Brian - Team A.I.

Caching hasn't been allowed in wilderness areas since caching began pretty much, so in the 6.75 years caching has been around no progress has been made toward this. So, rather than standing idly by and allowing the systematic elimination of many outdoor recreation opportunities, why not work to get one problem fixed (permitting caching in designated wilderness) instead of piling more problems on top of problems without ever finding out that the effort to get an activity permitted is going to be fruitful? Once these things are written into the Congressional Record, they are irreversible. Besides, I don't know for certain whether or not the Wilderness Act of 1964 would even permit an activity such as caching. If not, it would require a monumental act of Congress to get such a change made, and I honestly feel such a result is extraordinarily unlikely, even impossible.

Like the saying goes... you don't know what you had, till it's gone. It goes beyond caching, but directly involves it in many respects.

While this became a primary concern among people up here because of its significant potential for elimination of millions of acres of OHV access of all types, this situation can and will affect cachers as well, because designated wilderness is off-limits to caches. Even if you live in any of the affected area, PLEASE contact your congressional representatives and express your views. If this passes, some of the most beautiful terrain in the country will no longer be cache-country. Both houses of Congress will be voting on this issue, and the more pressure placed on them will increase the likelihood the bill fails to pass. I'm not going to go off on a tirade about increases in designated wilderness, but the bottom line is that this can affect everyone. Please express your views and help get this legislation shot down. If it were to pass, I see this becoming that little snowball at the top of steep mountain.

Trying to make new friends here? WHy not clear this up? Is this a personal coin with a Montana flavor or a Montana coin? If the former, more power to you - if the latter then yes, people are going to get upset. It could go either way, but I'm leaning toward the latter being the likely candidate. As I stated on the MT Geocachers forum, having more than one coin out at a time is going to create market saturation and adversely impact sales for both. It would also diminish their later value, because of the likely dispute between them for which is an 'official' coin. The bottom line here is that most of this hostility would have been nullified if you stated up front that you were a Montanan, but had to relocate due to work. Instead, your information on the forum pages shows you as hailing from Porterville, CA and incorrect assumptions are made because we only had that information to work with. But in looking at your actual profile, I see a Montana flag waving above your personal stats code. But this doesn't tell me you're necessarily from there, so an incorrect assumption could be made from that as well. It also hurts your reception when you talk about a design you won't show us, because it makes those of us here in MT a little jaded in thinking that you will not accept input from us in the design process. What I started working on will be posted locally at first, and as thedesign progressed into the more serious stages of development, it would post here as well for review. The goal of a coin for a large group of people is being open about development. As far as total production, I would recommend 1000 as a base point to work from. Depending on reception from the geocaching community overall, adjust accordingly. But since there has been interest in the coin for a few years, one coming to fruition should do well.

Trying to make new friends here? WHy not clear this up? Is this a personal coin with a Montana flavor or a Montana coin? If the former, more power to you - if the latter then yes, people are going to get upset. It could go either way, but I'm leaning toward the latter being the likely candidate. As I stated on the MT Geocachers forum, having more than one coin out at a time is going to create market saturation and adversely impact sales for both. It would also diminish their later value, because of the likely dispute between them for which is an 'official' coin. The bottom line here is that most of this hostility would have been nullified if you stated up front that you were a Montanan, but had to relocate due to work. Instead, your information on the forum pages shows you as hailing from Porterville, CA and incorrect assumptions are made because we only had that information to work with. But in looking at your actual profile, I see a Montana flag waving above your personal stats code. But this doesn't tell me you're necessarily from there, so an incorrect assumption could be made from that as well. It also hurts your reception when you talk about a design you won't show us, because it makes those of us here in MT a little jaded in thinking that you will not accept input from us in the design process. What I started working on will be posted locally at first, and as thedesign progressed into the more serious stages of development, it would post here as well for review. The goal of a coin for a large group of people is being open about development.

First of all, I did drop the ball on creating a Montana geocoin, due in large part to some overwhelming personal issues that left me with little energy to work on it. However, things are looking up in my world and the interest is renewed. But I see that a caching team from CA is working on a design for a Montana State Geocoin. I don't think this is appropriate in the least, because it should be designed by Montanans primarily, so as to capture the essence of this state and cachers who live here. If Jennifer&Dean and others in Montana would like to get with me via e-mail (better than PM for me), we can get back to the original concepts that had been drummed up and turn them into reality. The basis was there, we just needed to turn it into something tangible.

So, has it been determined which was the first Adopt-a-Highway for a Geocaching group?

My .02 These days there are at least two types of coins being produced. Among those are Geocoins and 'feel good' coins. This 9/11 coin falls squarely into the latter category, because it has absolutely nothing to do with caching whatsoever. What is the point of the coin in the first place? Is it to help raise funds that will be donated to a post-9/11 effort, or is it going to help buy a PS3 or make Christmas a little better for you? I realize that question might seem a little brash, but this far past the events of that tragic day, I have to really question the motivation behind it.

Ookay then. I have since caught up to myself and responded to all trade offers thus far. Please continue to e-mail us individually for trade offers, and I promise I'll respond within 24 hours from this point forward.

To those that e-mailed requests for trades, my apologies for not getting back to all of you on the final arrangements. I had everything in a spreadsheet to keep track of my trades/offers but that file has since taken a vacation so I have to figure it out all over again. Lack of time for doing so at home after work has complicated things a bit, but I hope to get back on the ball tonight.

Ahem, I did. He hasn't answered my email I thought I replied from home last night?

My green coins arrived today. In a word. Oooooooooooh.

YJTB #0836 is the only one I received in 2004 for distribution that is actually still moving. I see it logged every couple of days or so.

Why is it that my first reaction was Happy Chrismahanakwanzakaa, or however you spell it...

What's really cool is that the binary actually means something, but nobody except Jake and I will know what it says.

They won't just be in Arizona. E-mail me direct for green coin trades and Jake for blue.

Will TPTB accept faxed submissions to reduce the delay? I have a 4x4 trip coming up in 2 weeks that I really want to take a TB along on, because of the spectacular views and opportunities for contest photos. We'll be on the Morrison Jeep Trail in the heart of the Beartooth Mountains. Entrance to the trail from the start is via 23 switchbacks up the side of the mountain near the end of Clarks Fork Canyon. 4-wheelin' at 11,000' is something to behold.

Having past LE experience, I am mixed about the opinion of gps_junky. His area must be one with rules far different from those I've had experience with, considering the above-mentioned Arizona Geocachers sign was erected by the State DOT, during the time I worked for the highway patrol. Nobody had a problem with it from the officers I worked with to the DOT guys at the NOC I worked with on pretty much an hourly basis when I was at work. If a temporary adhesive is considered defacement, that's ultimately ridiculous IMO. Of course, I can see the inverse of the situation on nearly every light pole in town, which are oozing with the reside of packing/masking tape that was used to pimp garage sale #994372, and of course the tape and subsequent residue were not removed. They all look like crap now. The caveat is what is used and how large it is. Ideally, a simple label maker spitting out a 1/4" x 2-3" label and affixing it to something is nothing. It looks official and is absolutely miniscule in the grand scheme. The easiest fix would be to simply call TPTB (in this case, probably the streets dept) and ask to speak to a supervisor about it. Let him/her know what you're looking to do, and see if they would endorse a small non-descript sticker on the back corner of the stop sign. Problem solved.

Ooh, I wonder if a trade would be possible on this coin. I am a former Arizona Highway Patrol Dispatcher, my Grandpa is a former fire chief, my uncle is currently a deputy sheriff, and I plan on testing for officer with the HP up here in the near future. It would be a perfect coin to add to my collection, but I'm with AG that GC names should have been included to truly personalize the coin.

From what I read last so far, they are pretty much design/pre-order at this time. No price that I'm aware of has been posted.

There were people that had negative things to say about A coin I co-designed, but to each his own. I knew going into it that I wouldn't please everyone, nor did I try to. Out of some of the suggestions on the coin in design stage, some changes were made that ended up making the coin better overall. I don't particularly care for any of them and that was the point I was making.

Publishing 3 coins at once just goes to um, illustrate perfectly just how commercialized some Geocoins are becoming. Loose association with caching is not made by simply including the word 'cache' in coin verbage. By publishing these almost simultaneously, it looks to be nothing more than a commercial venture to exploit caching solely for monetary gain. Rather than contributing something worthwhile to the Geocaching (coin) community, you're just throwing some metal on the table and hoping it gets scooped up because we don't know any better. Also, no offense, but 2 of the coins look like my daughter puked Skittles.

Received in the mail 2 Friday ago (but I'm just getting to posting about it) Geocaching Germany Coin PC Frog Geocoin Silvermarc Geocoin Cog & Gil Geocoin KSWader Geocoin Opticsboy Geocoin 2005 CA Geocoin (2) Sunshine Gang Geocoin Red Handed Geocoin October 2005 Geocoinclub Geocoin Boys of Ladycacher Geocoin World of Geocaching 2006 Geocoin Mount Everest (Seven Summits) Geocoin 2005 New Mexico Geocoin Not Another Micro (Geoswag) Geocoin 2005 COOL Club Geocoin Pennsylvania Geocoin 2005 Canine Cachers (1st Edition) Geocoin 2005 Delaware Geocoin Elemental Geocoin 2005 Maryland Geocaching Society Panowege Geocoin Geocachingmaine.org Geocoin 2005 UK Geocoin Screw Geocoins Geocoin Minnesota Geocaching Association Geocoin Hoxie Scouts Geocoin 2005 Canine Cachers (2nd Edition) Geocoin Dancingfool Geocoin Indiana (Hoosiers) 2005 Geocoin 2006 NW Pennsylvania Geocachers Geocoin Central Coast (CA) Cachers Geocoin Temecula Valley Geocaching Association Geocoin 2005 Donbadabon Geocoin 2005 Alabama Geocoin Buffalo Wings Geocoin 2005 NY-Geocaching.org Geocoin Mitad del Mundo Geocoin Camp Explorer Geocoin 2005 Wisconsin Geocaching Association Geocoin NJ Geocoin 2005 nielsenc Geocoin Travel Bug Buddy "Geocoin" 2006 Cache the Fever Geocoin 2005 Tennessee Geocoin 200? Wyoming Geocoin 2005 Washington Geocoin (2) 2006 Groundspeak Geocoin Sirgerald/LadyLeann Geocoin Iowa Geocoin 2005 UTAG Geocoin Wildwood Bob and the Moose Geocoin 2006 Grand Canyon Geocoin Autumn 2005 TXGA Geocoin EU Geocoin Jeepen Jumpers Geocoin Summer 2005 North Dakota Geocoin Team Sand Dollar Geocoin Colombia Geocoin Compass Rose Geocoin 2006 Looney Penguin Geocoin Rhode Island Geocoin 2005 Ohio Geocoin 2006 North Carolina Geocachers Organization Geocoin 2006 Geocache Gypsy Geocoin That should be about 67 coins.

Thanks. We used Pantone color charts to try and come up with the most accurate color of the Arizona skies (on a clean air day), so hopefully this is right on the money.

Don't hold out on us now. What do you think?