In the story of Robinson Crusoe, Robinson must retrieve all of the supplies that he can carry off the wreck. His first priority is food and other survival supplies. But, in his very limited time to remove all that he can from the wreck, Robinson takes some coins. On the island, these are absolutely worthless. The coins cannot be used as currency because nobody else is on the island; and they cannot be melted down into tools because Crusoe cannot construct a furnace; and gold and silver are flimsy metals. So the question is, why did he take them? Robinson Crusoe took these small and worthless pieces of metal because he had hope. If he was rescued, the coins would come in handy.