Pat in ancient Greece an obol was put in the mouths of the deceased to pay the ferryman of Hades: Charon.
Now I'm sure someone will want to reproduce Charon's boat in scale with Charon himself intent on rowing on the river Acheron.
Joke.

Right shipper's the answers:-

01. I have heard two versions of the answer to this so here goes:- I have heard that superstitious sailors said it was put there so if the ship foundered then it was a gift for Davy Jones in the hope he would look after the souls of sailors that had "Crossed the bar"

The second which I more inclined to believe it was a good luck charm - as a side note did you know that all Britsh Sail Training Ships when built had a sovereign placed under the heal of the mast.

02. Sailors of old did have a gold ring in their ear primary if they Crossed the Bar on land in foreign parts it was to pay for their funeral.

03. The ship in the picture was the British Barque Marques which foundered in the 1984 Tall Ships race (02 June 1984) about 80 North of Bermuda on the way to Halifax Nova Scotia. The board of enquiry determined that the lose was caused by instability of the ship due to constant modifications and being hit by a rouge wave which stove the main hatch in and the ship sank in less than a minute. I know the weather was awful that night - I was actually there and we experienced 70 knots of wind over the deck for a prolonged period.



Pat

A farthing was found under HMS Victory's mainmast, placed as a good luck charm. The gold earing was a form of portable currency, and coud be used to cover costs like burial far from home or to bring the wearer's corpse home. As for the ship, Bounty or Beagle movie replica?

Source via Internet.

The history of the Jeanie Johnston began in 1848 with her maiden voyage from Blennerville in Tralee, County Kerry, to Quebec in Canada. There were 193 passengers on board. During the famine, she carried 2,500 Irish emigrants on 16 transatlantic voyages to North America.

The original Jeanie Johnston was built in Quebec, Canada, in 1847. It was commissioned by the Scottish-born shipbuilder and master mariner John Munn. She was purchased by the Kerry-based merchants John Donovan and Sons for their family business.

Jeanie Johnston is a replica of a three-masted barque originally built in 1847 in Quebec, Canada, by Scottish-born shipbuilder John Munn.
Original description call
Start of construction: 1998
Launched: 6 May 2000
Width: 8 m
Propulsion: 2 × 290 hp (216 kW) Caterpillar 3306 diesel engines; 1 × 50 kW (67 hp) bow thruster
Named after: Jeanie Johnston
Home port: Tralee
Height: 28 m (91 ft, 10 in) air draft

Is that all the answer in - I will post the correct answer about 6 pm UK time

“ The mast wedge was crucial for keeping the mast firmly in place. Without it, the mast could wobble or even fall out, especially in heavy seas.”

“The gold ring was superstitious and carried a variety of reasons, safety at sea, wealth/security, and it looked cool”

This is a replica of the Bounty

OK. If you insist Pat😁
Only part 1. though.
Silver coins for good luck and to help pay for a new mast when needed.
Copper coins because they react with salt water to form a kind of wood preserver.
Which then climbs the mast by capillary action and helps to prevent fungal wood rot.
2. So that they always had some emergency funds handy?
3. No idea🤔

😎

No takers yet then