Damn coins. Pirate money: piastres, doubloons, excudos

If in any crossword puzzle you come across the question “What was the name of pirate money?”, then, undoubtedly, without even counting the number of letters, you will say: piastres. Piasters are primarily associated with pirates due to cultural and artistic influences, and historically they were just as popular among pirates as any other coin of any value. Let's look at what kind of money the pirates came across in their loot and what they were.

Piasters

Piaster was also called the Spanish peso. This coin was minted from silver and weighed about 25 grams. The coin depicted the Pillars of Hercules, so the piastre was also called pillar dollar or piastrome with columns. In the East, piastre had a more laconic name - colonato. Nowadays, the piastre should not be written off; now it plays the role of a unit of exchange for 1/100 of Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Sudanese and South Sudanese pounds.

Doubloons

The first doubloon (translated as “double”, hence the name) was a Spanish gold coin denomination of 2 escudos. Minting of the coin began in 1566 and continued until 1849. Doubloons were widespread not only in Europe, but also in the New World. It was the doubloon that served as the prototype for the creation of many other European coins in other countries. During the colonization of the New World, the doubloon played the role assigned to the dollar in our time - it was considered the reserve currency. For this reason, a large number of coins were hidden. Later, this fact of savings gave rise to many stories about pirate treasures, in which this type of coin often appears.

Escudo

Escudo is a Spanish gold coin. Minting years: 1535-1833. The first coinage was made in Barcelona. The coin, as already mentioned, consisted of gold and weighed almost 3.4 grams. Under the reign of Philip II, the excudo coin became the main gold coin of Spain, and its exchange rate increased due to the rise in metal prices. But due to long wars and illiterate financial policies, Spain defaulted four times in the 16th century. The difficult economic situation was partly due to the large influx of metals from Spanish America; it was their oversupply that caused the escudo to become cheaper and caused inflation.

Conclusion

Piasters, doubloons and escudos are coins popular in the New World and became desirable prey for pirates. This trio does not make up even a tenth of all the coins minted at that time, but it is this trio that is often found in artistic and cinematic works on the topic of piracy, therefore, first of all, those who are interested in the history of maritime robbery should learn more about them and numismatics. I hope this material has expanded your understanding of these topics.

The Mystery of the Funeral Coins

19:05 You are attacked by the Pyromancer Ghost.
19:05 The battle “Attack on the Triumvirator” has begun.
.....
19:07 You bent over the defeated monster and saw that something was shining next to it. Reaching out, you picked up an unusual gold coin with the image of a grinning skull on it. What a curious thing... Perhaps it is worth examining it carefully. Received: Funeral coin 1 pc.
19:07 The battle “Attack on the Triumvirator” is over.

Click "Use" on the coin:

19:08 You carefully examine the gold coin, but cannot understand what its purpose is. Considering that it was found in the halls of King Magish, it is worth showing it to the experienced undead hunter paladin Shiko.
19:08 It has begun for you quest "The Secret of Funeral Coins". Good luck!

Royal TombPaladin Shiko

It was for this purpose that I hurried to you, paladin: look at what an unusual trophy I managed to get.
*You take a gold coin out of your pocket and hand it to Chicot.*

Wait, wait, this is...
*Brings the artifact close to his eyes and examines it carefully.*
This cannot be true: this is a funeral coin! Now everything has fallen into place... So lucky!
How are we lucky, paladin?

From time immemorial, funeral coins have helped to keep the undead in the other world: to prevent the creature from rebelling, such a coin was thrown into its crypt. Now I understand that some warriors, overwhelmed by the desire to get hold of gold, plundered the halls of Magish, but fell victim to their own greed and turned into undead. As a result, these coins were never used for their intended purpose, and the dead are rising from their graves again!
It's horrible. What should I do with the coin?

Travel to the halls of the fallen king and place the coin in the crypt of his fallen minion. Hurry up, warrior, time is running out!

Your goal: Go to the halls of King Magish, kill any of his minions and use the funerary coin next to his remains. Return to Paladin Shiko.

PosAfter this we return to the palaces to finish off the walls. Coins will fall like a drop:
19:15 Received: Funeral coin 1 pc.
19:15 The battle “Attack on Triumvirator” is over.

20:36 You attacked Levret.
20:36 The battle “Attack on Levret” has begun.
.....
20:39 The battle “Attack on Levret” is over.

We use the coin from the chest:20:39 You have been attacked by the Risen Levreta.
20:39 The battle “Attack on the Triumvirator” has begun.
20:39 Before you had time to place the coin on the remains of the monster in order to expel it from the world of Faeo, it fell apart into several parts. A rebel monster burst out of it and attacked you! Seized: Funeral coin 1 pc.
.....
20:40 Achievement "Victory over the rebel minion of King Magish" completed
20:40 The rebel monster has been defeated! Return to Paladin Shiko and tell him what happened. Quest - The Mystery of Funeral Coins.
20:40 The battle “Attack on the Triumvirator” is over.

The rebel Levretka has 1284 HP and has no castes, hits 95-125 without blocking, and in general kills easily and quickly...

Royal TombPaladin Shiko

Perhaps I was supposed to cast some kind of spell?

Excluded! The ritual is very simple: you place a funerary coin next to the remains of the killed monster, and it remains forever in the other world.
Perhaps the funeral coin itself is to blame?

This is what we have to find out. I'm afraid we can't do this without the necromancer's advice. Hurry to him and find out why the coin did not drive out the monster.

Your goal: Find out from the necromancer why the burial ritual failed.

Vassal Crypts Necromancer

Unfortunately, the coin was destroyed during the ritual.

*The tome slams shut in hearts, above which a cloud of sparkling magical dust flutters.*
Don't have a coin? So what do you expect from me? You're wasting my time!
I will get exactly this one and bring it to you!

I have no doubt that you will succeed, warrior. But hurry up: the hour is not far when evil spirits will begin to rise from their graves.

Your goal: Find the funeral coin and bring it to the necromancer.

Vassal Crypts Necromancer

*You offer the funeral coin to the necromancer, and he carefully takes it with two fingers.*

*The necromancer mutters an intricate spell, and the coin begins to shimmer in his hand.*
Woe to you, warrior. No wonder you exude oblivion, despair, suffering, pain... Your coin is cursed! And how did the paladin Shiko not see this?
But I just followed your instructions! You asked me to bring the funeral coin, and I did it!

*Continues to read the spell, fingering the coin with his fingers.*
I see... Now I see... Since ancient times, funeral coins had only one purpose: to keep the undead away from the world of the living. And they coped with this task well. This is due to the greed of people and magmars, who, trying to lay hands on the treasures of the dead, turned into shameful dust, covering the floor of the crypt of Magish, as a result of which the coins themselves were saturated with the energy of decay. Now they must be destroyed!
Can you do it?

*The necromancer waves his hand impatiently.*
In this, warrior, the paladin Shiko will help you, because he is the most experienced fighter against the undead in Faeo. Now go, we've already wasted a lot of time.

Your goal: Return to Paladin Shiko and give him the Funeral Coin.

Royal TombPaladin Shiko

*Shiko's eyes flash through the slits of his helmet, and he decisively raises his axe.*
So what are we waiting for? Place a coin on this slab!
*You place the coin on the cold stone and take a step back.*
However... let's not rush, warrior.
*Shiko lowers his axe.*
A happy thought came to my mind. Even these damn coins can serve a good cause. You managed to defeat the rebel henchman Magish, right? Perfect! So, know that with the death of a ghostly double, its real incarnation also receives significant damage. Do you understand what this means? You can choose what to do with the coins: either place them in the halls of defeated minions, calling them from the ghostly world and killing them, or bring them to me so that I can destroy them. Which solution do you prefer? The choice is yours!

Cleverly done!

*The paladin lowers the ax onto his shoulder and looks at you proudly.*
I know my skills, warrior. As soon as you get new coins, immediately bring them to me. And rest assured: your diligence will be rewarded. See you!
Reward: Old Ark 1 pc. or Wonderful sheep 1 pc. or Intricate pendant 1 pc. or Precious ring 1 pc. or Secret Ark 1 pc.

The reward drops randomly

20:51 Achievement "Brave Destroyer of Funeral Coins" completed
20:51 Confiscated: Funeral coin 1 pc.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Wonderful sheep 1 pc.
20:51 You have successfully destroyed another coin! Received: Precious sheep 1 pc.
etc.

O vast expanses of the seas, ships plowing the waves, filled with countless treasures, rum and whores. Romance, burst my spleen, whistle everyone overboard! I mean, it's a movie about pirates. It has everything a good movie needs, a beauty, an epic thieving pirate, curses, and treasure. The first film in the pirate series Caribbean Sea. But far from the last.

End of the 17th century. A Royal Navy ship from Port Royal spots a blown-up ship in the Caribbean. A girl named Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter, finds a little boy, Will Turner, near a ship in the ocean. When he is pulled aboard, Elizabeth finds a pirate medallion on him and takes it away so the adults won't think he's a pirate.

10 years have passed since then. Elizabeth still keeps the medallion and now decides to wear it. Will works as an apprentice to a blacksmith and has a (visibly mutual) passion for her, but at this time Commander James Norrington has already proposed to her. Meanwhile, a young pirate and charming rogue - Captain Jack Sparrow - arrives in Port Royal. When meeting with the guards, he explains that he intends to commandeer the ship and recruit a crew in order to regain his old ship on black sails - “Black Pearl”. He manages to board the high-speed ship Interceptor, but at this time Elizabeth, who was walking with the commander, under the influence of the tightly tightened corset of her new dress, falls from the rocks into the ocean due to lack of air.

Jack Sparrow notices this, rushes after her, pulls her on board and rips her corset. The pirate medallion still on her turns out to be familiar to Jack. But at this time the commander finds him and orders his execution. Thanks to Elizabeth's attempts to intercede for him, he manages to take her hostage, return his belongings and escape. Jack Sparrow is hiding in the forge where Will Turner works. The latter has been planning to stab some pirate for a long time and starts a fight with him. At the end of the fight, Sparrow takes out a pistol and aims at Turner, but does not have time to shoot - Jack is stunned with a bottle by Will's always drunk mentor, Mr. Brown. As a result, the pirate is taken to prison, and the death penalty is announced for him at dawn along with other pirates. At night, the Black Pearl sails into the port, and on it are pirates led by Captain Hector Barbossa, who 10 years ago rebelled against Jack Sparrow on this ship. Then Jack was dropped off at desert island with a sword and a pistol loaded with one bullet.

According to legend, he got out of there on sea turtles and now intends to return the ship and teach Barbossa a lesson. Pirates, who have been visiting this port for a long time, attack the city. An accidental strike on the prison frees the prisoners - all except Jack (the cannonball hit the wall mostly where the other prisoners were sitting), who senses his ship approaching. It turns out that the pirates arrived at the port for the medallion, but Elizabeth thought that they wanted to kidnap her. Therefore, she said that according to the pirate "code", she must be taken to the captain. To Barbossa, she introduces herself as Elizabeth Turner. The pirates, having learned her surname, kidnap her and sail away. The next morning, William finds the commander wondering what course the pirates could take, and invites him to ask Sparrow, but Norrington refuses. Then William turns to Jack Sparrow and frees him. Jack, hearing his name, realizes that he is the son of Bill Turner, known as "Bootstrap". Together they quietly move onto the Interceptor and sail to the pirate base - Isla de Muerte.

Along the way, Jack reveals that Will's father is a pirate. Turner is indignant, but nothing can be done, you need to get to the Tortuga proposed by Jack. There, Jack meets his former boatswain, Joshamee Gibbs, and tells him that with the help of Will Turner, they can return the ship and take revenge on Barbossa. At this time, Barbossa is having dinner with Elizabeth. Meanwhile, he tells her the legend of Aztec gold, which was cursed by the gods many years ago. Among them is Elizabeth's medallion - one of the 663 gold plaques stolen by Barbossa's team from the chest.

After this, they become immortal ghosts, and in the light of the moon, Elizabeth notices their appearance, even Barbossa’s monkey turns into a skeleton. They can neither die nor enjoy life. To regain life and death, they must return all the gold stolen from the chest and wash it with the blood of every damned pirate. There was not enough blood from Bootstrap Turner, and since Elizabeth used his last name, they took her with them, mistaking her for the daughter of a pirate. Mr. Gibbs recruited a crew for the Interceptor, and Anna Maria, from whom Jack had previously taken her brig without permission, becomes its captain.

On the way, Gibbs tells Will the legend of Jack's imprisonment on the island. After being rescued, he keeps the pistol given to him with one bullet for Barbossa. At this time, the Black Pearl reached the designated location, and so did Jack. He asks Will not to go ahead and wait for the right moment, but he disobeys. At the moment of Jack and Will's arrival, the pirates were performing a ritual to return the stolen medallion - they doused it with Elizabeth's blood and threw it into the chest along with the 662 plaques already there.

Due to Elizabeth's origin (who, of course, is not Bootstrap's daughter at all), the ritual has no force and does not free the pirates from the curse. Realizing this, Barbossa throws Elizabeth down the slide towards the water. Will swims out of the water and takes Elizabeth along with the “bloody” medallion. Barbossa notices the loss, and his team goes in search. At this time, Jack appears, not quite recovering from the stun, and is taken prisoner. Elizabeth, already on the Interceptor, gives the medallion to Will. According to the law of the pirate code - “Do not wait for those who are behind” - they sail away, but the Pearl, known as the fastest ship, catches up with them along with Jack in captivity.

A battle ensues. Barbossa takes the medallion and takes the entire team prisoner. William demands that everyone be released, threatening suicide. This is unacceptable, since in this case the curse will never be lifted. But Barbossa locks the team, and Elizabeth and Jack are dropped off on the island (the same one from which Jack got out last time), also giving them one pistol with one bullet. On the island, Jack admits that he got out not with the help of the turtles, but with the smugglers on the ship. Here they had a cache of food and rum, and by evening Jack and Elizabeth were having a lot of fun. But in the morning, Elizabeth burns all the rum and palm forest on the island in order to attract the attention of the royal fleet. Jack is angry with her, as he loves rum, but soon notices the ship "Strike" from this fleet. “Striking” saves Jack and Elizabeth, but Jack is still sentenced to execution again.

At Elizabeth's request, Jack is offered a deal - to show the way to Isla de Muerte in exchange for an indulgence. Two ships sail to the island. Jack proposes a plan to the commander: he lures the opponents into the sea, and the “Striking” shoots them. No matter how Elizabeth tried to explain that they could not be killed, the governor’s people did not listen. Jack Sparrow sails to the island, where Will's blood is about to be sacrificed to the gods, and warns Barbossa about the approaching fleet and that it is better to lift the spell later. Barbossa's team goes into battle with the Smash, and Jack fights Barbossa. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sails from the ship to the island and fights the remaining men of Barbossa. Jack, using one of the plaques, himself became immortal, thereby saving himself from certain death when Barbossa stuck a saber in his stomach. During the fight, he throws the plaque to Will, and then shoots Barbossa with the treasured pistol. He says that Jack wasted the bullet, but then sees that Will throws the plaques along with his and Jack's blood into the chest. Barbossa sees that his wound is bleeding and dies. Barbossa's entire crew on the Slashing notices that they have lost their immortality and surrenders to the authorities. (In the second film of the series, two pirates from this crew appear - Bald and One-Eyed - in prison they were able to lure a dog with keys and escaped. The fate of the rest is unknown.)

Everyone returns to Port Royal. Jack, despite his help, is resentenced to hanging. When he is already being hanged, Will throws a sword at his feet, and Jack is saved. Elizabeth also goes over to Sparrow's side and distracts the commander and the governor by pretending to faint from lack of air. Then Jack escapes, and the impressed commander doesn’t protest much, giving him a day’s head start. Jack, having said goodbye to the young couple, sails to the docked “Pearl”. Anna Maria declares Jack her captain, and a small part of Barbossa's team returns to Jack Sparrow.

After the credits there is a short scene in which the action takes place in a cave on Isla de Muerte. Barbossa's monkey, left on the island, sneaks up on a chest with cursed Aztec gold coins and steals one. In a ray of moonlight, it is clear that the monkey again becomes cursed and immortal. For this reason, she is invulnerable in all subsequent films.

Dedicated to the memory of my great-grandfather Hovhannes

It was January 1945.

Grandfather got up and slowly sat down on the bed; he had not gotten out of bed for a long time. Today my grandfather felt better. The old man understood that the illness was serious, he would not live to see the end of the war and would not see his sons who had gone to fight - all four of them. It’s good that there are grandchildren and they are nearby - three boys and two girls, the eldest of them is Vanya, 13 years old.

The old man was tired of sitting, but he didn’t really want to lie down either. He waved his hand. Vanya helped his grandfather recline on high pillows. The boys understood this as their grandfather’s desire to tell an episode from his life. The grandchildren pulled up stools and sat closer to their grandfather.

What should I tell you? - asked the grandfather.
“About gold coins,” said Hamlet, the most lively of the boys.
“Cursed coins,” the grandfather sighed.
- Why damned? – Volodya, the middle grandson, asked in surprise.
“I was so happy about them, but the coins did not bring me joy, I even lost my horse - the best in the village.”
- Did you have a lot of them? Gold coins,” Volodya clarified.
“A chest,” the grandfather answered and after a minute added, “a small chest.”
The children looked at each other. Volodya blinked at Hamlet. These two believed that the grandfather was making it up, because every time the grandfather added something new to his story about coins.

There were not only coins in it, - the grandfather fell silent: he was resting or thinking.
- What else? – Volodya asked smiling at Hamlet.
“A dagger,” answered the grandfather and fell silent again.
The boys fidgeted on their stools impatiently—the grandfather didn’t talk about the dagger.
- Large dagger? - asked Hamlet.
“No, a large dagger wouldn’t fit in that chest,” the grandfather clarified and showed with his hands, “a normal one, like this.” But what a beautiful precious stones. It was all burning, sparkling, you couldn’t take your eyes off it - it was such a beautiful dagger.
-Where did the dagger go? - Volodya asked.

“I’ll start with something else,” the grandfather sighed, “I’ll tell you everything in order.
I loved looking at them, but secretly. He sent the children to the field, and he was left alone and admired. Then he hid it in a safe place. Troubled times began. Yes, however, we almost always had troubled times: sometimes raids by bandits, sometimes war, sometimes epidemics. Anything has happened. One day a neighbor’s boy came to us and said that they had a guest from the city, he was inviting everyone - he wanted to show something. Many neighbors gathered. The guest showed us money, we had never seen anything like it before - long rubles, silk fabric. “Now this kind of money is in use,” the guest explained, “I can give it in exchange for gold.”

I don’t know why I believed him. Everyone believed, I wasn’t the only one,” the grandfather sighed and continued. - I took him a lot of gold coins, but not all, I left most of them just in case. Exchanged gold for rags. That guest collected our gold and quickly fled the village. Very soon we learned that these were worthless rags and were worth nothing. That guest deceived us; he turned out to be a fraudster. I was glad in my heart that I only gave away a smaller part of the coins.
- Where are these rags? – asked the incredulous Volodya.
- I burned them in tonir, who needs them? - the grandfather frowned and continued, - time passed and I thought that I could spend the rest of the coins wisely. Oh, how wrong I was. Although no, it wasn’t me who made a mistake, but those coins turned out to be cursed. Grandfather sighed heavily and thought.

I wanted to buy a house with these coins in a resort town. Wonderful place. “I rested in it once,” a happy smile played on his face. - I got ready to go, dressed in my best. I took coins, a dagger and food for the road. He mounted his favorite horse and set off. Oh, just to know.

Grandfather closed his eyes for a long time. The children are bored.
“Grandfather Hovhannes,” the impatient Volodya called quietly.
- A? – Grandfather seemed to have woken up.
-Have you reached the city? – the grandson clarified.
- No, he didn’t go far, he was still in our mountains of Syunik. I wanted to take the shortest route, but I was ambushed by bandits. How could I forget about the bandits? - the grandfather lamented.

In our country, all sorts of gangs often rob on the roads - this has been the case at all times. Bands of nomadic tribes harassed us - they stole cattle, robbed travelers, and kidnapped our beauties. One day my wife, your grandmother, Margarita, was almost kidnapped. It's good that I had a gun with me. I shot, they ran away in fear.
“But our grandmother’s name is Gayane,” Volodya was surprised.
- No, Gayane is my second wife, not your grandmother. Margarita was a beauty. She came out and saved me from typhus, but she herself became weak, poor thing, fell ill and died,” my grandfather began to cry.

Grandfather, about the coins,” Hamlet quietly reminded.
- Oh, yes, coins. Bandits surrounded me. How happy they were, they pulled me from the saddle, searched me, found coins and a dagger - the grandfather sadly shook his head, sighing heavily.
- Oh, and I felt offended. But that wasn’t enough for them: they forced me to undress. Everything was taken away. I ran away from them wearing only my underpants. It's good that he remained alive. It was already dark when I reached the village. Someone saw me and immediately a rumor spread that bandits had robbed me. I confirmed, but did not tell them about the coins and the dagger. Why did they need to know that I had them?

Volodya and Hamlet looked at each other, the grandfather fell silent.
- Grandfather, where did you get the gold coins from? – Volodya decided to ask a question that had interested him for a long time.
“I found it,” the grandfather answered quietly.
- Where did you find it? – the grandson did not let up.
- Eh, you don’t know where it is, even if I explain, you haven’t been to those places, and Vanya was passing by, but he was too young to understand.
- You explain, and maybe we’ll go when we grow up.
- Okay, remember: you will go to Vayk, there was the city of Moz. Centuries ago, a strong earthquake destroyed the city into dust. My grandfathers told me that that city was very rich. For many years people dug into those ruins and found gold. Literally whole jugs filled with gold and jewelry, chests with coins. So I found such a chest.
“Gold is only for swindlers and bandits,” the grandfather added sadly.

***
In 735, a catastrophic earthquake occurred in the area of ​​the modern city of Vaika, destroying the large and rich city of Moz.

Treasure hunting video greetings to everyone from the remote Russian hinterland.
Today is Friday the 13th. This post has been long overdue, I promised for a long time - I’m doing it. Mysticism in search of treasures! In general, everything is as usual. One video. Below there will be an accompanying story on the topic of digging.

And so, I did not intend to open a Ren-TV branch here, but nevertheless the video (in the second half) turned out to be mystical. Fairy tale or legend, true story or my fantasy, it’s up to you to decide. But as Yankovsky’s best hero said, “Yes, understand, Baron Munchausen is famous not for the fact that he flew or did not fly, but for the fact that he does not lie.” So I have long wanted to make this video and write a corresponding story. In general, Mysticism. Sitting at home on the sofa, you can feel its whiff only when watching a good horror movie at night, but alas, they don’t make those anymore. But being somewhere in an abandoned village, which is no longer on the maps. Watching the sunset, standing between an old creaky birch tree and the ruins of a manor estate, it is at such moments that a light breeze can greatly excite your imagination. It becomes especially creepy when you are alone and you know for sure that there is not a single living soul within a radius of ten kilometers. So it seems like that, but then it gets dark and you hear small twigs breaking under someone’s leisurely and heavy tread...

There is a belief that treasures protect the souls of deceased owners. They cannot part with their treasures even while in the next world. And if because of this gold they were also destroyed during their lifetime, then the treasure will definitely be cursed and will not be given to the new owner just like that. To do this, you either have to give something or be there at the right time and under the right circumstances. Otherwise you can perish. This story is a continuation of the video. So it’s probably better to watch it first and then read it. There will be spoilers below.

To say that I was afraid that time would be an understatement. Any treasure hunter on expeditions has days when you literally feel all the pristine and incomprehensible beauty of nature. You feel some kind of unity and alienation at the same time. You feel someone's presence. Digging enthusiastically in the twilight, and especially at night, you perceive reality through the prism of some ancient instincts, at the level of the sixth sense.
You say - I don’t understand, why dig at night? Why are you digging up cemeteries there? Damn marauders!
No, I don’t pick around graves, God forbid. It’s just that sometimes you get so carried away by searching in the middle of nowhere that you forget about everything in the world. The finds are endless, the further you go into the forest, the older the crosses you come across and sometimes you grab handfuls of coins from a hole. Well, how can I stop here?

In the process of successful COP, time flies quickly. Whack and it’s already getting dark. And you suddenly realize that you got carried away and didn’t notice how you reached the edge of some swampy thicket. The fog begins to slowly creep towards your feet. In almost pitch darkness you start to lose your bearings. In a panic, you walk to the left, then speed up your step to the right. But in the end, you either spin in place or go even deeper into the dense forest. Suddenly you hear the crunch of branches and someone’s careful steps. With your peripheral vision you notice some movement in the bushes to the right. You turn around sharply, but it’s as if something has eluded you into the fog. You listen. There seems to be complete silence. Suddenly there was a distinct rustling sound again, only to the left and closer. You begin to slowly back away, beads of sweat running down your face. One step, another. A light crunch comes even closer. You turn your head and see the second sparkle of someone’s eyes. In a panic, you manage to take a couple more steps back and suddenly suddenly your back rests against someone’s body! It's trying to grab you with its hairy arms! You jump, turn around, look into the darkness with your eyes wide open in horror and...
And you see a fluffy spruce in the middle of the edge. It's you who ran into it. A meter away from you, a hedgehog slowly crawls out of the bushes and runs on about its business. The moon emerging from behind the clouds illuminates a completely empty clearing.

Yes, fear has big eyes. But not everything can always be attributed to your imagination and the forces of nature. I already told you how 7 years ago I was lucky enough to find several gold coins in an abandoned village. I have always been and will be sure that there is still a lot of gold there, but going there alone is very dangerous. And it’s pointless for not one. How many times have I gone there with my partner and there were zero finds. But if you go alone, it’s as if the abandoned place deliberately reveals its secrets to you, gradually luring you deeper and deeper into the forest.

In this place there is a strong feeling that it has two owners. One is ready to share countless treasures with you, the other, on the contrary, does everything so that you never set foot on his land again. The epicenter of evil is located between an old rickety hut and a centuries-old, long-dried birch tree. This house once stood at the entrance to the village; now it is the edge of a dense forest. There is a dry pond nearby. The hut was built on bones. Before her, there was a merchant’s estate here, but it burned down in a terrible fire. According to rumors, many people died then, including almost the entire family of the owner of the ancient estate. Only one person survived; I’ll tell you about him a little later.

I spent a lot of time in local archives trying to find out all the details of that terrible tragedy. Alas, there are literally grains of reliable information. One of the legends says that on that same old birch tree, a merchant hanged his unfaithful wife and burned down the house out of jealousy. According to another version, she drowned herself in that very pond next to the estate, after he killed her child. No matter how life was, the fact remains that the rich Nikolsky family was interrupted almost 200 years ago after a terrible fire.

If you think that after successful finds I never came there again, then you are mistaken. I tried three times. He came during the day and did a lot of digging. Nothing, just one small thing. I was resting sitting on a tree stump and thinking - maybe it’s all about certain circumstances? After all, twice I found gold here, literally on the surface! Maybe one of the key success factors is complete loneliness and the right time of day? But I still didn’t dare wait until dusk and especially night. Every time it started to get dark, a terrible wind rose. Everything around begins to creak, groan and rustle. A couple of times I thought I heard someone’s hoarse breathing in the bushes. Maybe it was a wild boar, of which there are many, but I wasn’t going to check it out. He ran into the car and drove away, desperately squeezing his slippers to the floor.

But one day I finally plucked up the courage and decided to go to the night COP again. He put the metal detector in his backpack, for some reason took an ax and a gas canister - as if they could help in the fight against ghosts, and went on a long trip. I sat in the hotel for a long time, nervously smoked, waited until 4 p.m. and went to my mysterious village. When we left, the weather was clear. But as soon as I turned onto the dirt road, a strong wind immediately blew. Somewhere on the horizon clouds were gathering, I added gas. I wasn't going to stop this time! I get there, take out a shovel and a metal detector as I go, and plug in my headphones so that I don’t hear anything unnecessary. The strong wind is causing leaves to fall everywhere, the sun is hiding behind the clouds, but I walk with a firm gait towards the dry pond.

Half an hour of nerves wasted. It's starting to get dark. Suddenly some inner instinct tells me that you are digging in the wrong place. I put on my headlamp and walk towards the ravine. I break through steep slopes with a metal detector and suddenly a weak but pleasant signal 26-28 is heard. Again, like that time! I go lower and begin to rake the shoreline under my feet. It doesn’t work right away; the shovel gets stuck among pieces of logs and fragments of bricks.
Suddenly, somewhere to the side, an unpleasant crunch of branches is heard. I take off my headphones, turn around, but see only the edge of the house with empty window sockets. Suddenly the wind dies down and I hear the characteristic crunch of breaking slate under someone’s feet. There's clearly someone in the house! Some loud swarming begins in the hut extension. I stand neither alive nor dead. I turn off the flashlight. Some shadow slides from the barn through the bushes and clearly in my direction! Suddenly, a meter away from me, an angry roar is heard from the thick hogweed! At that same second, the edge of the ravine crumbles with a roar at my feet. Not remembering myself from horror, throwing the shovel, I run to the car. I stumble, fall, lose the metal detector, run to the car and turn the ignition keys! Silence, the car won't start. I pray to all the gods and try to start it again, something is approaching the car from the side, but my car has finally started and I’m going full speed ahead!

In the morning I return there with my partner. Thank God my MD and no one took the shovel. But my backpack apparently first sank under a landslide, and then someone or something took it out and tore it to shreds. The remains of food supplies lay on the freshly sprinkled earth. The marks were very well imprinted on it. Huge paws of either a large dog or a wild wolf.

I left that same day. And just recently I learned that the merchant’s youngest son survived that fire. His further fate is very vague and is lost somewhere in the Moscow region. It just so happened that now my last name is Vorontsov. But once upon a time, one of my great-great-great-grandfathers bore the surname Nikolsky and he was from exactly those regions. Sometimes I think, what if I am a distant descendant of that same merchant? And he simply does not want to share his gold with anyone. But his wife, on the contrary, gives me some hints every time. No, it’s nonsense - you say? I probably agree, but for some reason every year at the end of autumn I involuntarily remembered their terrible story. Anyway, the other day I realized one more thing. The day when good finds come into hand at that place and the date of the death of the family strangely coincide! Besides, I was the only one who found gold there. I know that my local partner tried to dig up everything around more than once, but to no avail. At most he found it stuck together copper coins and an old bronze candlestick. If he were lucky, he would definitely talk drunkenly.

As I already said in the video, I found the remains of that house by accident; construction work was going on nearby, and a bulldozer went through the once lush apple orchard. Builders were clearing the site for power poles. The trouble is that all upper layer They simply raked the land into an old dried-up pond or, worse, into a large ravine nearby. I followed in the footsteps of their technology 7 years ago. Now everything there is completely overgrown with weeds. In place of the pond, a small hill has formed, not in the place of the estate, hogweed and nettles. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find anything this time or if it will be another empty trip, in any case, this weekend I’m going to my abandoned village again. I'll be digging at sunset. I hope everything goes well and I can make another interesting report on the treasure hunting topic. That's all. Happy Friday everyone, even the 13th, have a nice weekend friends and enjoy your viewing!
P.S. You can treat what is written above in different ways: what is a fairy tale and what is reality, the mysticism of fate or just a series of coincidences, it’s up to you to decide. In any case, if you like this story, I will write on such topics periodically. I know there are a lot of treasure hunters here. I want to ask you a question - have you encountered mysticism while searching for treasures?