Old Sails on Coins: Collecting without self-reproach

This posting is a non sequitur, a tangent, one of several that will surface from time to time. I have several obsessions: One of them is ships. I particularly like ships with sails.
   I decided to add a page on this blog to provide them a safe harbor. If you collect according to a theme then hopefully you can appreciate the attraction.

A jeton from Nuremberg, known as a "ship penny."
It was produced for use in Paris in the early 16th century.

   Sometimes you just need to collect in the old fashioned way, like a child collects. Just go for what you like, in any condition you like it in, without self-reproach.
   As you know by now, I frequently object to notions of numismatic correctness. All this unsolicited advice about what to buy and what not to buy. All this talk about what is hot and what is not hot. All this is just market crap!
   Ships provide an escape. Even the image of a ship, sailing freely whereto the wind blows is fitting for the collector who wants to discover what is out there. Plus ultra.
   When I was a kid, I collected stuff like bottle caps and die-cast cars. I never knew what I would discover next, but there were always many surprises along the way. I found these items marvelous in the same way that coins can be (once collected). Isn't this what we seek in our collecting? Marvelous objects that surprise us over and over again.
   Somewhere along the line, many of us "grew up" and got smarter about our collecting: in short, we became aware of market economics such as supply and demand and condition grading and so on. We abolished the element of surprise. We hit the books! We worked to complete a proper series (usually defined by others). We learned to count breast feathers, bell lines, and steps. What a bummer to ruin a good hobby with rules and adult anxieties. I work nine-to-five, and when I come home, I want to do something FUN (and not obsess over price guides, population statistics, and market trends). I want to go on a cruise.
   And so, the ships will serve this blog as a reminder to all who care to listen, that collecting can be, and should be, capricious and guided primarily by curiosity. Topical collecting is underrated in this regard.
   My fleet is a mixed assortment of sails, but all are carefully chosen. I choose the ships that strike me and that is all there is to it. Sure, I am developing a plan as I go, but it changes with each ship, as this is the fun part -- deciding what ships to collect and why. Collecting is an art-form: assembling objects in a particular way to give them special meaning.
   I also collect coins that went to the bottom of the sea aboard sailing ships -- pieces of eight mostly. Now treasure is something all necromancers can really relate to! More on that at a later date. For now, we will consider the ships (and the capricious side of collecting).
   And so, our first ship is this very cool northern European cog from the 17th century. This ship is depicted on a jeton (or counting piece) that was produced in Nuremberg between 1490 and 1550. It was developed for the French market. The bow of the ship faces left with a crossed-staff and pennants. The stern castle has a rudder at bottom and a flag staff at top. There is a single sail (curved line) with mast and four stays. The legend is fictitious. The jeton is paper thin and made of calamine brass. It does not look very worn; instead, it was passed from collector to collector for 400+ years. Details aside, the ship is totally cool with its fanciful, yet symmetrical, design that belies its age.
   Is this a marvelous jeton? You bet it is. 
   Go out an find a topical theme and have some fun!