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left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Thu Apr 1, 2021, 08:39 PM Apr 2021

Ancient coins may solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate

A handful of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in rural Rhode Island and other random corners of New England may help solve one of the planet's oldest cold cases. The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate (Capt. Henry Every) who became the world's most-wanted criminal after plundering a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims home to India from Mecca, then eluded capture by posing as a slave trader. “It's a new history of a nearly perfect crime,” said Jim Bailey, an amateur historian and metal detectorist who found the first intact 17th-century Arabian coin in a meadow in Middletown.

That ancient pocket change — the oldest ever found in North America — could explain how pirate Capt. Henry Every vanished into the wind. On Sept. 7, 1695, the pirate ship Fancy, commanded by Every, ambushed and captured the Ganj-i-Sawai, a royal vessel owned by Indian emperor Aurangzeb, then one of the world's most powerful men. Aboard were not only the worshipers returning from their pilgrimage, but tens of millions of dollars' worth of gold and silver. What followed was one of the most lucrative and heinous robberies of all time.

Historical accounts say his band tortured and killed the men aboard the Indian ship and raped the women before escaping to the Bahamas, a haven for pirates. 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.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/apr/01/ancient-coins-may-solve-mystery-of-murderous-1600s/

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Ancient coins may solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Apr 2021 OP
So, this happened in the Indian Ocean and then then the captain sailed to the dhol82 Apr 2021 #1
"What am I missing?" left-of-center2012 Apr 2021 #3
If they were sailing from Mecca to India they should have been in the Indian Ocean. dhol82 Apr 2021 #4
"sailing from Mecca to India" left-of-center2012 Apr 2021 #5
I'll try again: dhol82 Apr 2021 #6
"How did they get there?" left-of-center2012 Apr 2021 #7
Kickin' Faux pas Apr 2021 #2

dhol82

(9,352 posts)
1. So, this happened in the Indian Ocean and then then the captain sailed to the
Thu Apr 1, 2021, 08:45 PM
Apr 2021

east coast of the americas to spend some of the money? And then sailed to Ireland.
What am I missing?

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
3. "What am I missing?"
Thu Apr 1, 2021, 09:18 PM
Apr 2021

"escaping to the Bahamas, a haven for pirates"

Then up the east coast and across to Ireland.

dhol82

(9,352 posts)
4. If they were sailing from Mecca to India they should have been in the Indian Ocean.
Fri Apr 2, 2021, 07:31 AM
Apr 2021

Did they teleport to the Atlantic?

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
5. "sailing from Mecca to India"
Fri Apr 2, 2021, 09:09 AM
Apr 2021

The ship the pirates robbed was traveling home to India from Mecca.

“The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate who became the world's most-wanted criminal after
plundering a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims home to India from Mecca,
then eluded capture by posing as a slave trader.

Historical accounts say his band tortured and killed the men aboard the Indian ship and raped the women
before escaping to the Bahamas, a haven for pirates.”

All of this is included in the OP.

dhol82

(9,352 posts)
6. I'll try again:
Fri Apr 2, 2021, 10:13 AM
Apr 2021

The OP says the ship was traveling from Mecca to India.
Mecca is in Saudi Arabia. It is not anywhere near the Atlantic.
India is nowhere near the Atlantic.
Escaping to the Bahamas would mean either sailing around the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn.
How did they get there?

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