Piet Hein

(1577 - 1629)

Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral 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. 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.