William Corey wrote:
>
> Greetings to All,
>         Recently, coffee cup in hand, I was admiring some of my shells.  As I
> was gazing rather fondly at them I wondered "What compels people to collect
> particular shells?"  I thought I would like to convene a virtual summit and
> ask the question this way:
>
>            As you have been building your collections have you ever
> thought:....What would be your "Canon" or closed list of must have specimens.
>  For example, as a collector of Cones (or cowries or whatever), what must you
> have to feel you have a "good" or "complete" collection.  Of course it is a
> matter of personal taste, but I am curious if there is a consensus among the
> collectors in this readership:
>
>       Of the kinds of specimens you collect, what must you have? Or, to put
> it another way: Which specimens do you feel should be in every "good"
> collection?
>
>                                    Thanks, in advance, for your opinions

My entire collection represents self-collected specimens from a 17-mile
stretch of local reef. Wouldn't take a SE Asian shell as a gift.

Different strokes...