found that has ties to a pirate or prates... please do tell...
OR show with a link or articale or picture or whatever...

EVERYONE IS WELCOME to join in on this "debate".

Please tell us what you think or know.

WHAT DO YOU THINK... the eternal infernal debate on this "thread" BEGINS NOW...

 

[ARC]

I believe that few carried any real wealth around in the early days...

I for one believe everyone buried... ESPECIALLY pirates...

Not always... but I believe it was common.

I believe the reason we do not have evidence of it is because of many reasons...

But mostly because MOST of these "treasures" have been found long ago... OR still remain buried.

Heck... could be under some driveway... Or beach parking lot... but I think... there are many still around to be found.

 

[releventchair]

Well... Tew had a chest. Upping the possibility of being able to conceal such.
Kidd hinted of buried treasure. Did not get called on proving it's authenticity though outside of 4.2 million in today's worth recovered after his getting busted....
Depending on what source is to be believed, if any, stuff was divvied up and spent fast in port. Ships,cloths,personal articles of former owners and ships cargo's were sold to inhabitants of customary places and certain same buyers were not unusual.
In what was for many a short career with poor retirement planning some may have hoarded part of their share but all of an events plunder being squirreled would seem to leave those who died or were captured short their cut, and might have led to friction and mistrust.
In and around ports crew were recruited from and returned to on occasion might have seen some hoarding, but that's a more personal level than chests or great amounts of treasure? Any left with locations known to a spouse or similar would eventually be used up.
With no family or cause to save, a spree more likely than any saving. Easy come easy go. More where that came from.
Between banks and fences, articles converted to money could be put up in better places under normal circumstances than to bury it out of convenient reach un watched.
Privateers had permission to hold such conduct, making it even easier.

 

[bigfoot1]

I'm with relevantchair

It was not a time of saving for the future.There was always a bigger score to come.Those guys spent wildly and enjoyed their wealth as they got it.Many a documentary showing how in the carribean province that all of the wealthy economies were based upon thos guys spending every dime.

I'm not looking for their buried chests but I tip my hat to the newbies who are....anything possible I suppose

 

[foiler]

Treasure hunting as been pursued for thousands of years long before King Solomon or King Herod. For as long as there have been people hiding their wealth, there have been "treasure hunters" seeking it. I can tell you that those seekers have been far more successful than anyone armed with a metal detector.

 

[ARC]

Cool start

 

[Terry Soloman]

No, pirates did not bury their treasure. For the most part they spent it as fast as they stole it. We had a lot of success back in the late 1970s, researching ports, taverns and brothels of the 1700s in the Caribbean. Between women, drink, doctors, family, and habits, the average pirate and pirate Captain were not burying vast amounts of jewels, gold and silver. They were selling cloth, sugar, salt, slaves, all types of stuff in the holds of ships they attacked or pulled over.

 

[ARC]

If pirates buried treasure...
Evidence of it ?
There will be little to none...
and more likely the latter...

Retirement and amassing a fortune to "get out" of piracy was the goal of many.

Not all people are the same.
And that includes pirates...
Just because piracy was the "chosen means to an end"...
Does not make someone stupid.

Most think that pirates were this massive group of the same thinking individuals...
This is not only not true...
But impossible.

It goes against the basic "ways of human life".

NOTHING... I repeat... NOTHING... in this world is "constant"...

Except change.

So... with this in mind... no 2 people are the same ... in thinking... in actions... and definitely in what they did with "ill gotten gains".

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

The name Pirates is just one type of robbers and thieves. I believe that a lot of small and big caches being found today were buried by robbers and thieves. Most of them are not being talked about.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Yes. Occasionally and temporarily. I don't think it was often buried in large quantities (unless it was a local "group" waiting for the heat to cool off - like from a stranding at a local beach or a opportunistic attack on a weakened ship). Individuals might have buried their share; or crews still active may have offloaded some as a security. Note that most "treasure" the pirates took was not durable. Silks, spices, cloth, hostages - don't bury well.

Privateers had investors to pay off - it was a business and shareholders (ship owners & speculators who provisioned the ship) had to be paid. And the Crown had to get it's half.

There is record that Wm Kidd buried some of his share when he knew he was wanted and was going to trial (he wasn't aware he was a pirate until events unfolded against him); but his wife knew where it was and he "gave it up" to the authorities during his trial.

 

[Roger Mn.]

Yes pirates buried there treasure.

Fabulous 200 Million Dollar Treasure Hoard Unearthed in Cocos Island World News Daily Report

 

[ARC]

There are SO many reasons to "bury" OTHER than a "plan" decided upon by a "pirate"...

In other words... Sometimes things just don't "go to plan" so to speak...

I can just imagine for hours different "reasons" for this that could have come up just living in that time...

Things like... ship was unsafe...
Ship is now being hunted... identified as pirate ship with bounty placed /reward... which is now "scuttled" because it is being looked for/wanted/being searched for...
Ship has been heavily damaged and needs repairs that would keep it "at bay" for a bit.
Ship sank... and THEY and IT was loaded into row boats... WHICH now became "home"...
Bribe or ransom deal... they would actually trade the "location" after "terms" have been met... etc.

People assume these guys were some drunken idiots...
Some were...
Some were not.

That they spent wealth as fast as they made it...
WEALTH LIKE THAT... would take YEARS to spend...

These guys were not taking "hundreds of dollars"... they were taking MILLIONS...
SO BAD...
That it was crippling many COUNTRIES... NOT just individuals.

Between pirates and hurricanes...

Spain for one was almost bankrupt.

 

[ECS]

...

That they spent wealth as fast as they made it...
WEALTH LIKE THAT... would take YEARS to spend...

These guys were not taking "hundreds of dollars"... they were taking MILLIONS...
SO BAD...
That it was crippling many COUNTRIES... NOT just individuals.

Between pirates and hurricanes...

Spain for one was almost bankrupt.

That is based on the belief that pirates attacked the slow moving but heavy armed treasure galleons, but in reality, the main target were the lightly armed merchant ships, where prisoners could be held for ransom, and goods "fenced" at Port Royal or Tortuga.
Pirates did not have a 401K program based on their mutual plunder being buried for their retirement future.

 

[aquanut]

Pirates did not have a 401K program based on their mutual plunder being buried for their retirement future.

I can attest to this.

 

[ECS]

No, pirates did not bury their treasure. For the most part they spent it as fast as they stole it. We had a lot of success back in the late 1970s, researching ports, taverns and brothels of the 1700s in the Caribbean. Between women, drink, doctors, family, and habits, the average pirate and pirate Captain were not burying vast amounts of jewels, gold and silver. They were selling cloth, sugar, salt, slaves, all types of stuff in the holds of ships they attacked or pulled over.

The assistant curator of education at MEL FISHERS MARITIE MUSEUM in Key West, Cori Convertito, holds the same opinion-"Pirates too their loot to notorious pirate hang outs in Port Royal and Torguga .Pirates did not bury their money. They blew it as soon they could on women and booze".

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Interestingly - pirates did not have a 401(k) but they DID have the first Worker's Comp. agreement. Specific injuries (loss of eye, right hand, etc.) were spelled out for fractional shares of any plunder. So, if you had a successful voyage but lost an eye you got an extra bit of the purse.

Some crews also had an elected captain - one of the first examples of democratic process.

And pirates have been instrumental in the workings of government ever since!

 

[MUDSLINGER]

Yes most certainly.The most common form of concealment was the earth. For the most part the ship was the captain's home. Keep in mind he would have taken the larger share and divvied up the rest among crew members who promptly spent it in port. To get to the heart of this debate one must ask how many pirates were active and over how long a period were they active? The Caribbean was the center of most of these raids. I suspect the smartest captain's did bury some chests of gold and silver but probably not on the beach as cartoons and artists depict. I recall reading about 11 chests uncovered in Miami when road construction was underway and someone discovered a cannon filled with gems and coins buried on Marco island FL. I would think a closer look through old newspaper records would shed more truth on this debate. And contrary to belief I dont think treasure maps were authentic but rather a scam just like the snake oil salesman scamming the gullible. So I will continue to believe it is more than likely some clever pirate did bury some ill-gotten gains in good old mother earth in a place he kept in his head for future retrieval.

 

[DanielFrew]

If they did put their treasure in the ground along a coast, it could easily be 100'-200' off shore now. The coast lines have moved quite a bit since that time.

 

[ARC]

Generalizing is just that... Generalizing.

Sometimes... will be "sometimes"... and never "not at all".

Nothing in this world is ever "always"... heh

The problem I have here is that I hear a lot of "never"...


Just as there is no proof they did... there is NO proof they did not.

And in fact we know VERY LITTLE about pirates as a whole...

And even less about what really happened...

almost nothing at all really.

But we do have one "general/common" thing in the stories... made up or not...

They ALWAYS..(heh) spoke of "buried treasure".

Every last one of them.

NONE... said otherwise.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Yea, they spent as fast as they got. Not like they could put it in a bank.
There's plenty of evidence that pirates buried treasure on Oak Island.
Peace ✌