Where do I start?

[+TX Stephens]

(Moderator, move if needed)

 

Hello All!

 

I am pretty new to your world, but am really loving it! We have just about 40 caches under our belts, and have already made the investment in a GPS (In it for the long haul). I have been "eyeballing" Geocoins from the start of our adventure and have been intrigued. I have a few questions I was hoping you could help me out with. (Sorry if this has been covered before):

 

1. Where do I get Geocoins?

I know there seem to be a million different websites to get some from, but I never really know what I am looking at when I go to those sites. Does anyone have any helpful experience in this area? I also know they can be obtained from finding them in caches. But, honestly, how often does this happen?

 

2. If I do buy or find one, can I keep it?

From reading the forums, it seems that a number of players keep the GC's they find. Is this an accepted practice, or should they really be kept in circulation? If I buy one, should it go in to the world, or can I keep it?

 

I know these sound like silly questions, but I want to know what I'm doing (and how to) when I start collecting GC's.

 

Thanks for the help!

[+T.D.M.22]

We'll start with number 2 first. If you buy one, you can do whatever you feel like with it. If you find one, and it's activated, it's not your to keep. TB's and Coins are meant to travel, so if you take it, it won't be able to travel. Some people do leave unactivated coins as prizes and such, so feel free to do what you want.

 

Where do you get them? That depends. You want your own? Expect to spend a minimum of $1000 for a minimum of 100 coins. Landsharkz, Oak Coins And Pins, and others make them.

 

Or are you taking buying other coins? Just pick one that you like, that's pretty much it. There's coins for countries, coins for 3 Canadian provinces, in the shape of the province, and they all fit together. A space shuttle with the payload bay doors that open. Guitars. Dinosaurs. Lackey coins, Groundspeak HQ coins almost whatever someone can think of.

Edited April 10, 2014 by T.D.M.22

[+Intrepid Dyad]

when you buy a coin you have two main choices:

 

1. do not activate it and keep it in your collection and it keeps all resell value

2. activate it and it is ready to travel, but may lose a but of resell value

 

if you go with option two, you do not need to send it out and can opt to move it into your own collection so people who you show it to can only discover it and will not be able to log a retrieval of it. (since they never actually take it)

 

if you send it out, be prepared for it to go mission and never come back. all trackables sometimes goes missing and geocoins due to their value do get stolen. like you said some people like to keep them. some people are just <removed by moderator> and like to steal your nice geocoins, because they are horrible people.

 

you must accept someone horrible may come along and take it. Also do not take any that you find and keep them unless they are marked as collectible. this gives people the option to keep them in their collection.

 

as for where to get them, here are some places i know mint them:

 

geoswag.com (oakcoins store, i love them!)

coinsandpins.com

geocaching.com/store (good place, usually just resell and cheaper elsewhere. they do have the free shipping on $25+ orders though)

 

otherplaces do resell. buying them from people who are selling their own collection is a great idea too. just browse the geocoin forum and check out cointracking.com too.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Eartha
Remove off color language

[+Droo]

Geocoins found in caches belong to other people. Cachers have bought and released them to follow their travels and enjoy the logs that finders will post when moving them from cache to cache. They are called travelers for that reason and need not be traded for when found in caches but if you pick one up you must move it to another cache and logging the retrieval and drop off in the tracking system.

 

If you want to get snapshot view of the kinds of coin designs that have been produced look for them on Ebay.... look but do not touch as they can be expensive. Many coin designs sell out pretty fast while others languish and the perceived values are reflected in what they are being bid for or what is asked for them. It's a fine way to discover where your tastes range. Price wise you should not have to pay more than $10-$15 plus shipping unless it's sold out and unavailable anywhere else and you really have to have it.

 

Which vendours should you look at? Not all actually carry a steady stock. Producing a batch is expensive and not being able to sell them all or recoup the initial cost of production is a risk most coin makers face. Go through them all and discount the ones that clearly have little stock or seem to focus on selling general geocaching gear, you'll be paying them a middleman fee, but if you have to have it and the price seems fair to you.... go for it. Some vendours are actually producing geocoins and stocking them and they are the ones you want to bookmark or become familiar with. Don't forget the Geocoin Store right on Geocaching.com too: if there is a middleman fee there it goes to support the geocaching site.

[+TX Stephens]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

 

I enjoy caching, but not enough to drop that kind of money to have custom coins minted. Maybe one day if I win the lottery.

 

I am pretty interested in trading or buying from other players/collectors. I will use the various sites you have written about as well.

 

Hopefully we will find some in caches soon.