Official Letter of Marque

Capt. Kidd did not start his career as a pirate. He was first a pirate hunter. Receivng a royal commission to capture "pirates, freebooters and sea-rovers," Kidd was legally authorized to clear the seas of some the the world's worst buccanners and seize all of their cargo and treasure.

The King William of England's "Letter of Marque" was the official document that gave Kidd the license to become a pirate hunter. He became a privateer in service to the King.

Now you can purchase a customized replica of Kidd's Letter of Marque. Based upon the real document, this document faithfully reproduces the letter of marque using the original language of the King in the late 17th century. We've made a few special changes to customize the license for your needs.

Your Personalized Pirate Hunter's License

Instead of Kidd's name, your name appears (twice) on the license. You will also be given the title "Captain" (unless you want some other title).

We can also add the name of your vessel (your boat, car, plane, skateboard, etc.). If you don't specify a vessel name, we'll use the name of Kidd's real ship - the Adventure Galley.

Kidd's commission provided him the names of four specific pirates to hunt (although he was free to hunt other pirates as well). We've added another name - Capt. Jack Sparrow. You can substitute Sparrow's name or any of the other four names and replace them with the names of your favorite pirates (or friends!).

Individually Created and Aged by Hand

Each pirate's license is personalized then hand-aged for three days using our secret aging process to create a document with the look and feel of ancient parchment. Because they are aged by hand, each document is unique and no two licenses look exactly the same. The sample in the photos are representative of what your document will look like.

Your document will be created with care. In fact, three copies are made of the license and each one is aged separately. We pick the best of the three to send to you and then we destroy the other two copies. You have the one-and-only original.

This License is HUGE!

The license is a giant 11 x 17 inches and comes complete with a genuine blood red wax seal - like the one used by aristocrats and royalty on their official documents.

Order your pirate hunter's license from the Gasparilla Trading Company Store.