haysonics

Yes, commercialism is bad. If you agree to buy 10 geocoins all will be forgiven

What fresh horror is this ? You'd think that they would at least reward you with a decent coin for filling up caches with their junk advertising "tokens". Sounds like Trash In rather than Trash Out (CITI) Dante has an inferno waiting for them !

Hamas/Hezbolah/Al Queda rockets and roadside bombs are deployed with the sole intention of killing people. Sea Shepherd does not set out to kill people. They don't shoot people. They don't launch rockets at people. They don't lay out bombs in the way of people. Are they using their AK47's to attack people? No Do they have them for defence? Yes It sounds like you are trying to associate their gun ownership with terrorism. Is it because they own automatics ? Because they are AK's ? I imagine they bought AK's because they are the cheapest machine guns available. AK's are rubbish though. If they wanted to actually hit targets they would have shelled out for UZI's. That is definately crossing the line in my book. I don't support that. However I could understand why some North American natives might support that. Do you disagree with this statement ? As an aside, I now see a google ad at the top of my screen that reads "67% off Rocket Japanese... Learn to speak Japanese in 8 weeks 67% off our downloadable software"

Killing or deliberately harming people is terrorism IMO. However blocking whaling ships, blocking the hauling of whales from the sea, thats not terrorism IMO. I can even comprehend the sinking of whaling ships as long as there is no one on board. We can debate "creating terror" till the cows come home. Whalers fight back with high pressure hoses. Its a war. As long as guns stay out of it, it is a just war IMO. My work does not involve the killing of whales. However if I was a whaler right now I would be considering my safety and getting out of the business. Let's hope that is what is running through their minds. The "its my job" argument doesn't hold water. Kind of like the "I was under orders" or "he made me do it" arguments. There is a difference between trying to do something and actually achieving results. Sea Shepherd came into existence because it was required. They put their own lives at risk. That is what it takes these days. Tree spiking puts loggers and mill workers at high risk of injury or death and is reprehensible. Strapping yourself to a tree or destroying equipment does not do this. There are different crimes and different punnishments. Labelling all these actions as "crime" or "terrorism" may be convenient but it doesn't reflect reality. I heard people taste like pork

Thanks E&Cplus3 for the info. I can't support, let alone even understand, actions that seek to harm people. Blocking whaling ships, timber transport, etc, I can comprehend. Even the sinking of unmanned vessels at night while they are in dock I can comprehend. That is just the destruction of equipment. But targetting people, that crosses the line and is reprehensible. That is real terrorism. If Paul Watson has taken credit for Tree Spiking he should feel ashamed. I wish I could be positive about the International Whaling Commission and their quotas but the Japanese have been caught out before. They were given a quota for Tuna fishing in the Southern Ocean. For years they reported figures that were under the quota. The Southern Blue Fin Tuna nearly became extinct ! An investigation found that they were actually exceeding their quota threefold. They have had their Tuna rights in the Southern Ocean suspended until stocks are replenished. As for scientific information from whaling; the only scientists who are claiming any scientific benefit are Japanese. You don't need to kill whales in order to monitor fish stocks. You don't need to kill whales to measure toxins either. You can take samples by scraping a whale with a long pole. That is what all other nations scientists do. The Japanese have also been buying the votes of as many countries as possible in order to try and overturn the legislation that imposes quotas. I understand the majority of Japanese do not support whaling but its the minority who are the threat. They won't stop without force. History has shown this time and time again. It is a cultural thing. I acknowledge their culture is slowly changing but not fast enough to save the whale. That is why I support the Sea Shepherd. PS. I am glad to hear the bald eagle is off the endangered list.

Have Sea Shepherd actually killed anyone? Just trying to get a handle on what you mean by "terrorist". Call me old fashioned but I thought terrorists actually killed people. I know that for awhile a Terrorist organisation was whatever George Bush said it was. Has this definition now been extended out even further? Do terrorist organisations now include those that try to save species from extinction? What about people that protect the forests? Are Rangers terrorists? How about Smokey the Bear? He has long hair. I bet he is one Yes ! , let us all unite behind rich Japanese business executives right to eat endangered species for lunch Just hope they don't get a taste for bald headed eagles. If they do, will you become a "terrorist" ?

The Antique Bronze and Antique Silver are RE's and are likely to be reminted soon as they sold out quickly. The design is by Mambomania.

I agree that "having their caching name on it makes it caching related" with the proviso that the designer actually engages in the sport. I know the majority of designers geocache but I am sure a few don't (for whatever reason). I collect geocoins that appeal to my subjective tastes. I look for originality in execution but would buy a Coca-Cola themed geocoin as long as I considered it to have significant artistic merit. That artistic merit will also, naturally, "reflect the personality of the cacher". An artist may create many designs. They are his/her designs. Sure, some coins may be more original in their design than others. I think, the more original, the more personal. The Yimester may be defined by his pathological obsession with citrus (as seen on his Yimes v0, v1, v2) but all his designs are original. Same goes with avroair and his personals. His other coins are just as original. I think originality boils down to the style or styles of an individual artist. I am not hung up on the "commercial" debate; a debate regarding the seeking of profit. If an artist makes money from his work good! If its good work it will sell. If it isn't, it wont. Gone are the days when an artist had to work for the Church in order to put food on the table. The Church dictated the subject matter then in the same way as the "caching related" puritans are trying to do now. Their cause is in vain as geocoins have long since moved into the realm of art. When the modern art market finds out about geocoins we will see the third wave of geocoin expansion. I predict it will be huge! 10 years from now we will probably be talking about the good ol days of 2009; before there were a million geocoin collectors. I am sure some of them will call me a "puritan" due to my focus upon artistic merit

You are applying logic however a lot of cachers look at the design on a coin and ask "Is this caching related?" and if it isn't they call the coin "commercial" and imply its no good. They never question whether a picture of a mountain bike relates to caching because the Moun10Bike was "the first geocoin". It's an illogical argument. I note you use a different definition and say "the act of leaving a coin in a cache as a tribute to a cache sounds caching related". I agree with that. Infact, a solution to the problem of all those coinless caches may be for people that mint a new design to make sure they place at least one of their new coins in a cache. Sure it may be stolen but that's life. I trust all the "caching related design" folk leave at least one of their coins in an actual cache.

Could you be a little more specific? I'm somewhat hesitant to attack my coin with a pointy object. It may have been something like "Carefully insert a small screwdriver underneath the spinning part and lift up until it comes out. Then simply press it down again." That's about it.

Indeed, I find the whole "caching related" argument amusing. Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the first geocoin a personal/signature item? It had nothing to do with geocaching! It was about the guy's interest in mountain biking. Also he chose as his sig item a coin which is a concept that predates caching by thousands of years. I understand where the geo in geocoins comes from, I really do, but how original can you continue to be if you are limited by that? If every coin was a picture of nature I wouldn't have started collecting the things. I live in Sydney and every time I see a picture of someone in the bush, peeking into a log, I am waiting for a poisonous snake or spider to spring out and kill How about a "When nature attacks" geocoin? Not that I am against nature or anything. I gasp whenever I see a picture of a Four Wheel Drive geocoin. Does no one get the irony of this? And your dogs! Hmmmm Whats next? The "Agent Orange" geocoin? And last but not least, the modern geocoin itself; manufactured overseas, a product of industrialization, of globalization, how is that caching related? Write your name and a tracking number on a stick and I might understand "caching related". I await the flames. I can already smell my nose hairs burning.

Yes ! Definitions are required. We can avoid confusion over the numbers of coins minted by defining a Limited Edition as simply limited in number. Personally, I believe the meaning of LE should be restricted to being a single minting. If a coin is reminted what is to say it won't be reminted a third time or a fourth, etc? I would rather call a coin that has been reminted an RE (Regular Edition). What about SE and AE and Trade Only ? Are they always limited in number? Should they be? And to a single minting? NOTE: By remint, I mean a remint of a particular colour/metal. Designers often do a second minting but use different colours/metals. That is not really a "remint" per se because there is a different colour/metal.

I'm curious about this comment so I am going to ask; does this mean that designers and vendors who do not go to ebay and police the designs that they have sold, mean that they don't care? I'm just looking for clarification. Fair question. I did not wish to imply that designers have an obligation to police ebay. You are not responsible for your designs being resold. I support scavok's thread because it aims to help buyers and he is going above and beyond the call of duty. I think it is a great idea to have a thread where everyone can correct misleading information posted on ebay. I hope many people support this idea. I am confident it can be done in a sensitive way so that it doesn't become a witch hunt. You can never have too much transparency in a market. Transparency protects your investment. It is the difference between an amateur and a mature market. The geocoin market is tetering on maturity. Its almost there.

Thanks for caring about those less able. You obviously have taken an even handed approach with this sensitive matter and will continue to do so. I wish there were more people like you.

I think you will like this

Thanks for the update ! It would be great if (when you get some free time) you could put together a step by step photo set of the production process.

Nice ! Email sent through your geocaching profile.

I don't mind the last minute bidders so much, its the ones that bid more than me that get my goat $112 for a Antique Silver Crystal Fairy

Ditto !

Hi DiLMar, You will find a lot of helpful people here but I suggest having a look at the "Geocoin and Trackable Minting, Geocoin Reference...FAQ's" pinned topic (4 below this topic) to see if your answers lie there. If not, ask away !

A minute ago I was unable to add the test product to my cart (I am registered). I then tried clicking on the image. That took me to the test product's page. I put a "1" in the Qty and then clicked "Add to cart" but nothing happened (tried it several times). I have the latest version of java installed (Version 6 Update 13) but its not running correctly according to this page http://www.java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml I am trying to resolve my issue

No harm taken but I do think private bidding should be banned for the reasons I gave. At the end of the day that is up to Groundspeak to decide.

Neither. It all hinged on the use of the ambigious word "sufficient". If you are an employee you will probably find this word in your employment contract. eg "The employee shall do what is deemed sufficient by the employer in regards to this and this and this and this and this". It is legal to use the term but you are in your right to challenge it (wherever you see it used). If you see the word appear more than once in a contract run for the hills

Sounds like bidding to me

The original post said "...The new owner of a geocoin will be the first person to make me an offer that I think is sufficient for it...". Most people would probably interpret "sufficient" to mean fair or decent or good but of course it can also mean the highest offer if he thinks that is what is "sufficient". So "The first person to make me a sufficient offer" may well be the last person in a private bidding war. And in such a war you have to take the seller's word in regards to what other people are actually offering. It is not regulated like a propper auction so the buyer has absolutely no protection. I am not implying this seller is behaving disreptuably. He may be an honest man. Unfortunately you cannot know the truth of the situation and that is why IMO Groundspeak should ban this type of activity on their forums. I am surprised they haven't already.