Aztec Coin Set  SBMR-AZTECCOINS   $34  Expedited Shipping Available! E-mail service@strongblade.com or call 866-7SWORDS This item is no longer available.    882 coins from Cortez' cursed Aztec treasure were taken by the Pirates of the Black Pearl, led by the traitorous Captain Barbosa. The curse that took hold of the entire crew of the Pearl set about a chain of events that united Captain Jack Sparrow, Blacksmith Will Turner and Lady Elizabeth Swan. The three joined up for the three movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. For those of you not familiar with Hernando Cortez, he was one of the famed Spanish Conquistadors of the 16th century. Cortez, with 600 men 20 horses and 10 cannons, conquered the entire Aztec empire -- a civilization numbering more than 5 million people. Cortez's methods were often brutal. He massacred tens of thousands of Aztecs in his assault and stole tons (literally) of gold and artwork from them.

The flintlock pistol was the greatest advance in pirating since the wooden leg. The concept was fairly simple: gunpowder was stuffed into the barrel. A lead ball, usually wrapped in some sort of fabric, was stuffed in. A hammer was then pulled back half-way and left that way until the gun was ready to fire. The pistol technically was not meant to fire in this position, although sometimes they were known to go off half-cocked (and yes, that is the origin of that expression). When the gun was ready to be fired, the hammer was pulled back all the way and the trigger was squeezed. If you're feeling flinty, go check out the Strongblade selection of flintlock pistols, blunderbuss pistols and flintlock rifles.