Chickahominy

I am far too busy right now to sign up for any new missions. Hopefully, I will be able to join in on another pet mission in the future. I just want y'all to know how I have laughed looking at all of the posted pet pictures. Thank you for the sheer joy I have felt these past few moments. SunsetMeadowlark, I am so sorry to hear about your loved one's accident. My prayers are with sweet Briar Rose.

I am thrilled to say that I picked up and Eartha last week 7/17/2009 out of Broken Arm Tree cache in Kenilworth, Utah. I had my eye on the Eartha once it was dropped there, and was just hoping and wishing that it would stay there for me to fetch it. My daughter and I drove from SC to NV to get her set up in her apartment to start her new job with the National Park Service. We spent a night in Flagstaff, Arizona and were to visit the Grand Canyon the next day. I had been talking about the Eartha the entire trip. Sweet daughter that she is, she agreed to take a HUGE detour and drive to Utah to possibly retrieve the Eartha. Y'all have to know that back in the Spring, I drove 2 days to Mississippi to find an Eartha, but it had already been taken when I got there. Laura told me that she knew she had better go with me for fear I would harm myself. We drove into quiet little Kenilworth at 9:50, quickly zeroed in on the cache.. and oh my! I was so afraid to look. In the dark, I felt in the cache container and came out with something heavy. It was the EARTHA! I danced and screamed and yelled! Laura tells me I talked about it in my sleep all night long. The coin is absolutely beautiful. Everyone I have shown it to, whether cachers or not, are very impressed with its beauty, weight and the fact that it spins. Thank you Delorme for making my dreams come true. PS... Kenilworth is hard to get to. It was quite a trip up windy Highway 9 through mountain passes, coal fields and little towns. It will be a memory of a lifetime for sure.

Many many thanks to SunsetMeadowlark for the Chincoteague pony and pathtag. My daughter is thrilled and I am very happy. I owe you a coin!.... and will mail one out Friday. Coiners and cachers are some of the best people around! I will have to update my list to say the only coin I'm lacking is my own personal. I picked up an Eartha Friday from Broken Arm Tree cache in Kenilworth, Utah! Pictures coming soon!

I'm glad the package arrived safely RC. I hope the items were in the vein of what you were looking for. I am in Oklahoma City tonight. LOVE Oklahoma. I am on a cross country trip with my daughter to get her to Nevada for a job with the Natl Park Service. I picked up a Good Karma / Bad Karma coin released by Landsharkz while in Arkansas. I have not had time to log my finds... but I thought that was pretty neat!

I put a box in the mail today. I mailed it in a rush and sent it to RC... not to LD. Hope that doesn't cause a problem. ???

I received a beautiful Kathy's coin in the mail today. Thank you, Dr. Neal. It is a coin to be proud of.. I have you on my list for one of my personals, when they are finally completed. I will cherish my Kathy's coin and think of the love you two shared everytime I look upon it.

I have to wonder if some people are feeling vinegar out there because their coins are being sold for 4 times original cost on the e place. Well, if they are, good for you! Why don't you list some on the e place and reap the benefits. Yes, I speculate. I buy coins now hoping they will be worth more later.. not to sell mind you, but to get me a good trade down the road. I also buy coins to hold onto for giving at a later date. Some of you 'regulars' have great reputations and wonderful names. Your names are heard long before your postings are read, or even long before one of your coins is seen or owned. I heard about Tranquilities for the longest time before I ever saw one. Tengwars.... Earth Turtles (to name two). These coins and coiners are legends that we newbies look up to. Be proud of your work and carry on with it. As I have said, I have two coins going right now. They are both personal coins and are being minted because I want them. No other reason. I think every cacher with a love of coins gets to a place wherein they crave their own coin. I don't know that I'll sell the coins. Trade only. But if one shows up for sale... I'll watch it and smile. The artwork is to please me.. no one else. I have not posted any photos because I am new to this and frankly I don't want anyone to "steal" my ideas.

But where is the flaw if the coins are selling? The designer will continue making similar designs since it must be what people want...maybe not what all of us want but enough to sell out the coins - in most cases anyway. So isn't it the market that drives what coins are considered desirable? So when we think 'original' or 'interesting' it means different things for everyone. So for me it's difficult to imagine what folks might be looking for in a coin...I can only gauge by what seems to sell. So to each his own but it's too bad that everyone posting in this thread couldn't do so more regularly to help get the 'color' back and maybe drive a bit of those design choices as well. It seems to me there are two groups. Those who make coins based on "what will sell" and those who make coins because they have some artistic urge they need to manifest. The latter would be the creative coins that people become passionate about. Those people are still around.. I've seen them (and their artwork) on the threads since I've been here in January.

I'm going to jump in with my two cents... (having not read entirely the "other" thread). Tsun, your coins are beautiful AND they ARE a work of art. The originality of your art shows. Perhaps that is why they are so wildly popular. There are other coins out there that are beautiful pieces of art, and they also are sought after and command high prices. Remember the laws of supply and demand? I'm not sure either what "cache related" means, or where that phrase came from. It's a free world, a free geocaching community and everyone / anyone is able to design, make their own coin. I'm in the process of minting two coins at the moment. I am having a go with the mint and graphic artist to make sure my coin is original. I have been sent back artwork that is just cut and paste, which is unacceptable to me for my coin. Having no artistic skills, I am limited to what I can convey through words to the mint. I can see how some people design/ have designed coins that aren't quite as artistic as those minted by the coiners with true artistic skills. The whole process isn't as easy as it looks. I have spent a lot (A LOT) of money on coins since January. I have purchased the artistic coins because I admire their beauty and their theme. I have bought "fun" coins that don't have much to them art wise, but they make me smile. To each his own. It takes all kinds to make the world go around and there is room for all types of coins. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Someone else will ! Now.. where can I go to get in on a thread about ways to be a good steward of Earth other than CITO?

Tambe was kind enough to share these beautiful coins with me. A white Dreamcatcher AND a black Dreamcatcher. I'm not sure if I can decide which one I like better, so I'll be happy with loving them both. My scanner really does not do them justice.Thank you Tambe!

My daughter came up the drive today with a BIG box from the mailbox. Oh my! We were so excited and it came at such a good time because I had a really rough weekend filled with family drama. Was it a mission? Was it a coin order? No, it was something much much more special. It was a gift box from Chur. She sent me not one, but TWO of the coins on my wanted list.... the Bremen Town Musicians AND the Lippschen rose! Both beautiful coins! I like the Bremen, well.. who wouldn't?.. but there's a rooster on the top The Lippschen rose because roses are my favorite flower. Thank you Chur for the generous gift of coins. AND for all of the delightfully different candy and goodies. The treats just kept falling out of the box! I forgot to carry out a TB she included with the assortment. It is a tin cup and wants to go to Nevada. Guess what?? Laura and I are leaving this Friday for a trip across country to Nevada. There's no way you could have known that! Thank you, thank you, thank you... my spirits have been lifted and my heart is happy.

I have picked up pieces of brick from Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Charleston, and Mount Vernon. My daughter tells me I will be arrested one day! Now, when my kids go on vacation without me, they bring me rocks home as souvenirs! Edited to say... new idea for a mission... send a coin and a rock! LOL!

I, too, tried for the Staff of Ra geocoin. My daughter is an anthropology major and when she saw the coin, her face lit up like a Christmas tree! Crossing my fingers....

The bees are really cool! I have not seen those before. The rocks are something else. Aren't coiners the best people ever? I have piles of rocks all over my yard and always pick up a rock or two when I travel. I mark the bottom with a Sharpie so I remember where they came from. Congratulations on a great mailbox day.

Wow... there's a whole lot that can be said here on the various intricacies mentioned in the previous posts on coining. I love geocaching and coin collecting. There is always "the next level" to go to. At first, I collected coins that appealed to me -- a turtle here, a parrot there. Then, I realized that I wanted to collect ALL of the coins in a particular series, i.e. Tambe's Dreamcatchers. That was taking my collecting UP a level. Now, I'm in the process of minting my own coin, which is yet another rung up the ladder of coin collecting. I rely on the posts of the regular old timers to teach me about collecting and minting. Your wisdom hopefully prevents me from making mistakes along the way and makes the path of coin collecting much more successful which equals more fun. It doesn't take a newbie long on these threads to know who the old timers are. Who the heavy hitters are in the collecting world, who the designers are, who designs "serious" coins and who designs "fun" coins. You are all noticed and given your due respect. Thank you for continuing to post. You have paved the way for those of us coming up behind you and your efforts are appreciated.

Lifting you and your family up in my thoughts and prayers. Hang in there.....

I consoled myself with my 9 pillows, soft sheets, 3 quilts and 3 kitty cats.... meaning I slept the day away. "It will be alllll better when I awake." Did I mention the bag of M&M's?? Oh.. I also emailed with Atlanta Gal - she kept me updated on the site progress.

I'm feeling ya. I had a total meltdown myself. Told family members and friends what I REALLY thought of them! LOL! Now, to read the forums, load caches and send out letters of apology. I'm glad everything and everyone fared well during the blackout. PS.. and I was worried about the bomb North Korea is preparing. Little did I know.....

LOL! LOVE the celery stalker!

Many many thanks to SunsetMeadowlark for the Chincoteague pony and pathtag. My daughter is thrilled and I am very happy. I owe you a coin!.... and will mail one out Friday. Coiners and cachers are some of the best people around!

Canadian Bacon. Y'all eat it rolled in Peacornmeal and cooked.

Beautiful coin, Dr. Neal... and a loving tribute to Kathy. I will be sending you an email in a few moments. Thank you...

Coins that have appeared in my mailbox recently.

Congratulations on the nice coin and the pretty pathtag. I love to read about the missions on the move!

The big WD parks are not our main goal We are looking forward to go to Cape Canaveral and we'll be going to a baseball game of the Tampa Bay Rays. (my son is into baseball and that is not a major sport in Holland, so it is really fun to see a big ball park with action) Then we'll make a round trip and of course I would like to do some caching Please do make a guess: We are flying with an American carrier which has not been mentioned yet. DL 839