Bob&TheGang

quote:Originally posted by Bo Peep & The Sheep:If Groundspeak/geocaching.com are not going to facilitate tracking, why advertise for theem, and c onfuse the coinholders? The geocaching URL on the back and the CaGeocoin one on the front lend to that confusion. The Ground speak logo can not be changed in anyway (including their there web address). We could have gone without using the Groundspeak Logo, but that would mean designing and paying for the tooling cost on another side (hence doubling the tooling cost). Hence, a $3 geocoin would need to be $5 or $6 each to break even. The major benifit of using the Groundspeak Logo is that it is totally free. Pressed Metal already has the die-cast made for that GS logo, so there will be no additional tooling cost for that side. So in a way, we are advertising for Groundspeak, but what's the problem with that? Let's face it, Groundspeak is the life and blood of Geocaching. Anyway, the Oregon, Canada, & Texas Geecoins have the Groundspeak web address on it, but they are NOT tracked on the GS site. THANKS Marky for getting the site up already! I am reconsiderng putting our web trackig site address on the California side of the Geocoin. We are going to play with a version and see how adding the web site address looks. Then I will see if adding it changes the cost of the tooling fee.

quote:Originally posted by Kite & Hawkeye:Something the size of a geocoin (or even several geocoins) can easily be shipped First Class for about a dollar. Express or Priority mail would be VERY expensive ($3.85 for Priority, $13.65 for Express). I want to buy a few coins, but not that badly. I did a lot of research on the shipping cost. True you probably could ship two or 3 Geecoins for about a dollar. Though here are some other factors that I had to consider too: - These geocoins MUST be in a bubbled packaging. An standard envelop will be ripped to threads by the gecoin when it goes though the mail sorting machines if its not in some type of protected packaging. - Once the weight of the goecoin exceeds the .37 stamp value, the postage fee is then based on where it is heading. The next flat rate the U.S. Postal service had is the $3.85 Express Mail rate for up to 1 lbs. (which is about 15 geocoins). The key for me is a FLAT rate. The biggest hesitation for me in spearheading this geocoin project was the huge logistical task of shipping this geocoin. When all the ordering is said & done, I could be looking at well over 100 or more orders to ship to individual people. The last thing I want to do is sit there and individually figure out the shipping cost for each order. Anyway, I am also giving the option to people to pick up their geocoin at a distribution site in virtually every major city in California. I am hoping and praying the most of the people placing orders will choose to pick their geocoins up. Also, check out the rate to purchase 4 USA geocoins. For just 4 geocoins, the shipping would be $4.99. Luckily for you, there will be a distribution site in San Diego, so if you are willing to drive over near the Qualcomm Stadium area to pick up your geocoins, then your shipping fee will be $0.

Here is exactly what the Groundspeak side of this geocoin will look like. Though it will probably say 2004. - Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears "To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache."

My other picture seemed to have disappeared. Anyway, here is the design we are going with. NOTE: The black areas on this design will NOT actually be black when the geocoins is minted. Those black areas will be more raised & frosted. I will try to fiddle around with PhotoShop to make an embossed version of the design. That is what GeoRocks did on his designs. When the Geocoin is minted, it will be a bronze/goldish color. As for the ordering process, this where we currently stand: - I plan to sell these geocoins for $3 each (that does NOT include shipping). If a person wants these geocoins shipped to specific address, I will charge them an Express Mail fee & the cost of a bubbled envelop (depending on how many geocoins they order). If a person is willing to pick their geocoins up at a specific distribution site, then there will NOT be any additional shipping charges. **Specific ordering information will be posted this week. I am trying to get a PayPal pay option, but if I do that, I will likely have to charge those people a few cents more (to cover the transaction fee). For this whole pricing thing to work, we ideally need to order 500 geocoins. - Pressed Metal will start making the die-cast for the geocoins this week. They will send me a minted sample in 3 to 4 weeks for my approval. - The deadline for geocoins orders will be Dec. 15, 2003. If we are well short of our goal for 500 orders, we may consider extending the deadline. I will then place an order for X amount of Geocoins around in the beginning of January 2004. Then hopefully, we can distribute these geocoins in late January or early February, 2004. **I know some people were hoping for a Christmas distribution. For that to happen, I would have to place an order with Pressed Metal by Nov. 1st (minted & shipping these geocoins just to me takes about 5 weeks). Trying to get that many orders (and payment) in just two weeks was just not realistic. Not to mention the huge task of shipping these geocoins out to individual people. - Groundspeak has officially approved the design. I just signed and sent off the contract this past Saturday (10/18/03). - Marky will be setting up a web tracking site for this geocoin very soon. We hope to post the PayPal link on this site. [This message was edited by Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears on October 20, 2003 at 06:41 PM.]

El Centro Cache

Hey, If you have been following the California Geocoin thread, you know that we are very close to taking orders (we are working directly with Pressed Metal on a few design tweaks to finalize the pricing). Though $3 per geocoin seems likely (but that does not include shipping). I am hoping to post that information by this Friday, Oct. 17th. Then I will give until Nov. 17th to receive the orders (i.e., the money in the mail). In order to cut down on the price & time time of shipping a lot of geocoins, I am looking for a volenteers to host distribution cache sites. Anyone who picks their geocoin up at a cache site would not be charged any shipping fee. I have a bunch of preorders from the S.F. area. Is anyone from the S.F. area willing to host a cache distribution site? Touchstone & Kealia have already voluteered to host a distribution cache in the Santa Cruz/San Jose area. The timeline for getting these Geocoins minted is going to be extremely tight if people want them before Christmas. Though, I think it is possible to have a state wide distribution caches site events on Saturday, December 20. But that is assuming that there are no unforscene delays & I get an order of at least 250 geocoins by November 17th. If you are interested in hosting a distribution cache site near the city center of San Francisco, please email me (bobkat92@AOL.Com)

As we await the final pricing quote from Pressed Metal, I am gearing up the plan to distribute this California Geocoin. In an effort to cut down the cost & time on the individual shipping orders, I am thinking of a plan to set up distribution caches in major population areas around the state. The general plan would be for certain voluteers to set up a distribution cache in their area. I would send them the geocoins for the people in their area. On a certain date, each distributor would camp out at their caches for a few hours handing out the Geocoins. Then the cache would become a permanent cache site. Anyone picking up their geocoins up at a distribution cache would not be charged any shipping fee. This idea would target people who live within 30 miles of these population areas. This distribution cache site idea will not work for everyone (I already have orders from Texas & Rhode Island), but is an inexpensive and fun way to get a lot geocoins distributed. Maybe it can be set up that the people picking up their geocoins have to leave a trade item for the new cache. NOTE: Picking up your geocoins at a distribution cache site will be strictly optional. If a person wants their geocoins shipped to their house, it will just cost that person more. So, I am looking for volenteers to host these distribution caches site. I am not sure about the date (as we don’t know about the cost yet), but I am hope to target a Saturday in mid December . Below are the areas I am needing volunteers to set up distribution caches: - Redding - Sacramento - San Francisco/Oakland - Santa Cruz/San Jose (Touchstone & Kealia said they would be willing to do this area) - Fresno - Bakersfield - Los Angelas - El Centro - San Diego (I will be setting up a site there) - If an area is not listed, but you want to do a distribution cache site there, ask me (though we would need a fair amount of geocoin orders from a certain area to make it worth while to set up distribution cache).

Well, Here it is, is the long awaited final California Geocoin design. NOTE: This is the same image as the Dillon Gang's link below. I finally figured out how to post an image. I would like to make a really special thanks to Steve from the Dillon Gang who did all the work on the final design and was very patient with my many edit requests (I must have made him do 10 revisions in the past week). I would also like to thank Modesto. It was his initial design that really got this thing rolling. He was also the one who had the idea of using EUREKA, which I think really makes this Geocoin special. A special thanks goes out to Honeychile (a very talented computer graphics artist from North Carolina) for letting us use her Geocaching family graphic (F.Y.I.: she makes awesome custom Geocaching buttons (check her site out at: www.bumblebuttons.com). Thanks also goes out to Nurse Dave for all his consulting advice he gave me to move this project forward.. I also appreciate the active thread replies from Kealia, Green Achers, Touchstone, and TheWidget. Their posts, in a round about sort of way, helped design this Geocoin. Let us even give a little kudos to GeoRocks in this whole design project. And thanks to everyone else who participated in this design thread. Our goal, when we started this whole thing, was to have a Grassroots project to celebrate Geocaching in California - a Geocoin created by the average Geocacher and be made economically affordable to everyone. Even though we did not all agree on every design aspect, I think our goal was achieved. I have sent off the jpeg file to Press Metal. I will hope to post an exact price quote by Oct. 15th, then I will officially start taking orders. In the mean time, please continue to email me (bobkat92@AOL.Com) your pre-order requests (I will need your full name, mailing address, & approximate number Geocoins wanted). Please do not email me if you have done so already. Once the exact price is set, I will then send out specific ordering information, via email, to everyone who emailed me about wanting to order this Geocoin. - Bobkat92 p.s., The version that the Dillon Gang posted in NOT embossed (that is why it does not quite look like it will when the geocoin is minted). The area that is currently black on the jpeg post will be slightly raised and frosted on the minted Geocoin (there will not be any black color on the actual minted Geocoin). [This message was edited by Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears on October 12, 2003 at 07:18 AM.] [This message was edited by Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears on October 12, 2003 at 07:28 AM.]

quote:Originally posted by FDNY260:was looking to have some geocoins made, anyone know a site were i can order some? FDNY260 Never Forget 9-11-01 A company called Press Metal in Canada (www.pressedmetal.net) can make Geocoins. They minted the Oregon & USA Geocoins and will soon be minting the California Geocoin. However, the cost will be very steep. The tooling cost will be about $200 and there is a minimum order of 250 @ about $1.57 per Geocoin. There are a few other places that mint Geocoins, but their prices will be about the same (I already checked). A cheaper alternative would be to make your own custom made GeoTokens. Go to: www.tokenfactory.com. There you can make your own doubled sided token by uploading your own graphics or use their art data base. Their is choice of a variety of colors (even glow in the dark). You can even have them individually numbered. An order of 50 custom made tokens will approximately cost between $30 to $50. An even more inexpensive alternative would be to have your own custom made geocaching buttons. Go to a web site called Bubble Buttons: (http://bumblebuttons.com/index.asp). Just describe to this person what you want (with graphics and words). She is an extremely talented graphics artist. She will likely respond to you in less then a day. She then will send you a jpeg file for you to look at. I just received my custom made "San Diego" "Let's Go GeoCaching!" buttons. They look totally cool (and just released my first one in Miramar #1). The total cost for 24 buttons (including shipping) was $23.87. ITS A SUPER DEAL!

I had a very nice phone conversation today with Bryan R. from Groundspeak today. First off, Groundspeak has decided not to let us track this geocoin on their site. They feel that individual travel bugs are enough and they don't want too many things being tracked. I totally respect their decision. I will pursue the coin being tracked on another site (I already have had a two offers for people willing to do it for free). Bryan & I also shared some interesting information on the process of this design thread (particularly in the last week). The end result means there will be some changes in who will make the final design. **If you want the dirty low down on all this, you can ask me via email**. Don't worry, over the weekend, with the help of my good geocaching friend (and one other person), we have come up with a revamped design that is totally original, but still has all the features that people liked from previous designs (e.g., Eureka). This Geocoin design is returning back to a grassroots geocoin. I will be taking the lead role in getting this geocoin minted & distributed. I have had several offers from people offering to help in that process (and willing to do it with no strings attached). I will likely be calling on those people for their help. Bryan & I agree that this geocoin will be sold with no one making a profit (meaning the cost of the coin will only be for what is costs to mint & ship it - not a penny more). I explained the design to Bryan and he has tentatively approved it. I will be sending him a jpeg file via email. He will be send ME the contract to sign so we can use the Groundspeak logo. Bryan will also call Press Metal to give them the OK for the logo. Like the Dillon Gang said, please be patient. People are going to love the final design. I guarantee you that there is no other Geocoin like it. We are no more then 2 or 3 days away from posting the final design (hopefully sooner). Why the delay, you ask? Well, we need to get an OK for something. When I do things, I do it on the up and up. **when I write like this, I bet it makes you really want to email me to get the low down** Even with these unforeseen design complications, I still think we are on track for a Christmas distribution. That means even if I have to drive north dress in Santa suite on Christmas Eve to Kealia's house to deliver his geocoins.

I just love container theme threads. It gives me great ideas and it inspires me to think of more cache container ideas. Not quite a Thermos, but still sticking with a cylinder theme, how about using a tennis ball container? It's made of plastic and has a lid on it to keep the contents water proof. I saw one like that up in the Central Sierra's of California. - Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears "To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache." [This message was edited by Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears on October 06, 2003 at 03:23 PM.]

I know we said that we would post the final design(s) by Sunday Night (Oct. 5), but we are still waiting to hear from Groundpskeak about the tracking. Hopefully we will be able to post something by Tuesday or Wednesday. Believe you me, the final design will knock your socks off!

We have yet to hear back from Groundspeak about tracking (though they did say we would by 10/3). Hopefully we will hear something by Monday. I know people want to see this thing moving (and get this GeoCoin out by Christmas). I still think that is very doable, but this tracking at GS could be a big thing (that could change some of the wording on the GeoCoin). As for the price, let's see what Press Metal says about the minting cost (before we speculate any further about what this GeoCoin will cost and the ideal price people will want to pay).

Our desire is to get this Geocoins tracked on GS. I have put in a request to do so. I just heard back from GS them and they said I will get an answer about tracking by this Friday (10/3). MountainBike was the last person granted to get their geocoin tracked on GS. Since then, GS has gotten 100's of such requests and they had to stop doing it. Since our Geocoin is not a personal signature item, there is a chance we will be allowed to do it. However, I think our chances are relatively slim. I would like to thank everyone for all their design suggestions. Though like I have said in previous posts, we can't make every happy when to comes to design aspects (or listen to every suggestions or this thread would just go on and on). That is the main reason I set a deadline and "Closed This Thread" The final designs (2 or 3 of them) will be posted hopefully by this Sunday (Oct. 5th). The "controversial" CA. Center coordinates will be on all the final designs. When these final designs are posted, we will ask people to choose their favorite one. However, I don't want people to make more design suggestions or like I said before, this thread will drag on and on. It time to get this California Geocoin minted!

Thanks for everyone's input. I going to stick true to my word and end the design submissions as of today (10/1/03). SO THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED! The tweaks on the final design will be done via attached emails over the next couple of day. Hopefully by the end of the weekend (Oct. 5th), I will start a new thread and post 3 or 4 of the final designs to get people's feedback (but only for a day or two). Then I will send the final design off to Press Metal to get an exact price quote. With any luck, I will know the exact cost to get his Geocoin minted by no later then Oct. 10th. In the mean time, still send out the word to people to email me preorders for this Geocoin. My email address is: BobKat92@AOL.Com Subject: CA. Geocoin Order (please use those exact words) Full Name Full mailing address Number of coins wanted

Hey GeoRock, did you get my email? I would like to see one more design from the suggestion I emailed you. I really think GeoRocks is our person to design this thing. As for the cost, I do agree keeping the cost down is very important. An ideal target cost would be $3 per coin. In response to Kealia comment, I have no problem with other GeoCachers stepping up on this project. I have 0 art skills and only very basic web page design skills. I really appreciate all the help that has been done. If we want to get this out by Christmas the we need to send a final design JPEG file to Press Metal within a week. So far I have received email orders for about 70 coins. Posting this information on other threads is a good idea. I responded to a post on the general forum about geecoins. I mentioned the California geocoins. Since then, I have recieved an email preorder from Rhode Island & Texas. - Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears "To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache."

WOW! GeoRocks (on your latest post with the Bear & the Coordinates)! Personally, the coordinates fit in well - I really like it. Yes, I do agree with you that the way point flag might need a little sprucing up. I could definitely see me going for that design. As for selling the coin for about $5 (making a little profit), I totally understand all GeoRocks's reasons for going that route. It would be great if this coin be be more readily available then just a one time offer. Though if we go with the for profit route (even though is only a little) it does make the process more complicated and the process longer to to get the coin minted - Groundspeak even admitted as such. Though looking at your web site, you obviously have a lot of experience in this area. Again, SUPER design!

So much activity on this thread today, that is why is taking me 3 different posts to respond to it all. Thank you GeoRocks for willing to post a web site. Do you know how to set up a tracking number feature? Look at the Central Oregon Geocaching site for their Geocoin (www.cogeo.org). They are also working on a tracking map. I think the California Geocoin site should look something like that. I did ask Groundspeak if we could track the California Geocoin on their site (just like Travel Bugs & the U.S.A. Geocoin). They said they "Will consider it" and will "get back to me in a few days". Nothing against Groundspeak, but I like having our own tracking web site domain better. As for choosing the final design, we will never make everyone happy. I plan to send 3 or 4 of the submitted designs to www.pressedmetal.net to get price quote on the tooling cost. Once we have that information, it might help us better choose a final design. Well, I hoped I covered all the questions in the posts. Major thanks to Modesto, The Dillon Gang, GeoRocks, & Nurse Dave for their contribution to this project. If all goes well, I will be submitting a design of my own on Tuesday night (9/30). My design will be significantly different from the other designs posted so far. Picking a final design will be tough. Does anyone want to have two California Geocoins?

As for GeoRocks’s question asking if this is Geocoin is a for profit venture, the answer is NO. Groundspeak or myself will NOT be making any profit off the sale of this Geocoin. Groundspeak is sending me a contact to sign that will state that no one is going to make a profit. The total cost per coin will be to cover the cost to get the coin minted & shipped. If someone does want to make this a for profit venture (like they did with the Texas, Canadian, & U.S.A. Geocoins), then Groundspeak will want a cut of the profits. As for distributing the coin, yes that will be a bit of a challenge. Nurse Dave has already given me some advice on that. The basic plan would be for one person to front the cost. The coins would be sent to that person. People would send their money to that one person. That person would in turn mail out the coins to the individual people who ordered them. That is basically what Nurse Dave did. He also set up a cache site (for the people who lived relatively close) where he camped out for 3 hours and handed out the Geocoins and then he made it a permanent cache site. I think that is the way to go. Including GeoRocks, I have had 3 people email me saying they are willing to front the cost & help with the distribution. One person was even willing to set up a PayPal account. ** Nurse Dave, please feel free to post any other information from your experience on the ordering of Oregon Geocoin (you won't be steping on my toes).

Hey GeoROCKS, I really like your latest Geocoin post (the one with compass rose). This Center Coordinate idea is definitely the most debated topic of this whole design thread. It seems the posts are roughly 50/50 for & against the center coordinates idea. I really think the coordinates should be on it. In looking at the other state & country Geocoins, all of them look pretty much the same except for the Oregon Geocoin. Putting the site of the first cache was a great idea and clearly sets the Oregon Geocoin apart from other Geocoins. GeoRocks’s design is really great, but it is missing something unique that would set this Geocoin apart from any other Geocoin. GeoROCKS, can you post another version with the these coordinates on it? I know you are against the idea. I just want to see what it looks like. If it ruins the look of the Geocoin, then I might be OK with doing without the coordinates. Also, could you change the * into some type of way point flag and move it down to the more center of the state? N 37 09.970 W 119 26.970 Why are you so hung up on this coordinate idea, you ask? Well these coordinates are are the exact geographical center of the state. There is monument marking this spot. www.north-fork-chamber.com/historical.html#CENTER. If you look at the picture of the monument, you will notice the coordinates are a little different from what we use at Geocaching.com. With the help of Touchstone, Hemlock, & MountainMan the above coordinates are have been converted to a format that works with Geocaching.com. My idea is to make a cache site out of it (with a multi-cache theme). As it turned out there already is a cache placed very near this monument (“El Centro” cache by Scorky4). The idea would be give the coordinates to the actual monument. The cache page and/or cageocoins.com page would use the actual numbers on the monument to convert a relatively simple algebraic math problem that would give coordinates to the an actual cache (about 100 to 200 feet away from the monument). I have already been in contact with Scorky4. They are totally willing to make any modifications to that cache as needed (we might to change “El Centro” to something else - when I hear El Centro, I think the city in Imperial Country - nothing person to anyone who lives there). If we go with this idea, then this cache would make the California Geocoin some really unique. Any California Geocacher would want this cache on their caches found list.

Here are two relatively inexpensive companies that could make you an signature items: www.tokenfactory.com Here you can make a custom token (that is doubled sided): - pick your own color (even glow in the dark) - upload your own art design & add wording (or use their art designs) - the option to get these tokens individually numbered. ** The cost will be about $40 to $50 for 50 tokens Another one is: Here are two relatively inexpensive companies that could make you an signature items: www.tokenfactory.com Here you can make a custom token (that is doubled sided): - pick your own color (even glow in the dark) - upload your own art design & add wording (or use their art designs) - the option to get these tokens individually numbered. ** The cost will be about $40 to $50 for 50 tokens Another one is: http://bumblebuttons.com/index.asp Here you can buy already made geocaching themed buttons or have your own made. For custom made buttons, you tell this company what you have in mind and they will see if they can please you. They usually work up a couple of variations on a theme and send you a full size mock-up of the button as an image attached to email. There is no art charge or set up charge if you order at least 2 dozen buttons ($20 plus shipping). - Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears "To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache."

The Oregon & U.S.A. Geocoins were minted by www.pressedmetal.net I am currently working with them about minting the California Geocoin (look for it come December). F.Y.I. If you area interested in getting a California Geocoin, I am creating a pre-order email list. The final design will be decided on in just a few days. The cost will depend on a few things, but it will likely be $3 to $4 each. If you want this coin, Email me at bobkat92@AOL.Com with the following info. Subject: "Ordering CA. Geocoin" (please use those exact words in the subject field) - Full Name - Complete mailing address - Number of CA. geocoins wanted p.s., Groundspeak or myself are NOT making any profit off the minting of these coins. The cost per coin will only be what costs to get these geocoins minted.

This thread has gone quiet the last couple of days (that is unusual). Anyway, I know Parsa is working on an itinerary and an event cache page the geocaching camping weekend on Oct. 24, 25, & 26 (THANKS for doing that). But what is the deal with deciding on a actual campsite/campground?

Sorry I forgot the link. Go to: www.tokenfactory.com Here you can make your own token relatively inexpensively. - pick the color (even glow in the dark) - Design both sides with your own designs or use their art templaes. - the option to get the tokens individually numbered. For a total of about $40 to $50, you can get can 50 custom made tokens.

Go to Here you can make your own token relatively inexpensively. - pick the color (even glow in the dark) - Design both sides with your own designs or use there art templaes. - the option to get the tokens individually numbered. For a total of about $40 to $50, you can get can 50 custom made tokens.