I used to go over to my friend's house almost every week and we would play this game together on a Tandy. I have no idea how many hours we spent rescuing kidnapped family members, sword fighting ship captains, capturing Galleons, and searching for buried treasure.
Several years ago in a fit of nostalgia, I tracked down a scan of the map that came with the game but I was disappointed in how faded and worn it was. I brought it into Photoshop and spent quite a bit of time working on the colors and levels to make it more readable. I ended up redrawing some elements. It's not 1980s authentic, but it's much more usable than any of the scans I've found elsewhere online.
https://archive.org/details/piratesmap

Great write-up by Demimondance... I'd add a couple of things... your share of the plunder is determined by the skill-level you select. Apprentice is the easiest game play, but earns the lowest amount of money, Journeyman earns twice as much, etc. The "Maps" functionality in the game doesn't show you a map of the Caribbean; it shows any maps to buried treasure or lost family members you've accumulated. For a map of the Caribbean, you need to find a map online or use the link Demimondance provided below. Rescuing family members does actually help a bit. For one thing, they give you a map to a significant treasure (100,000 gold pieces), and secondly, the more family members you find, the happier you will be at retirement, which adds to your final score (could mean the difference between being a farm hand or a general after retirement from piracy). Lastly, you can earn title and/or land with any country (not just your native country)... earning title and land with multiple countries also helps your final score.

like rpg games ? this one is a early one..do alot of stuff in the game..still a get the treasure game but has lots of extras..not too long..addicting..funny

I think I played a later version of this game, I really thought it was at least VGA, but looking online I know it wasn't Priates! Gold...

The map function doesn't seem to be working for me but here is a map of the game:

https://magisterrex.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/retrogaming-game-maps-sid-meiers-pirates/

It's a little tricky but you can at least find towns.

Another important link to use when you have to answer the question at the start of them game:

https://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Pirates!/The_Treasure_Fleet_und_The_Silver_Train

For information on fencing and general rules of the game:

http://www.c64sets.com/pirates/manual.pdf

Some quick tips:

Use num pad for fencing, 7 4 1 attack, 8 5 2 parry and 9 6 3 parry while retreating. You can retreat off the screen.

Enter fires your cannon.

Space pauses.

If trying to run from a battle hit the up arrow to raise full sails and gain speed, however, this will increase the chances you sustain sail damage if you are hit by a volley.

You can get promotions in towns owned by your country.

Your sailors are only happy if you are constantly getting gold. The ratio of gold/crew is basically what determines their happiness, but the longer the voyage has gone the more irritable they become. Usually best to divide plunder after 2 years. You get 5% of gold at the end of voyage, number of crewmen is irrelevant. Higher starting level will give you a higher percentage.

Land battles are a whole thing I can't describe here. Enter switches parties. If you have muskets you only fire them while not moving.

If you have a treasure map, go to where the map says and select "search" from the options menu (opened by hitting [enter]).

The silver train and treasure fleet usually aren't worth it, but it's fun. Same with finding lost relatives.

If you get married and come back to the town your sneaky lady may tell you where the silver train and treasure fleet are.

Enjoy!