Like in most games, it can take time to build up money in Sea of Thieves, but there’s a bountiful horde of cosmetics and items to spend it on for those who do. Although gold is the main in-game currency for unlocking voyages and cosmetics, Ancient Coins can lead players to some of the most desirable and unique plunder that Sea of Thieves has to offer.
Ancient Coins are the most elusive type of in-game currency in Sea of Thieves. They’re mainly obtained by destroying rare Ancient Skeletons though are sometimes rewarded too. They can also be purchased with real money or might feature in a Seasonal Plunder Pass. However, due to their rarity and value, players may want to think twice about what they spend them on, keeping them aside for extra special, carefully considered, and memorable purchases, rather than splurging them in the Pirate Emporium as soon as possible in a Gold Hoarder-style frenzy.
10/10 Pets
Pets are at the top of many players’ bucket lists as cute companions to accompany pirates on their adventures. There are now so many types of pets in the game, from dogs, cats, parrots, monkeys, and even foxes in the Season 7 Seasonal update, along with many fun pet outfits such as the cronch outfit that kits parrots and monkeys in a banana suit.
There’s also a special section of collector’s pets featuring cursed, glacial, and gilded pets alike and more, such as the Ashen Curse Alsatian that, despite its demonic appearance, couldn’t possibly do any wrong with its sheer cuteness. In addition to naming their ship, players can also name their pets.
9/10 An Awesome Ship Set
Ship sets are some of the best cosmetics to buy in Sea of Thieves and many in the Pirate Emporium are worth setting aside some Ancient Coins for. Beautiful ship sets like the Lodestar perfectly match the night sky and are bound to make other pirates gasp in awe.
However, it’s worth choosing sets wisely, as although many glowing ship sets look cool, they are extremely visible to other players so may not help PVP. Sometimes, understated works better, but it is occasionally worth a pay-off between practical and cool. Players could also consider buying a neat set of sails and mix-and-matching them with their existing ship customizations.
8/10 Impressive Emotes
Emotes are a fun way to interact with other players in Sea of Thieves, and Rare regularly rewards players with free Emotes to obtain, including classics such as the Barrel Hide Emote. However, the Pirate Emporium stocks some cool Emote sets to impress other crews with their skills on the seas, such as the fancy Showboater Weapon Pose Bundle or dazzling Torch Twister Emote.
If players have some spare Ancient Coins left over, it’s worth considering a new Emote to help their pirate stand out from the crowd. Of course, some will argue that there are much better ways to spend Ancient Coins in Sea of Thieves, particularly as emotes can often be obtained for free.
7/10 A Cool Outfit
There are numerous clothing items and complete costumes to buy in Sea of Thieves using in-game gold or doubloons, but every once in a while, an eye-popping outfit turns up in the Pirate Emporium to tempt players. It’s worth saving those Ancient Coins for a special and cool outfit to show off.
There’s also a sizable back-catalog of previous releases, such as the Barrel Bombadier outfit that matches those deadly namesake barrels, or spookier outfits perfect for Halloween like the Crimson Crypt or Jack O’Looter Costumes.
6/10 Cool Equipment Or Weapon Skins
Players can pick up some epic equipment or weapon skins in the Pirate Emporium to match existing outfits or ship sets. For instance, the Frozen Horizon tankard, Equipment, Weapon skins, instruments, and Ship Sets are perfect for pirates who like their pirates to look frosty.
Some of these items can look cool paired with previous cosmetics, such as the Creeping Cold Costume featured in the Season 5 Plunder Pass or the beautiful Snowbound Ship Lantern. It’s worth mixing and matching different items to save money, although many items are purchasable for a relatively small stack of Ancient Coins.
5/10 Pocket Crab Or Pocket Rat
The cute crab in the Sea of Thieves story trailers is a firm fan favorite, and some are crying out for a pet crab in-game. The Pocket Crab Emote is the closest players can get to the cute critter right now though, and there’s also the Pocket Rat variant.
At 249 Ancient Coins, it’s not an overly expensive purchase for those with some bounty left over and is an adorable buddy to have around for those with pets already or those saving up for one. It’s unknown whether crabs will become pets in the future, but it would be funny to see them do the crab dance.
4/10 Ship Crest To Show Off Ship Names
Purchasable ship crests appeared in the Pirate Emporium with the Season 7 Captaincy update and allow players to finally name their ships, giving them some cool designs with which to adorn their vessels.
Emporium crests are nice to have rather than essential, as players can unlock various crests for purchase using in-game gold by completing Milestone pathways for their captained ship, although this may take some time. Players can follow their favored pathways to unlock different crest designs, including The Feared, The Gold Seeker, The Hunter, The Ill-Fated, The Rogue, The Emissary, and The Voyager ship crests.
3/10 Pirate Appearance Potion
If players decide they want to change their pirate’s appearance entirely without losing any of their progress, they can purchase the Pirate Appearance Potion from the Pirate Emporium. This costs around 149 Ancient Coins but sometimes goes on sale for around 99 Ancient Coins.
It’s handy to have, but not something that’s necessary often, if at all. In Season 7, Rare also introduced the Ship Renaming Deed that has a similar function but for ship names, enabling players to change the name of a purchased ship without losing any progress.
2/10 An Epic Ship Figurehead
The next best thing to purchasing a complete ship set or set of sails to transform a player’s ship is a funky ship figurehead. New ones appear every Season, but there are many classic designs in the Pirate Emporium, including some from Rare’s video game catalog.
This includes the Collector’s Cutthroat Figurehead that looks similar to Fulgore in Killer Instinct, plus designs inspired by Viva Pinata, Perfect Dark, and Banjo Kazooie. Players can also buy figureheads from the Shipwright Shop in-game using gold, but they might seek out some unusual or iconic ones with their Ancient Coins.
1/10 Plunder Pass
When Sea of Thieves launched Seasons, they also introduced the Plunder Pass, arguably one of the most cost-effective ways of buying optional cosmetics in the game. Their content changes each time, but players get a lot of bang for their buck at just 999 Ancient Coins, with outfits, ship cosmetics, Ancient Coins, and more.
Players are rewarded free content such as cosmetics with seasonal progression anyway, but it’s worth perusing the Season Pass to make a saving if it matches the player’s individual tastes and preferences. From a value-for-money perspective, it’s arguably the best way to spend Ancient Coins in Sea of Thieves right now.
Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
