FreLeCo

Hi all, got some pictures of the sample coin today. I've been told the actual coin looks better in real life than the picture, so from my point of view that looks promising The golden version is visible on http://www.getafreecoin.be. You can let me know if you want to be notified once the coin becomes available. Cheers, SOSv2

Hi Fianccetto and Jackalgirl, thanks for your feedback, here some answers: The idea behind 'get a free coin' will be that people get a free geocoin as an incentive for buying something. As I am living in Belgium, I will be test-running this concept with my first coin in Belgium (the Ghent coin which is also in this forum). I am currently awaiting my samples and am curious whether belgian geocachers find the idea interesting enough to make a trip to the store and get the geocoin as an incentive (luckily Belgium is not that big ). I am happy you mention this, because for me, this is a reason to definitely change the text. Not because the coin might not be selling (which I am not sure I will do at the moment), but because no geocoin should offend any people. And experience learns that if one person is not comfortable with it, than there will be more. I have some other "cartoons" as well with different expressions. The problem with the hair would be that it is not possible to get it minted properly (as they are just some lines). Only option would be to have the cartoon on a rounded (or other shaped) coin, which would be less nice I think. There's not really a context behind the coin, it is more to have a funny looking coin with a cartoony figure The only message I tried including, is that geocoins should not be stolen, but rather encourage people to join the geocaching game. There's not really an idea behind the archaic/Middle English. I just thought it would sound nicer than "seek and you shall find". In any case, I would change the text, as I understood it has a more (religious I believe) meaning and might offend people for taking a religion not serious (which was not the intention). The text was rather talking about geocaching in general (you search and will find), but was also applicable to the URL somehow. There's not really a representation for the eyes. As you can see on the image above, I have shown other cartoony figures. They all have the same eyes (which are easy to change to create different expressions). Any suggestions or ideas welcome. I believe the design is a bit boring now, but am not sure how colours might fit into the design. Thanks, SOSv2

No comments, thoughts or areas for improvement? Hard to imagine Feel free to say it's not good. Any feedback is good feedback Cheers, SOSv2

Hi eray4, the normal process of coins (or any other trackables), would be that you retrieve them from a geocache when you actually took it out of a cache. In case you took the coin from some other geocache in which it is supposed to be, you would say that you grabbed it from somewhere else. A third option would be that you just discovered it (in like you just saw it and noted down the number, but you left it in the cache. Or you saw someone else with the coin and just want to let the owner know thay you spotted his coin). In a second phase, you would drop it in a geocache. That's something you do when writing your log into the page of the cache. Before being able to drop it, you need to have retrieved or grabbed it. I hope this is an answer, however, I note you already have 213 finds and found 27 trackables. So I guess I might have misunderstood the question? Cheers, SOSv2

@RedShoesGirl: I have taken this picture indeed. It's however a picture you see returning a lot of times when looking up Ghent. The three (quite old) towers are a very valuable asset which Ghent is using in the touristic sector. They are even using it in their logo towards their citizens (Visit Gent). You can find more information about the towers at for example this page. Cheers, SOSv2

Hi all, it seems designing geocoins is somehow addictive as well, next to geocaching :-) Currently awaiting my other designed geocoin (Belgium - Ghent) which is now having its dies produced for the samples (hoping to get something back mid April). Nonetheless, an idea popped into my mind, related to some cartoony figures I used to draw in the past (when being bored in highschool classes ). I would like to know your comments about the idea, the text and how you think it would turn out nicest: - I guess you can be pro or contra, but in both cases, there might be (a lot of) things which you think are applicable for improvement. - Perhaps you feel something is missing in the design? - Maybe you have other proposals for the texts 'seek and thou shall find' and 'don't steal this geocoin but join the game' - Which size do you think would do the most justice to the coin? I'm currently thinking about 1.75'' for the width of the bottom. - What about colours or finishes? I guess antique would not fit? Would you prefer colours in the coin and any other additions (glitter, glow, two-tone, just plain silver or gold, ...) - And maybe last but not least: do you think there would be enough interest in this coin? (another option is to launch it with getafreecoin.be, but than I have to wait on how fast the other geocoin will go away) My idea would be to have the tracking number and 'trackable at geocaching.com' printed on the bottom side of the coin. Thanks for your ideas and comments, SOSv2

Hi all, beneath the finalized artwork for the coin. I decided not to go for the sandblasted effect as I am already having antique finishes. I'd also like to keep the backside sober, that's why I opted not to use enamel on the back (I use it on the front for the Belgian colours, it will be hard enamel). Cheers, SOSv2

Is this a way to get your topic back on the top without having to say something useful? I personally feel strongly against this kind of posting, as if everyone would start doing it, the forum would become a mess... Regards, SOSv2

I ordered the set on geocoinshop.de. I prefer the Black Nickel/Silver the most. Really shiny and nice looking coin!

I guess that would depend on the kind of material of which the coin is made?

Hi TMA, I guess you're talking about another club than geocoinclub.com, as I only see a $20 discount for a 6 month subscription (and an additional coin for 12 months). Cheers, SOSv2

Hi, just wanted your experiences and ideas about geocoinclubs (e.g. geocoinclub.com). I was wondering whether it would be interesting to join it, but I hardly see any advantage in it. Even with the largest subscription (25 coins/month), you would still pay over $10 per coin. That's more than what I see in these forums or in other shops? Do I miss something, because, of course, it is very rare to have a subscription with 25 coins/month. The most "interesting" subscriptions for me would be 1 per month and a 12 month subscription, still meaning $14 per coin?!? Cheers, SOSv2

Nice looking coin artwork. I would be interested as well. Cheers, SOSv2

Hi Jackall, thanks for the clarifications (once again ). I'm not sure whether two-tone would go well with the coin, as the border on the front would need to be black/yellow/red (Belgian flag colours), it might become "too busy" when there are two metals instead of one. The mints would go into antique finishing (silver for sure, still doubting about gold or maybe bronze), which would mean it would have the sandblasted effect. Beneath the first artwork (thanks CacheAddict.com!) as I personally find it nice to be able to follow from initial design until mint (as seen in some other topics). There are still some things to be changed in the artwork (e.g. colours missing, trying to remove tram cables which might be too emphasized in 3D). Still doubting to have the backside texturized as well. I guess that would make it feel more antique (which would be my personal preference for this coin). In case you have suggestions/ideas, just drop them!

I think people might no longer take it with them if it contains 10 or more proxies, as that would mean that you have to discover 10 proxies on the geocaching.com site (which would mean a lot of work). An additional danger would be that once it _does_ reach over 10 proxies, that might again be a reason for people to steal it (as it's somehow kind of unique and perhaps there might be nice proxies on the chain). Sad, but maybe true? Cheers, SOSv2

Thanks all for the comments, the good advise and the nice examples. Not sure though what is meant with "two-tone versions". Do you refer to a 2D instead of 3D or is two-tone still something else? I also have a document in which I find back the sandblast gold/silver/bronze, but the satin finishing is new to me (perhaps because the document I have, dates back from 2008). Does anybody have a newer document which described the finishings of coins? Thanks, SOSv2

Great coin Ruud4d! Do you still have the picture as well to have some comparison? Or was the coin produced by someone else? Thanks for the reply, SOSv2

Hello all, I'm into geocaching since almost a year and somehow got addicted along the way :-) That's also the reason why I am looking into getting a geocoin produced. The topic of the coin would be my hometown Ghent (Belgium). The front (black/yellow/red) would be in 3D, based on an image. The back would be rendered to 2D (the top URL would be another URL of course). The idea would be to have it produced in 1.5'' (38mm) and antique silver, antique nickel or black nickel as plating (not sure yet which would fit the best). Could you share your experiences with taking pictures (e.g. the one I am using) as basis of a 3D design? Do you have opinions about the coin design? (Second front example is just a guess how it would look like after embossing. Or is this too optimistic?) Thanks! SOSv2

Just gave it a new try today and it seemed to work. Fingers crossed that it keeps on working. Thanks for proposing the help!

I have the same issue when it comes to having very few caches along a route, although I am certain that there are more. It's also strange that the first time I get a large number, but as soon as I open it a second time (or let me send a PQ), it returns very few caches.

Hi, not a teacher, but if you want it do be dropped in my hometown, Ghent, I can do so with pleasure. It's the capital of the region East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen) and a city with lots of history and culture. More information is on http://www.visitgent.be/. Kind regards, SOSv2