TippySheep

I wanted to take a quick moment to address the under-18 issue that's been floating around. However, I don't think that THIS is really an appropriate place for a discussion, so I've started a different thread about it. I set the minimum age of 18 for a couple of reasons: 1. I didn't want parents to be mad at me for sending packages to their children without their knowing and/or permission. 2. It seems that 18 is the standard minimum age for a lot of contests/promotions. I would love to hear other people's thoughts about this all. But, like I said, this is NOT the appropriate place for this discussion. You can find my thread about it at http://eatstayplay-forum.com/index.php?topic=37.0 I respectfully ask that we do NOT debate this issue here. I just wanted to respond that I do have thoughts about it and would love to hear opinions. Just NOT in this thread. BTW: The coins will be mailed tomorrow for those of you who JUST earned them. I think I'm now caught up. By all means, let me know if I missed you!

I wanted to thank you for all your great comments about this! I'll take some time to explain to answer some of your questions: First off, yes, you get to keep the geocoin. We'd LOVE for you to circulate it, but if you don't want to, that's your decision. You get to name it and give it a mission. USA only: Well, we’re only offering website information about the USA so it doesn’t make sense to extend it to other countries. I know that geocaching is a world-wide activity. As for putting out 50 tokens into an area, we thought that that would be about 10 caches. Not at ALL enough to saturate all the caches in a given area. And, so far, I haven't had any requests from cachers that even live in the same CITY so I don't think it'd be too much. The design: I’m sorry that some of you don’t like it! I do. If you don’t like them, then by all means, don’t participate. EatStayPlay.com promotes geocaching as a featured activity on our website in the hope to introduce others to this activity. We’ve redesigned our website with GPS coordinates on a lot of our pages to make it easier for people to find geocaches. Our ‘What is Geocaching?’ page on our website is actually one of our most popular pages – like top 5. Our users ARE interested in geocaching and are getting started with this activity. We love the fact that geocaching is so family friendly, positive, and supportive of the environment. I think that encouraging people to pick up trash when they are out and about is FANTASTIC and something I’ve been doing for years. I also love that everyone is welcomed with open arms to geocaching and they know that other cachers will be supportive. Are we commercial? Well, we ARE a business. We sell advertising. We give away free information. The goal is always to promote outdoor adventures and family fun.

I THINK I got it figured out: They were lat and long in a decimal format. I found a spreadsheet that will convert them to the datum I'm looking for. I also had to figure out how to get them into a one-cell output from the 4 cells that it converted into. It was complicated but I think it'll work. Thanks for your help. And, I'll check out that spreadsheet!

Thanks! How often should I check in on it?

I know this is an old thread, but I'll try anyway. I'm looking for an excel spreadsheet that will convert lat and long, entered in two seperate cells, into a ONE cell WGS84 Datum expression. I've found a spreadsheet that will do it but it takes 4 cells to express the WGS84 Datum. And no, having my GPS convert it isn't an option at this point. I need to do about 500 conversions for campgrounds. I'm adding GPS coords to my website so my users can a. use the coods, and B!!! I link through to geocaching.com Help please!

I have a question: Did you say that they'd be TRACKABLE? If they're trackable, then why would you want a display? Wouldn't you want to have them out moving from cache to cache? Maybe have a non-trackable version that you'd display, and room underneath each state to write the tracking number so you could still keep and eye on it. Maybe this has been address and I just missed it. Of course, I'm VERY new to all of this and maybe I just don't understand.

Um, yes, AS the OP, I just wanted to mention something: I DID spend hours reading. The problem is that I hadn't come up with answers to my questions DIRECTLY. In some cases, I didn't even know where to start looking for the answers. Like themes. Or how do people display coins -- especially ones that aren't round. I appreciate all the answers. And everybody who took the time to respond to my post. Thank you! The answers that pointed me directly at a resource, or answered the question DIRECTLY, even if it was with the poster's opinion, are the most helpful. Obviously I was already overwhelmed and was asking for a mentor to help me sift through information or at least point me in a better direction.

I want to place a cache in a "park" in my subdivision. (yes, I have permission -- it was the developer's idea, actually) I have a small cache box and a location, but I was concerned about keeping an eye on it. I won't be able to see the cache spot from the road so I'll have to go and check on it. There are a lot of kids that use the park and very diligent groundskeepers. I think I've got a good spot under some boulders on the back side. Any suggestions? What should I write ON the cache to help prevent it from being stolen? I also want to make sure to put a trackable geocoin in it periodically -- hence NOT wanting it to be stolen.

I found on on an island here in Arizona. The cache wasn't hard to locate ON the island, but you couldn't pull in your boat (no beach) without a second person holding it from drifting away. Then, you had to scramble up a split granite boulder, over a tree, and then find the cache. Is THAT what you're looking for?

Okay, I want to create a geocoin -- a collectible and a trackable version of BASICALLY the same coin. BUT, I'm a bit stuck as to design. I "think" I've got the manufacturer all picked out; I did a TON of research over the past two weeks. But this was why I did my last post about what make a coin highly collectible. I want to use the coins as a excitement generating tool for a project I'm working on. Anyway, I'd love comments about what you all think. And, I'm also looking for some mentoring, probably via PM or email, about how to pitch the coins as part of my project. Thanks!

Thanks, all of this is really helpful. Okay, so I guess that I was mistaken that you can FIND collectable coins in caches, right? Mostly they are bought and traded?

I'm looking to get started collecting geocoins and I was wondering what I should be looking for in a coin. Like do they have themes? Do I find them in caches or do I buy them? What are the trading "rules" or etiquette? (I tried to read the FAQ pinned thread but it didn't really answer that question!) Are they ever numbered like "coin 1 of 250"? What constitutes a limited run? Does age matter on a coin? What about size? How are coins displayed? Are there shadow boxes for them? AND, what happens if I get a non-round coin!!! What else would I need to know? Help please!