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Releasing Those Rare Geocoins!


DocDiTTo

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All these trackable geocoins seem to be wasting away in collectors hands, so how about a discussion on releasing a few of them in caches?

 

I currently have 2 geocoins I released, both are 2004 USA Geocoins, and 1 disappeared soon after I let it go, never to be seen again. The other was moving recently, not sure about now though.

 

I've decided that should I release any more coins, I'm going to drill a hole in them so I can attach a tag with their goal and instructions, so that newbies get the idea quickly as to what to do with them, and to destroy their collectible value and reduce the chances that my coin will end up in someone's collection or on ebay. I'd like to release some of the rarer special-icon coins into some of my caches so that others can find and log them.

 

Is drilling a hole enough? Should I engrave my name on them too?

I know they might get stolen or lost, but there's no point to keeping a bunch of them around just to look at.

 

Any other good ways to devalue a coin to help prevent theft? Or to make sure it's not mistaken for a trade item?

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All these trackable geocoins seem to be wasting away in collectors hands, so how about a discussion on releasing a few of them in caches?

 

I currently have 2 geocoins I released, both are 2004 USA Geocoins, and 1 disappeared soon after I let it go, never to be seen again. The other was moving recently, not sure about now though.

 

I've decided that should I release any more coins, I'm going to drill a hole in them so I can attach a tag with their goal and instructions, so that newbies get the idea quickly as to what to do with them, and to destroy their collectible value and reduce the chances that my coin will end up in someone's collection or on ebay. I'd like to release some of the rarer special-icon coins into some of my caches so that others can find and log them.

 

Is drilling a hole enough? Should I engrave my name on them too?

I know they might get stolen or lost, but there's no point to keeping a bunch of them around just to look at.

 

Any other good ways to devalue a coin to help prevent theft? Or to make sure it's not mistaken for a trade item?

At least one frequent visitor to these forums does what you do, but also makes a scratch of some type to deface the coin a bit. I think I will be doing that soon.

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I usually order two of any coin i want...one to keep and one to release to the public. i think everyone should be able to log a special geocoin...half the thrill is finding one. for some the thrill is passing it on for someone else to find. God bless the cachers that catch and release.

Edited by Team Silver
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I usually order two of any coin i want...one to keep and one to release to the public.  i tthink everyone should be able to log a special geocoin...half the thrill is finding one.  for some the thrill is passing it one for someone else to find.  God bless the cachers that catch and release.

Heh, I've been ordering 2 of each, one to keep, and one to trade or release. I think from now on I'll buy 4 - 1 to keep, one to release, one to trade and one to sell on ebay to pay for the other 3. :lol:

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I've made laminated copies of all my GC trackable coins and released the copies. That way people can find them and get credit for the icons and there's little temptation for anyone to keep them. I can also restart them if something happens to them.

 

Unfortunately many people on the forum consider this idea to be "crap". It seems to work pretty well in practice however. I think it's more in keeping with the spirit of the game than pulling coins out of your pocket at an event and showing them to your friends.

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Cache-bert...i think tthat is a good idea. why spend a couple hundred dollars to get the coins made, place them in caches only to have your lot of 100 coins stolen in less days than coins you released. i say if it aint broke...dont fix it. its kind of like sticking it to those who find that coin and really want to steal it. what a gret idea.

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I've made laminated copies of all my GC trackable coins and released the copies. That way people can find them and get credit for the icons and there's little temptation for anyone to keep them. I can also restart them if something happens to them.

 

Unfortunately many people on the forum consider this idea to be "crap". It seems to work pretty well in practice however. I think it's more in keeping with the spirit of the game than pulling coins out of your pocket at an event and showing them to your friends.

I agree too... I might strt doing this too.

 

I've spent way to much on these coins to have a thief walk off with them. It's to bad people can't be honest and put them back out like they should. The collectors are not the ones that ruined the geocoin idea, it's the thieves that ruined it for everyone.

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Cache-bert...i think tthat is a good idea.  why spend a couple hundred dollars to get the coins made, place them in caches only to have your lot of 100 coins stolen in less days than coins you released.  i say if it aint broke...dont fix it.  its kind of like sticking it to those who find that coin and really want to steal it.  what a gret idea.

Thanks. People seem to really enjoy finding these "simulated" coins in caches and getting the icons. I put text on the copy explaining what it is and what to do with it. In my opinion it's a better alternative than defacing a perfectly good coin to the point that it's so messed up no one would want to keep it.

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Rather than deface the coin and ruin the coin's beauty.....

 

For those coins which can be activated and of which I have more than one coin.....I usually activate them with our geonick and then place them in caches locally. Most of the seroius collectors seem to avoid keeping these activated coins for their collection. So far, all of our activated and trackable coins are still travelling from cache to cache.

 

On the other hand, If you have a Moun10bike coin and placed it in a cache, it would quickly end up in my.....uh.....someone's collection. But, you wouldn't want to deface it just to keep it moving!

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I've made laminated copies of all my GC trackable coins and released the copies. That way people can find them and get credit for the icons and there's little temptation for anyone to keep them. I can also restart them if something happens to them.

 

Unfortunately many people on the forum consider this idea to be "crap". It seems to work pretty well in practice however. I think it's more in keeping with the spirit of the game than pulling coins out of your pocket at an event and showing them to your friends.

That's a great idea...

 

I really enjoyed the whole geocoin thing for a while but now there is just too much and I'm too dadgum lazy to keep up the pace.

 

I'll have to look into this... Thanks

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Is drilling a hole enough? Should I engrave my name on them too?

 

Any other good ways to devalue a coin to help prevent theft? Or to make sure it's not mistaken for a trade item?

I asked the same thing over here. and the gist seemed to be that there will always be someone who will keep it. :lol:

 

I've released a maryland with a hole, and a New Jersey that has a hole, a slash mark, and a W cut into it. So far they're both moving, but its only been a few months.

In the future I think I may do like cache-bert and make an cheap washer copies with the number and release those instead of the actual coin. If someone steals that, just make a new copy and restart it.

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Am I missing something, or isn't this what the coins are for? If you look at the original creator of the geocoin (Moun10Bike) you will see that he releases the coins and does not EXPECT that they will stay in the game. They were intended as a signature item not a travel bug. Maybe someone will find that they really like the coin and want to keep it, is that so bad? The tracking number is just an easy way to track the people who have your coins. If you only place your coins in the caches you figure are special you will collect the names of the people who liked your coin well enough to keep it. I personally did not make my coins trackable because I knew that they would not get much mileage, for me the joy is trading and giving the lucky person who finds the cache something worth going out for. Has the obsession with coins caused us all to forget why we geocache?

 

One of the main goals of the Delaware State Geocoin’s "Grand Experiment", which you can read about tomorrow in the web site debut, is to return the Geocoins to the caches. Give that lucky guy something really worth going out for, take a chance and make someone’s day. After all we are not just talking about any people, we are talking about fellow geocachers.

 

That is just my opinion, I may be wrong.

 

2Dolphins

Edited by 2Dolphins
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Maybe someone will find that they really like the coin and want to keep it, is that so bad?

If I paid for it and gave it a mission and released the traveler, and someone comes along and steals the thing, yes that's bad.

If trackable is meant for tracking people, not location, why can it be logged into/out of a cache? Why can I edit the page and give it a mission (does it even need a page?)?

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It's a common lament that coins disappear -- so I just accept it and try to get as much life as I can from my travelling coins.

 

I do attach tags, I do scratch them and I am going to try a "no trade" coin cache. Basically, I will hide a cache with 10 coins in it -- 5 trackable, 5 not. Then, folks can visit the cache, see/log the coins and leave them for the next cacher.

 

Not exactly travelling, but it allows folks to at least see the coins.

 

I do not think the laminating idea is "crap" I think it is GREAT! The fact that it is required is what is "crap" -- collecting coins is cool. Stealing other folks travel bugs is not. I may do the photo/lamination trick myself on my rarer coins (that I have traded or bought -- thank you very much)

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We have released into caches about 15 of our f0t0m0m coins so far. Ten (10) of the have been placed in caches around Southern California, and another five (5) in Europe. We continue to release about 1 coin per week. It is our intent to release at least 50 coins. This weekend a coin will be dropped at or near the Ojai event.

 

Of the 10 released here, more than half are still moving. We beleive all of the coins in Europe are still moving. We know that a couple of people have released coins in other parts of the US. At some point we will probably ask 5-6 people to help us to place 1 in caches in other parts of the US.

 

It is our preference that the coins that are released continue to move from cache to cache, and are not held permanently by cachers. But since we have no control over this, we decided we would just not worry about it. If someone decides they want to keep it, that's OK.

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I’ve taken my coins and scanned them, then enlarged them.  I then took two pieces of lexan and glued the images between the lexan.  http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=199196

That looks really nice. That's a good bit more realistic than what I've been doing with mine.

 

I honestly wouldn't mind putting out the real coins if I thought they wouldn't just disappear within days like most of the Jeeps have done. I put out 12 USA gecoins and several didn't even make it to the second cache. Also, a major problem with most of the new coins is that they're not even replaceable. It's an accomplishment to even get to order some of them before they're sold out.

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We've been importing and releaseing coin in the UK. The approach we take is that while defacing them is not desirable, it is preferable to having them disappear from thier first cache. We drill a hole in them and then use a key ring loop to attach a label with details of the mission and something along the lines of "DO NOT KEEP..." and just so that the coin doesn't "fall off", we then solder the loop closed. It's not fool proof, so as a back up, we scan them and then if they go missing, we can rerelease the coin using the laminate, with a label saying some ******* pinched the original...

 

BTW, I'm sure plenty of people do take the coins knowing they are meant to travel, but I also think the confusion between them being a signature item and a travel bug means that some go stray because people think they are there as a swap item. By tagging them like this you are reducing the collectability and ensurig that this doesn't happen.

 

Bambi.

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Finding and keeping Geocoins seems to be an habit practised mainly in the US.

I brought a German Geocoin on a business trip 4.845 miles to Florida because I thought it a good idea to give US cachers the chance to see and log the coin thus also adding a new logo to their profile. May be well thought but ... the coin moved 20,5 miles only and seems to have disappeared July 31st in a collection.

On the other hand I found a Maryland coin in a German cache - seldom enough and a nice icon - and within one week I put this lovely looking coin into another cache. In spite of collecting Geocoins an idea of grabbing and keeping it and stealing thus the property of a buddy cacher would never come up. This seems to be more the European approach.

This is - I admit - very generalizing but following this threat I do not seem to be so far away from the truth.

Drilling a hole through the coin or damaging the coin in another way just to reduce the "value" for a collector and avoid that someone may steal it is somewhat bizarre.

Nevertheless I will do it again at my next US trip <_<

Albatross1901

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Drilling a coin and attaching a TB tag to it is a good idea which I tried a month ago, BUT it doesn't protect against THIS (their first cache and they took my TB and they haven't done one since). <_< I had thought the same thing; deface the coin for collectibility but leave it intact so it was recognizable. I hadn't counted on someone coming along and on their first cache, TAKING MY TB COIN and then not visiting another cache in the last month. They haven't even signed in since they logged it. I guess I'm going to have to start attaching disclaimers to my TB's.

 

WARNING: If you remove this TB from this cache and do not place it in another cache within 2 weeks, a couple of my 'associates' will come to your house and 'correct' your idea of TRAVEL bugs.

 

I really thought I was onto something but I realize you can't protect against everything. When the loss happens, just deal with it and forget it. Hopefully these newbies wern't 'one cache cachers' and show up again sometime.

Edited by Shasties
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I usually order two of any coin i want...one to keep and one to release to the public.  i think everyone should be able to log a special geocoin...half the thrill is finding one.  for some the thrill is passing it on for someone else to find.  God bless the cachers that catch and release.

A noble idea but more often than not you're just funding the collections of other people. I'd really like to think that coins sent out would accrue some miles and people would be able to log them Unfortunately, that's normally not the case.

 

I just cannot comprehend the idea of 'I found this coin in a cache, so I'm keeping it'. The same thing goes for any other TB. Like 'MAXB on the River' (mover of thousands of TB's) says, "Beware of the 'Cute and Collectible factor' with TB's. The 'cuter' and more 'collectable' the item, the less likely it's going move to another cache.

 

As far as coins go, if it's a nontrackable coin then it's fair game like any signature item. Unactivated coins put out as FTF prizes are also keepable. Attach a TB tag to anything and it should be considered a movable item and not a keeper.

Edited by Shasties
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I’ve taken my coins and scanned them, then enlarged them.  I then took two pieces of lexan and glued the images between the lexan.  http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=199196

Ok, this may seem like a dumb question to some, but what the heck is lexan? Where do you get it? I really like the way your coin looks and would like to try that with mine. Thanks.

LEXAN resin is a brand name of polycarbonate resin thermoplastic made by GE Plastics. It is similar in appearance to polymethyl methacrylate (Plexiglas/Lucite/Perspex more commonly called as Acrylic) but is far more durable. Lexan is typically used in the aerospace industry for aircraft canopies, windscreens and other windows. It's most recognizable use in a consumer product is probably the Nalgene 1-liter wide-mouthed water bottle.

Edited by clan_Barron
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I released a geocoin in march of 2004 from Idaho with a goal to visit one of my Dads caches in california. It arrived in his cache last night. When I released it, I had low expectations of success. It made the trip without unusual (for a travelbug) delays in caches or swagbags.

 

It's got some good karma by now.

 

While I don't belong to a coin club, I do occasionally trade my sig for coins, but they all end up in a cache...including a moun10bike coin that is still circulating.

 

I think that once a coin has a travel log history, the odds of it staying in circulation increase as that log grows.

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I placed five coins in caches last winter, and so far only one has gone missing. (The whole cache went missing, not just my coin.)

 

I love the idea of copying the coin & placing the laminated copies out in caches, but I think I'll modify the idea a little. I'll place future coins in caches, but make copies of them before I do so. That way if someone "keeps" it, I can put out one of the duplicates. I just prefer to put out the real thing since it's more exciting for me to find the real coins.

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I love the idea of copying the coin & placing the laminated copies out in caches, but I think I'll modify the idea a little. I'll place future coins in caches, but make copies of them before I do so. That way if someone "keeps" it, I can put out one of the duplicates. I just prefer to put out the real thing since it's more exciting for me to find the real coins.

 

That's what we do. We drill and tag them, but we have the scanned images as a back up (or at least we did, my computer bit the dust over the weekend, and I'm currently trying to remember what is on the backup...). As you say, it's just so much nicer to find a real coin.

 

It's worth noting that our first Maryland coin has been picked up and placed by three cachers and it was only released at the begining of October, about the same as one of our bugs that was released in July. I suspect that the nice new logo means that people are making more of an effort to grab it at the moment.

 

Bambi.

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I just activated a bunch of my coins and what I did was:

 

--Scan both sides of the coin.

-- Print it out on label paper.

-- Used a circle cutter so it's nice and round.

-- Placed it on a 2' wood circle. (Blank wood nickel)

-- Light spray of clear coat.

 

PRESTO! Geocoin that's ready to go and can be easliy copied if gone missing..

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I don't really like the idea of releasing laminated copies for travelling. Whenever you see a coin icon by a cache and you go out to find it, you don't want to find just a piece of laminated paper, but a real coin.

I am planning to release an EU geocoin in a difficult cache (you have to find 5 mini-caches to get clues for the final one) and I have attached a tag asking people to drop it off only at difficult caches and I ask them not to steal it. I wonder how it will do, since I haven't drilled a whole in it (I don't have a drill), just punched a whole in the plastic coin case.

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I don't really like the idea of releasing laminated copies for travelling. Whenever you see a coin icon by a cache and you go out to find it, you don't want to find just a piece of laminated paper, but a real coin.

I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt this way ;)

Me too. I'd much rather see an actual coin, but I understand the dilemma. You pay anywhere from 7 to 12 dollars to purchase a coin and have it shipped to your house. It gets released with high expectations, and some bone-brain comes along and thinks he/she deserves the coin more than you do. It amazes me what people will do when no one is looking that they would never do with other people around.

 

I read something once that said 'Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching'. :lol:

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Let's break this down:

 

This particular collectible is most often round, shiny, and metal. We find them so desirable, that most of us rush to type the words "two please" on various internet forums that announce new versions of this collectible. We then send an electonic voucher payment to a complete stranger hoping that we might eventually touch these collectibles and admire them lovingly in the palm of our hand.

 

By an uncanny coincidence, this collectible just so happens to strongly resemble a common form of bartered currency utilized by human beings for, oh...the past 3000 years. Sadly, over those 3000 years, millions of those human beings (and a significant number of furry animals) have been horribly slaughtered out of a carnal desire to touch and possess as many of these objects as possible.

 

As much as I'm sure it's noble to put a few "rare" geocoins into caches, I just don't want to run the risk of being bludgeoned over the head and looted by barbarians, y'know? Afterall, history does show that it's a likely possibility. What happens when a large hairy man, (wearing what was once a furry animal) springs out from behind an oak tree and asks me "What's in your wallet"? He's most certainly not going to stop from attacking me because of my Capital One card, because it simply doesn't provide adequate shielding from a thrown axe.

 

Mosquitoes and rattlesnakes simply pale in comparison to the evil that awaits you if you take your geocoins into the woods. If you still insist, then wear your blaze orange, and carry a large shield.

 

Hope that helps,

Yime

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I know that the first and only time that I have found a geocoin in a cache, it was special. I had heard of these mysterious items and even seen a couple at an event but never thought I'd have the opportunity to actually find one in the wild.

 

I found it in MI with my oldest daughter. This was her first geocaching experience! We rushed back to her house and I couldn't wait to log it in. And in this process, I was able to teach my daughter about geocoins. Being the mean mommy that I am, I would not let her grab it. I made her come caching with me and physically take it out of a cache that I put it in. Also, staying with my daughter that week was her cousin. We drug her out with us also. And she too wanted to log that coin! But my daughter learned well, and made her cousin take it out of the next cache we visited. Because we had a coin and I stressed to both girls that it was important that it follow it's mission, we were out caching again the next day so we could find a good cache to place this coin and so other cachers could find it. What a great learning opportunity with new cachers.

 

Since then, the same daughter was down visiting us when I released my first Md geocoin. She quickly found the cache and took the coin home to MI. She did this not to keep it but to show it to her daughters whom now cache and teach them to put the coin in a cache to follow it's mission. I'm happy to say that MI cachers have been nice to this coin and it's been getting around. It's latest move has been from MI to AZ and I am waiting to see how it does there.

 

The moral of this long post is maybe we need to educate new cachers on geocoins. They do look like cool trade items. Of course, this won't stop everyone from taking them. And I'd love to know who took my coin out of a cache at the welcome center in IL.

 

Terri

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As 2Dolphins mentioned earlier, Moun10Bike used to place his coins as signature items and in fact used to note that you could keep them or send them along. He came through Pittsburgh years ago and left a signature coin and my daughter and I got very excited about it. We managed to get to it first and it’s been her most treasured find. Since then, my daughter won't let me send it along (yet) so I still have it (the only one, I'm not a collector). But what I find amazing is that just lately (last 4-5 months) a dozen and a half scavenger collectors have contacted me and offered to trade any coins in their collection for it and the last one offered as much as $100! With this attitude about collection GeoCoins, I think the idea of using them as travel bugs might be a loosing battle. The collectors seem to have gotten out of control and your coin will eventually end up in their hands. It's a real shame.

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What if you did a run of numbered (or trackable) coins, let the coin collectors collect these, then did another run of coins but in the place of the tracking or serial number, you had them all stamped: CACHEONLY or NOTRADES, or NOT4SALE or some such wordage that would make it clear to a buyer or trader that you intended this item to remain at large in the caching system. There would always be unscrupulous collectors but the resale or collector value of such a coin would be greatly limited I would think. Isn't the fun of collecting to be able to show off your collection to other collectors? Having such an item in your collection would I think get you shunned pretty quickly.

 

What say ye?

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