Whydah coins

Off the coast of Cape Cod, The Whydah was the first pirate shipwreck to be positively identified, and, nearly a quarter of a century later, remains the only pirate shipwreck whose identity is unquestionably authenticated. The Whydah may therefore be the only glimpse the world will ever have into the material culture of an extraordinarily secretive group of men—the pirates of the 17th and 18th century Atlantic world. Artifacts recovered from the site confirm many points made about pirates by contemporary observers, including such important features of their society as their egalitarianism, internationalism, racial tolerance, and their unique brand of democracy.

More importantly, however, previously unknown aspects of the subculture of piracy have been brought to light. He may have been returning to the Cape to see Hallett when his ship sank, killing all but two of the men on board, according to the society.

Clifford said he grew up hearing stories about Bellamy and the Whydah from his uncle. Adam Sennott can be reached at adam. A lump of hardened sediment hauled up from the wreckage of the Whydah showed treasures including coins, gold, and possibly gemstones.

It was like mining in miniature, and Macort worked a seam of sand exposing gold and silver coins with crosses and other symbols standing like headstones in rows. Macort said that divers working in a new area closer to shore found three concretions, including the one he was working on, that were alike in size, weighing about 40 pounds each with similar contents: coins, gold, two pistols and wooden fragments that are likely the remains of the chest. From primary source research materials, he believes they are the individual chests that each pirate carried with him to store his share of the plunder.

They would have weighed around 50 pounds, he believed, light enough for one man to carry, and the pistols were packed onto the top of the chest in case of trouble. Those same primary source materials indicate there may be as much as 4.

The most valuable haul of pirate treasure ever found is heading to Galveston's Moody Gardens for an exhibit showcasing cannons, coins and muskets. The Whydah, under the command of notorious pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy, sank in a storm off Cape Cod in with tens of thousands of gold coins earned from selling slaves in the Caribbean.

The ship is the first authenticated pirate wreck in U. Clifford started looking for the ship in after hearing stories about the wreck growing up as a child. More than pirates drowned when the Whydah sank.