The variety available is literally endless, and therein lies the appeal to the collector. A huge number of simple manufactured boards exist, including those provided by tobacco and drinks companies to advertise their products (and which provide useful sub-categories for the keen collector). But this is just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the enormous number of home made and locally crafted boards which still exist in profusion. It's worth remembering that it wasn't so long ago that practically every pub and club would have had a few Cribbage Boards available for Cards, Dominoes, and other games. With many pub games now in serious decline, it's no surprise that so many of these old boards are now available to buy from wherever old and unwanted things are sold, and usually at very little cost.
So Cribbage Boards are both common and (mostly) cheap, and exhibit the kind of limitless variety which makes them ideal for collecting. They can also be quite attractive, tactile, and perhaps best of all, still very useful for their original purpose of scoring games, for which you'll need a set of four Cribbage Pegs. Original Cribbage Pegs are somewhat rarer than the boards, but being (mostly) inexpensive, and exhibiting a wide variety, are also ideally suited to collecting...
I'd like to make it quite clear at this point, that whilst I'm certainly a sucker for any bit of old polished Mahogany or Brass, I don't actually collect Cribbage Boards (or pegs) myself...
A lunchtime game of Cribbage on the bar-top of the Masons Arms, Bourne in Lincolnshire. The pub has an abundance of games available, including Domino Sets, Darts, Pool, and a Shut The Box; with a similar glut of trophies displayed around the bar from league play.
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