IceCreamMan

But then you offered an explanation/solution. Definately doesn't belong in whining. j/k Windrose Ouch!

I've released 80 coins, most of them in the last 4 months. Only 2 have gone MIA and one of those appears to have been muggled by Squirrels. I have links the them all on my coin list which can be viewed at the link in my signature line.

Great on topic post! Having "just" put the tracking numbers on hundreds of coins personally, I can tell you that the reason it is done the other way because it is much, much, much easier. When you do your own coin, you can put the labels on the coins and then you'll understand.

Yikes! That's my backyard. Can't wait. Speaking of yards, you may wanna place one in this cache... Squatter's Garden

My question is, how did we, as free people claiming to live in a free country, ever allow the government to get this kind of control over our lives? Those who gave their lives, their fortunes and their precious honor to found this nation must be rolling over in their graves.

Just to clarify. The IceCreamMan coin has NOT been sold and there were only 200 made. They have been used only for trade, given to friends on the cache trail and placed in caches, both activated and unactivated (and I'm running out of them). I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about my coin.

You would pay a commercial coin maker to make your own coin as well, but that's not the question. Is your use of the GPS to find a cache commercial? Is your use of the park to place a cache commercial? When you wear your T shirt are your charging a sponsorship fee? I'm not sure I get your point. The mint who makes my coin may be commercial but what I do with that coin is another thing. I'm not sure I see the distinction. Once you've paid for a coin is there a cost to place it in a cache or admire it in your collection? No more so than the GPS, park or t-shirt. I'm not sure why were are discussing "commercial" as though it is some kind of pejorative. Things cost money. Someone pays for the parks. Is taking money from taxpayers at the point of a gun "non-commercial" and therefore "good", while passing costs on to the folks enjoying the benefits is "commercial" and therefore bad or otherwise unseemly?

Free? Except for when you have to put one in, have it serviced or replace it. Yep, other than that though it's "Free"?

I'm not sure I see what "commercial" has to do with whether a coin is a geocoin. Afterall, USA coins are commercial and they are the most prevalent coin out there. Would anyone suggest that it's NOT a geocoin because someone makes a profit on it (gosh, profit in America, imagine). If a coin is trackable on geocaching.com, it's a geocoin. If a coin is traded or placed by a cacher and represents that cacher in a unique way, it's a geocoin. If a coin has been placed in a reasonable number of caches, it's a geocoin. If a coin commemorates a geocaching event, it's a geocoin. If a coin is non-trackable, has only been distributed through sale, has not regularly been placed in caches and has but a tenuous connection to geocaching other than that it is intended to skin a few bucks off geocachers, then I'd have to question whether it's a geocoin. The Ebay only coins seem to clearly fit in this category as well as some of the non-trackable coins being sold by other means.

Put me down in the psycobabble column. While I myself resemble that descriptiong in some respects, I've often commented that Women seem to be over represented among geocoin collectors. Not that there are more women than men, but that there is a higher percentage of women who are active geocoin collectors than there are that are active geocachers.

I have the following coins available... Colorado 2005 Ohio 2005 Frozen Bone (Antique Silver LE) Florida FGA (Gold LE) I'm looking for an Avalanche

I am Seeking... Definative Geocoin (Set) Alberta South GAS Satalite JungleGarmin I have the following to trade... 2Hillbillies (Antique Bronze LE) 2Hillbillies (Antique Silver) Absolute Caching (Brass LE) AeroHound Alabama 2005 Appalachian Trail GA (Antique Gold) California 2005 Canine Cachers 1s ed CC Ghosts of Caching Past Dances with Moose Delaware (Silver) DNF Coin (Black Nickle) Emerald Valley Cachers (Silver) The Fraher Family (Silver) Frozen Bone Cache Zone (Antique Copper) GBA Faultline Geocoin Addicts Anonymous (Bronze) Georgia Stone Mountain GOWT 2006 Grand Canyon IceCreamMan Illinois 2006 Indiana 2005 Iowa 2005 JeeperMTJ KTAG LIGO (Bronze) Lowracer Made In China 2006 (Silver) Maine 2005 Maryland 2005 Michigan (TravelerTag Tracking) Minnesota 2005 Mount Everest (Bronze) Mount Mckinley (Bronze) nielsenc Saint Patrick's Day Not Another Micro 2006 (Antique Silver) RCGDS-NUTS South Carolina 2006 (Nickel) Stuck on WGS84 (Antique Silver) Texas Bluebonnet 2006 Texas Hiker TFTC Wisconsin WGA

email sent

Last night, while trying to activate a coin, gc.com apparently crashed and all I was getting was the "Service Temporarily unavailable" notices. Consequently, I never got the page where you enter the Date and State for the coin. Checking this morning, the coin is activated but I'm not able to find those options anywhere. How do I enter these and will it cause any "issues" if I can't?

This is a good point. If the whinning doesn't take place here, where it belongs, guess where it ends up.

The Caching Place got my coins done in that time frame.

I have the following coins to trade... Dances wiith Moose DNF Coin (Black Nickle) Emerald Valley Cachers (Silver) GBA Faultline GBOTS Ver 2 KTAG Lowracer Maine 2005 Michigan (TravelerTag Tracking) Minnesota 2005 South Carolina 2006 (Nickel) Stuck on WGS84 (Antique Silver) TFTC I am seeking the following... Alberta South GAS Conejo Cachers (no date) El Gecko Looney Penguin Skirtlifter Lampost Skirtlifter Round Wanna Go GBA Microchip I also have a The Federation, IceCreamMan, JeeperMTJ, Quebec Beer (Silver), Rubicon Bros, Tharagleb or Twisted Dragons that I would trade for a 2Dolphins

Absolutely, information is key to an efficient market. Look at all the poor souls who've bought USA gecoins for ridiculous markups from the grifters willing to skin their fellow cachers for a few bucks. This isn't caused by Ebay, its caused by too little information (or an inability to use Google). Ebay doesn't inhibit the flow of information. It enhances it.

Here is an example of exactly what is mentioned above. The latest Coin Club coin is selling on Ebay for less than the initial cost... February Coin Club coin heads South To be sure, with the screw job on shipping at Five Bucks, the seller is probably managing to break even, but to get these coin club coins at the $8.00 selling price, you have to buy a 6 month subscription for 30 coins! That's about a $1500 commitment to break even. Ouch! This isn't necesarily a sign of these coins being less desirable (after all, $8 is still a good price for a coin), but is more likely the effect of all those who thought they could get a free lunch by buying extra coins and selling them to pay for their coin club subscription (I know a few folks who planed to do just that). I wouldn't be surprised to see these coins go lower before the prepaid subscriptions get cancelled at renewal by the speculators. Next to plunge will be the free ride deals for personal coins. Because there is, after all, no free lunch. Did someone say the market works if we let it?

Other than USA coins, I've only ever found one in the wild. That was a Maryland coin and it so happened I found TWO USA coins in other caches that same day. Three coins it one day. A red letter day indeed. As for USA Coins, I've found a number of them. I wouldn't say they are particularly rare finds. Of My own coins, I've realeased around 75 of them the last few months and almost all of them are still going strong. And I've got a few more dozen I'll be releasing soon. My goal is to release one of each tracable coin I have in my collection. You can see the links on my coin page at the link in my sig line.

I have a couple of the Florda FGA (Gold LE) available I'm looking for... Avalanche MiGO Winter 2005 Mississippe Copper LE Screw (Gold LE) other of the rarer, harder to get coins (you know the ones I mean. the usual suspects) I also have some of the Florida FGA standard version. For those I'm looking for... 2Dolphins Alberta South GAS Cache the Fever (LE w/color) MiGO Winter 2006 Pepper Phone-A-Freind (Red) Screw Geocoin (LE Silver) NOT Nickel Skirtlifter Lampost Skirtlifter Round Temecula Valley Geocaching Association USA 2003 USA 2004 (Silver) Wisconsin 2005 (LE Silver) WCRC LE Metals

FLORIDA COINS!!! YOOHOO!!

Looking for... Fundamental and Venlis Legend of Bigfoot Looney Penquin JungleGarmin Dorkfish Isle of Man I have to trade 2Hillbillies (Antique Bronse LE) (50 made -only trades as a set with corresponding number of Antique silver - 2 for 2) 2Hillbillies (Antique Silver) Absolute Caching (Brass LE) AeroHound Alabama 2005 Appalachian Trail GA (Antique Gold) Canine Cachers 1s ed Conejo Cachers 2004 DancesWithMoose Delaware (Silver) DNF Coin (Black Nickle) Dreamin' Eagle Coin Emerald Valley Cachers (Silver) The Federation Finland 2006 The Fraher Family (Silver) Frozen Bone Cache Zone (Antique Copper) GBA Faultline GBOTS Ver 2 Generic Geocoin (Gold LE) Geocoin Addicts Anonymous (Bronse) Georgia Stone Mountain GOWT 2006 KTAG Lowracer Maine 2005 Maryland 2005 Michigan (TravelerTag Tracking) Minnesota 2005 Mount Everest (Bronse) Mount Mckinley (Bronse) New York 2005 nielsenc Saint Patrick's Day Not Another Micro 2006 (Antique Silver) NWPA 2006 (Satin Gold) RCGDS-NUTS South Carolina 2006 (Nickel) Tennessee Micro (Silver LE) TFTC Wisconsin WGA World of Geocaching (Series 1)

I have several personal coins available... Bluegillfisherman The Federation Quebec Beer (Silver) Tharagleb Tiki - Lord Pomsby Tiki - Yawp Twisted Dragons I'm looking for the following personal coins... 2Dolphins bikinibottomfeeders (Antique Silver) Captain Prozac Dhobby1 1st Ed JeepToysRus/Geojeepgirl Pepper v1 WanderingDragon

While I aggree that charity auctions do not give a realistic picture of a coin's value, I couldn't disagree more that it is not generally a fair arbiter of pricing on coins. Particularly since the larger number of coins have become available, the Ebay market has become very efficient. Much fewer wild swings. Given a sufficient number of completed auctions to compare, It is a very good indicator of a coin's value relative to other coins.