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WI_Robin personal geocoin


WI_Robin

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Update from The Caching Place:

 

"The micro eggs are here, they were delivered yesterday, it's still another week on the big coin. So the shipping/sale will begin around the 17th. The micro's look great!!"

 

I do still have a few of the complete sets left. These will not be offered through The Caching Place. If you are interested in puchasing a complete set please send me an e-mail. People who have reserved the complete sets will receive an invoice from The Caching Place, but I am taking the reservations since I started it. People who have reservations for single coins will have an opportunity to purchase thier reserved coins prior to the main sale, but I am not taking any reservations for single coins.

 

Once the reservations are taken care of there will be a limited amount of the coins available at The Caching Places website. If there are no problems with the big coin the sale should begin around the 17th. If you have your heart set on getting some your best bet is to reserve a complete set, if you don't already have coins reserved. I will have 30 sets of XLE's available for trade. Currently I am looking for some Canadian coins for a friend of mine - specifics can be found in the trading forum. A total of 280 pairs (100 antique gold, 100 antique silver, 50 copper/glitter and 30 XLE's) where made and these will never be made again!

 

If you have coins reserved and would like a less expensive international shipping option please contact me ASAP and we will work something out. Thanks - Robin

Edited by WI_Robin
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If you have made a reservation for one of my personal coins you should have either received an invoice from The Caching Place (if you reserved an entire set) or an e-mail from me with details on how to purchase your coins. If you made a reservation and have not been contacted by me or The Caching Place send me an e-mail.

 

The coins will be available for purchase to the general public on Wednesday. September 19th at The Caching Place.

Edited by WI_Robin
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If you have made a reservation for one of my personal coins you should have either received an invoice from The Caching Place (if you reserved an entire set) or an e-mail from me with details on how to purchase your coins. If you made a reservation and have not been contacted by me or The Caching Place send me an e-mail.

 

The coins will be available for purchase to the general public on Wednesday. September 19th at The Caching Place.

 

just paid for mine

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Wow those are gorgeous!!! There is another one to put on my to buy list.

 

I can't wait to get mine to see if they look as good as the samples! Georgia and Sharon at The Caching Place did a wonderful job working with the mint to get the coin just the way I wanted it. You can still order them here: http://www.thecachingplace.com/shop/pc/vie...p?idCategory=23 , but don't wait too long I know there are less than 50 of each available. Thanks - Robin

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Got my box today :P . They all look great!! There is a little problem with the XLE eggs, but that won't affect most of my trades. I will get the rest out to those I owe them to in the morning. Here are some pics of the large XLE coin. The pictures do not do them justice. Click on the images if you want to make them bigger.

 

th_coins470.jpg

 

th_coins473.jpg

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It has been hit and miss. Some come up with a code, some don't. I sent an e-mail to The Caching Place and I will let you know what I hear back. Thanks - Robin

 

Hi Everyone!

 

We are aware of the problem and are trying to figure out with the mint what has happened. They have obviously made some errors, we are just not quite sure how to "fix" the problem!! It appears that it is only with the large coin, but again, we are not certain at this point and are doing what we can to figure it out!

 

Rest assured that one way or the other, we'll get the problem worked out and keep up updated on the progress - in the meantime, if you have a coin that will not generate a number please email us that coin number.

 

We're very sorry for the inconvience, and believe me, we're as MAD about this as YOU are!!! :huh:

 

Thanks for your understanding and patience while we figure this one out!!

 

Georgia & Sharon

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Received a 6 coin set of these really great looking coins a few days ago, along with one extra 2 coin pair in antique gold.

 

The thing that puzzles me, I'd thought there were only 3 finishes, but the two "antique gold" coins aren't the same shade, one is leaning more towards "bronze".

 

Has anyone else noticed the coloration differences similar to the two pictures coins below? :o:o

WI_Robins.jpg

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First let's update everyone on the "activation" issues!! We have determined that the mint messed up BIG time and made some changes to our master file of codes. Their "mistake" ended up creating a new set of codes that were engraved on the coins but of course not recognized by our database! :o

 

We contacted Bryan at Groundspeak to see if he can help us resolve this issue by adding this "new" set of codes into the database to replace the original codes....what a sweetheart, although it's huge process on their end, he has agreed to help us try and resolve the problem! B)

 

Making this change will enable the "majority" of folks to get activation codes for the coins they have in hand now. It will not however be a total cure....there will still be a handful of coins that we will need to replace. :o

 

At this point in time we still do not have all the details ironed out, it would be a good idea to hold off on making trades on this coin set for awhile. We'll post an update here in the forums once we have a few more details. As I mentioned, it's a huge process for Bryan to "search" the database to be certain that these 'new' codes are not being "duplicated", so it could take awhile for them to complete this task!

 

Thanks for your patience!

 

Georgia & Sharon

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Received a 6 coin set of these really great looking coins a few days ago, along with one extra 2 coin pair in antique gold.

 

The thing that puzzles me, I'd thought there were only 3 finishes, but the two "antique gold" coins aren't the same shade, one is leaning more towards "bronze".

 

Has anyone else noticed the coloration differences similar to the two pictures coins below? :o:P

WI_Robins.jpg

 

Oh my....if it's not one thing it's another eh? Let me attempt to explain....

 

If you have this coin in hand, you can tell it's different from most coins! I'm not just talking about the "coloration" difference in the antique gold metal - but the coin itself! Notice the amazing colors over the 3D details on the front of this coin! This coin is done in a "hard" enamel finish - which is totally different from "imitation" hard enamel.

 

To achieve a "hard enamel" finish, the colors must be added individually to the coin, one at at time and then baked at very high temperatures. If a coin has 4 different colors, it must go through the baking process 4 different times. This heating process can cause the metal to discolor. If you look at the coin, you might notice on the front of the coin, it "bows" out just a bit as well. Again, it's this high heat process that contributes to these "differences" - you might consider each coin "unique" since the process can have different effects depending on the metal composition of each coin. B)

 

We have only done two coins in the hard enamel process....the GBOTS coin was the other - both coins are truly amazing, very beautiful coins - the process however is expensive and a real test of ones endurance level!! :o

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Certainly no complaints here on the appearance of the coins, they look positively fantastic! :o

 

As to the issue of the small number of coins with duplicate tracking numbers due to the issue at the mint, how is a coin holder to know if the coin they have is one with a bogus number that can't be corrected in the GS database? Well, that is for ones where the "original" coin with the same tracking number hasn't yet been activated, so you couldn't find in by number in the trackables page.

 

For instance, of the four large coins I have in hand, 3 of them say "The Travel Bug you requested does not exist in the system", while the fourth said "This trackable item hasn't been activated. Activate it now." :o

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In regards to trading any geocoin, I have decided to establish my practice of retrieving all activation codes for all trade coins becasue of issues like this.

 

I created a 4mm by 4mm recording paper with the coin name and activation number (not activated) and place with the coin sleeve.

 

Made this decision based on other forum responses about loosing information of where to retrieve activation codes, possibilities that various vendors will not always be in business, and coin database issues.

 

Retreiveing activation codes, recording and storing the code electronically is labor intensive. Someday the information will be handy in the "pay it forward concept". Believe it is very good customer service to ensure a good trade.

 

Why pass on coins that have activation issue, when I could resolve the activation issue much sooner, and with hopefully much less searching time.

 

Accordiongal

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I got my complete set awhile ago and they are very nice! I haven't tried to retrieve any activation numbers yet, but would like to at some point soon. What are we advised to do at this point?

 

You should go to The Caching Places website and attempt to retrieve activation codes. Hopefully you will be able to retreive your codes. If you can't, e-mail them the tracking number and the type of coin that isn't working. They will get back to you then as soon as they have an answer to what ever the problem is. Keep in mind this may take some time since some of the codes have to be hand loaded into the system by Groundspeak. Thanks for your patience! - Robin

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Latest update:

 

As some of you know, there was a critical code error made by the mint. The engraver at the mint accidently incremented the codes on the excel list instead of "copying" them. By incrementing them, the original codes with numbers were changed and then engraved on the coins. We were hoping that Groundspeak would be able to add these new codes into the database so that folks would then be able to retrieve activation codes. Turns out that this would be a HUGE undertaking and would still not solve the additional problem of "duplicate" codes.

 

The only real solution is for us to re-mint the entire order engraved with "new" codes. This means that we will need to "recall" all of the Wisconsin Robin coins, in all versions. We understand that this is an inconvenience and we are very sorry. We realize that trades and sales may have been made and would appreciate it, if you have made such a transaction, that you contact those individuals and ask them to please return the coin/s to us for new "replacement" coin/s. We will reimburse the cost of 1st class mail to return the coins.

 

Please include your name, address and paypal email so we can credit your account for the shipping refund!

 

These coins were sold in several metals and came as a set, which included one large coin and a small micro egg coin. There were also some LE sets (6 coins) and some XLE sets that were available directly with Robin. The entire set must be returned for a replacement set. If you've split up your set in a trade, return the coin you have and that one will be replaced. It will take about 30 days for these coins to be re-minted. Once we receive the coins we will begin shipping them out to those who have sent their coins back.

 

Please send your coins to:

The Caching Place Inc.

5689 Cotton Ridge Cir

Murray, Utah 84107

 

We appreciate your help and understanding and please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. There were some orders recently purchased that were held until we figured this out, we will be sending emails out on those orders.

 

Thanks for your help!!

Georgia & Sharon

TheCachingPlace.com

Edited by The Caching Place
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Do I send back just the Wisconsin-shaped coin or both the large coin and the "egg"?

 

Thanks, CF30

 

Hi CF30

 

Please send "both" coins back - the only way for this to work is to do a total "recall" and re-mint! We need to eliminate any chance of "duplicate" codes!

 

Thanks!

 

I had one big coin the worked and one that didnt. Do I have to return both coins. If just the one that doesnt work, how do I know which little coin came with which big coin? And by returning the little coin which is all ready activated (as well as the one big coin that was activated) will leave me with a coin(s) in my owned list that I will not own. Sounds like this is going to be a huge disaster with lots more screw ups and confusion and problems

Edited by bugsmasher69
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Do I send back just the Wisconsin-shaped coin or both the large coin and the "egg"?

 

Thanks, CF30

 

Hi CF30

 

Please send "both" coins back - the only way for this to work is to do a total "recall" and re-mint! We need to eliminate any chance of "duplicate" codes!

 

Thanks!

 

I had one big coin the worked and one that didnt. Do I have to return both coins. If just the one that doesnt work, how do I know which little coin came with which big coin? And by returning the little coin which is all ready activated (as well as the one big coin that was activated) will leave me with a coin(s) in my owned list that I will not own. Sounds like this is going to be a huge disaster with lots more screw ups and confusion and problems

 

This is why we must recall ALL coins, all versions, activated ones included! I've been on the phone with Bryan and they are working with us to resolve this issue with the least amount of "problems" - If you have by chance already activated one of the coins and it appears in your "owned" list, please let us know that when you send it back. Once we have all of the coins back, Bryan will remove these from the system and they will no longer appear on your list and you can activate the "new" replacement coins.

 

I know it's confusing, but believe me, we've covered every possible option and this is the one we all feel will work the best....even though it's a hassel for everyone :shocked:

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Hi Robin,

Got the coins today and thought they looked great, then I checked my email and saw that they will need to be returned :shocked:

Hang in there, it will all work itself out over the next few weeks. I'll send my LE set back in a couple of days to the Caching Place.

Best Regards,

MRJIFFY (aka Jason)

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Wow, what a project this beautiful coin has turned into! :shocked:

 

Any chance that the returned coins can have the engraving "rubbed out" and be converted to non-trackable items like key-chains? Be a shame to destroy such beautiful looking coins, especially the full size state-shaped coins. :o

 

I'd be willing to pay a couple bucks per "defect" non-trackable state shaped coin, just ship 'em back when the replacements arrive in the same package. :D

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Any chance that the returned coins can have the engraving "rubbed out" and be converted to non-trackable items like key-chains? Be a shame to destroy such beautiful looking coins, especially the full size state-shaped coins. :o

 

I'd be willing to pay a couple bucks per "defect" non-trackable state shaped coin, just ship 'em back when the replacements arrive in the same package. :D

Ditto here! :shocked:

 

CF30

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Any chance that the returned coins can have the engraving "rubbed out" and be converted to non-trackable items like key-chains? Be a shame to destroy such beautiful looking coins, especially the full size state-shaped coins. :yikes:

 

I'd be willing to pay a couple bucks per "defect" non-trackable state shaped coin, just ship 'em back when the replacements arrive in the same package. :laughing:

Ditto here! :yikes:

 

CF30

 

It is a shame that these beautiful coins will need to be destroyed, but that's the way it has to be :anicute: - there are a couple of issues with removing the numbers. #1 it would take a great deal of time to "dremel" each number off - the 2nd issue is that the text " trackable at geocaching.com" would still appear on the coins, Groundspeak does not want coins circulating through caches where the numbers are removed but the text remains...far too much confusion!

 

Hope everyone understands!

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Mailed mine back today, was a great adventure going to the post office! Got FTF on Just a walk in the woods nothing like paying the price in blood drawn! :P

 

Since it wasn't clear that 100% of the coin engraving was screwed up, hopefully the non-numeric coins can be recycled and sent back out to increase the mintage on these nifty coins, they definitely were one of the better looking coins to grace my expanding collection for a short time. :)

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The good news is they are expected tomorrow - if it was today it would have been a great birthday present for me!! :P Hopefully they will all be good this time. Thanks for your patience. - Robin

 

Is it too late to send coins back?? I have one of the LE copper coins, and I forgot about sending it back.

 

:):D:)

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No it's not too late. The entire batch was reminted - the WI shaped coins and the egg coins. The new batch will have a custom prefix of WR so it will be easy to tell if you have one of the old coins (which needs to be replaced) or a new coin. If you have a coin it is important to send it back for replacement. The Caching Place will refund your shipping costs. The tracking numbers on the old coins (if they did work) will be de-activated. This had to be done because we had no way of knowing which numbers the mint messed up and which ones didn't. The easiest thing to do was get an entire new batch of numbers and "return" the old ones. It really was a mess, but The Caching Place did a great job of taking care of the problem.

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The good news is they are expected tomorrow - if it was today it would have been a great birthday present for me!! :P Hopefully they will all be good this time. Thanks for your patience. - Robin

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN!!! Hope you're having a wonderful day!!

The coins are expected to "ship" tomorrow from the mint, which means a couple of days for us to receive them. We expect to begin shipping by Friday.

 

It will never be too late to return the coins, we will hold some in stock for future replacements! Thanks for everyones help in getting the coins back to us! :)

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