For the dutch sailers, a gold earing was the only way that he could save anything worth money that would stay attached to his body even if he drowned in the ocean and was found later. If the body was found, which may have been found by somebody who came from some other location or country. Gold would be valued by all people. And this gold earing would be enough to pay to have the body buried, so the man could be removed from the water and taken to be buried somewhere. Hopefully taken back to their homes. The men did not want their souls to be lost in the water forever.