"Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War. Hein was the first and the last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet which transported huge amounts of gold and silver from Spanish America to Spain.[citation needed] The amount of silver taken was so large that it resulted in the rise of the price of silver worldwide and the near bankruptcy of Spain." - (en.wikipedia.org 10.05.2024)