Lemon Fresh Dog

Okay - here's my assist on the "Personal Coin" mystery. There are 21 or 22 "Personal Coins" from the days when you couldn't get a custom icon if you were a measly person and not an organization Here are what some of the the "coins behind the icon" are: Red-Handed (the larger, regular one - not the mini's) Kilted Cacher Avroair Trackable San Francisco (not a person, but I guess they didn't order enough to get the icon) Steal Your Face Kootney Pirates (I think) What are the others?.....oooooo mysterious! On a side-note. There are also those trackable coins that didn't get a custom icon, but "did" get a special name. They have the "cent" icon, but a "proper" name - Holiday Coins come to mind. Are there any jobs available as a geocoin historian?

Close. Look under "P" for Personal Geocoin

Body part geocoins. Fingers and toes! The perfect cache item to freak out the kids!

Opps - I made an error! It's trackable!

High School Musical Geocoins High School Elections Geocoins

The FISUR site isn't really accurate for order though. It's a great reference, but really not accurate as it reflects the time the heard about or acquired the coins. For example, my own coin (geobone) came out waaaaay before the ones ahead of me in the list. Mine pre-dates many of the coins in column 3. They just didn't know about it until I told them. That said - I also know the CKayaks would also be much earlier than the list position would indicate - maybe even in the top 20? They also are missing coins. Didn't CavScout have one in the very early days? Also - the infamous square ones aren't even there - and I know these are top 10 - possibly #2 or 3. Kilted Cacher does seem to me to be the first personal trackable. Back when you needed a BIG order to get the numbers. Which is why it isn't that hard to find (plus the big sale, etc). Same with the original Canada coins. They just kept minting them! There must be thousands out there.

Thanks! The great folks at LandSharkz came up with it and I think it really is simple, but perfect - just what I wanted!

Also - a quick caution on the FISUR site. It's really useful, but don't think all the entries are in completely accurate order. The biggest examples are coins where a cacher may have done a poker chip or wooden coin very, very early on and then did a metal a little later (late 2005 for example). Their entire "set" of coins will appear together in an earlier position on the list, but their metal coin may have been later than many of the coins that come after. As an example, I *think* that Pepper's personal coin (metal) came out AFTER the Ray&Rose coin. Pepper appears on column 2, but Ray& Rose appear in column 3. Also, the list does miss a lot of early coins. (well...by percentage...only a few really)

What are the first 10? I've never been able to really get a strong list of these. The ones that throw me for a loop are the two square ones that "apparently" were released by Groundspeak themselves. I've actually never seen one of those. While I've always been interested in getting the first 10 - I suspect that the after-market value would exceed $500, if not $1000 per coin. That's pretty high, but it reflects the scarcity and desirability for these items. In fact, if presented the opportunity - I'd probably be willing to pay several thousand myself! I know at least a few others that would also be in the running to spend this much.

Okay! Checked my trackables. The Kilted Cacher does not have a custom icon. It is the "cent" icon. This means it is a very early personal trackable - maybe indeed the first! This makes sense. I seem to recall that it didn't end all that well and these coins were all sold-off in a big sale with others.

Checked - the Moun10Bike V3 still uses the numerical scheme (non TB-style)

Oh yeah. Couple more notes: 1) Trackable on Geocaching.com - Moun10Bike 1st - straight numbers - not TB-style numbers. His subsequent coins honored this. So his version 2 coins were minted after his version 1's (and after many others), but they continued the numbering scheme. His version 3's have (I believe) the TB-style numbers (mine is at home) 2) Trackable with custom icons - only organizations w/1000+ coins (at first). It was a "process" to get this done - so many didn't bother. However, when Groundspeak realized that it was rather "profitable" - the rules and their ability to accommodate more requests at lower numbers increased This is when personal trackables with custom icons became possible. I'm not 100% sure when this happened, but I know it was post-red-handed coin (so late 2005). There was no way for my Red-Handed coin to get a custom icon when I minted it - even though I minted 600 of them. In fact, it's one of the first "personal/community" coins to even be trackable. You get the "cent" icon if you find/own one. During this time, all personal trackables started with the letters "PC" - so that's another way to separate the really old trackables - look for any that have "PC" in front of their tracking number - they're the old one. 3) Trackable elsewhere - the first generation Canadian coins were trackable at a separate site. Same with the 2005 Alaska coins and, I *think* the 2004 Oregon <- could be wrong on that one. Some folks tried to skirt the trackable via Groundspeak issue by creating their own trackable sites and the Alaska folks were right into this - I think it was a fellow from Alaska that actually wrote a little software to do this that sat externally - I remember trackable ladybugs for some reason. That didn't last long - folks didn't want to visit a dozen different places to track them! Actually - that's one of the reasons that there are still "rules" about selling trackable vs. non-trackable coins here in the forums. Trackables generate revenue for Groundspeak and non-site trackables are actually profiting from Groundspeak without giving back. How this affects non-trackable, nowhere is odd - but I don't set the rules ... I obey.... (see some past heated discussions though In the old days there was some real possibility that some external site would become the "geocoin trackable site" and that it would be separate from this site. Groundspeak won the war - I don't think anyone tracks items externally. If they do - they certainly can't advertise the fact here! It would be like seeing a Pepsi advertisement at a Coke convention! Ah..... the old days..... haha.... I remember when I first decided to do a non-coin shaped coin. It was a real "can you do that?" moment. Fortunately, the great folks at Coins and Pins really helped pioneer a lot of the wierdness that came into the coins back then. Now it seems there are little to no limits to what you can do. At some point folks were even suggesting that there would be two categories: Geocoins and Custom Trackables. Fun.

Oh yeah... big tip. Send the coins to Europe. My survival rate over-seas is FAR better than North America.

Nope. It will work on Moun10Bikes coins because his are the only ones that use "real" numbers. However the Version 2 coins came out later and the numbers continued from there. So coin 396, for example, came out well after many other coins.

Moun10Bike V1 is the first trackable that I know of. There are a number "early" coins - mostly dating from 2001-2003. The "craze" started slowly actually. I know there are the Oregon 2003 and 2004 coins (some of the first state coins). The geobone was the first "shaped" coin (followed closely by the Georgia Peach). That was early 2005. As for the first 10. It's hard, but there is Moun10Bike, IndyDiver, Dhobby, and there are the square Groundspeak coins - exceedingly rare. A great site for the early coins would be http://www.geocities.com/team_fisur/geocoins/index.html They tried to keep track, but you can see they stopped very early - so we are looking at the first hundred coins or so there. Kilted Cacher actually came out later. It may have been the first trackable "personal" coin with an unique icon. Couple of notes: You used to not be able to get a custom icon unless you were an organization. Personals all had the "cent" icon if they were trackable. You used to have to order 1000+ trackable numbers to get a custom icon - for example, my "Red-Handed" coin in 2005/6 had a minting of 600 coins - not enough for a custom icon at the time. I can't remember the minimum requirement for making a personal trackable. 500 comes to mind, but the coin companies quickly started buying "blocks" of numbers and dividing them up to buyers that wanted only 100, 200, etc.

Cache owners have no control of who visits their caches - so trying to move the "responsibility" for the coin to them is useless. Also - a cacher cannot effectively control who/what visits the cache after their placing the item - so you can't expect them to find a "safe" cache for you. In theory - all caches *should* be safe for travelers. If not, it is not the owner or the honest cacher - it's the thief. They are hard to find. The truth is: if you don't want to lose a coin - don't risk it by placing it in a cache. I don't *like* this fact, but I *acknowledge* that it is true. Icon hiding/manipulation may delay the theft, but likely not. In fact, finding a cache with no record of a coin in it may even encourage some to steal it "hmmm...a coin, nobody knows it was here....bwaaa-ha-ha!" Theft sucks. We need to make the item not worth stealing. Drill it, scratch it, de-face it. I've even hammered on some of my coins and folks will steal them - at least I know they didn't get a "pretty" coin for free!

The McDonald's bag Geo-Bag. Take a McDonald's paper bag, write the tracking number, and crumple it up. Throw it on the ground...anywhere. Part of the "Old Bottle", "Rusty Nail" and "Exploded Ink Pen" series.

In the State of Bliss.

Gifts! Man.... that is a great gift.. Now I regret being so cantankerous.... maybe if I was nicer I could get such a gift Although, I was gifted a volunteer coin way back when...and I didn't even have to do nothin' for it! You should consider your prize as the special item it is!

Okay - first rule: You are NOT allowed to mention EXISTING geocoins. That had to be stated I've seen some posts and have seen some sites selling "geocoins" which are.... um.... well.... odd. So, I thought it might be kind of funny to have a thread on what you would consider the worst idea ever for a geocoin. (fictional - not real) I hope this can stay fun and funny - if not, I trust our moderators to lock it up! Who knows... maybe we'll get another set of "Screw Geocoins" out of this thread (the old timers know what I'm talking about) Here's my picks: 1) Funeral Home Geocoin. For all the caches you are allowed to bury! 2) Drug Addiction Geocoin. Combine all your favourite addictions into one! 3) Private Property Geocoin. The coin for the places where you can't place caches! (part of the series: "Railroad Geocoin", "Powerline Geocoin" and "Elementary School Playground Geocoin"

There's also the "Two-Step" process of preventing coin theft. First you must go to a Sporting Goods store (online or a larger one locally) Step ONE: Deer Camera Step TWO: Baseball Bat *I would formally like to note that this post does not promote or condone violent behaviour in any manner - please exercise caution when following any ideas this post may generate

I know, I know...we had to miss WWFM IV How about Pizza & Beer night on the 27th? Or A Cacher's Christmas Dec 21? BTW, I managed to trade for the original silver geobone the other day!! Wow! Lucky you - *I* can't even get those any more! (although, this summer I completely lucked-out and found three of them in the bottom of my filing cabinet). Your new coin is great and I'm sure we'll find some place to meet. I'm pretty reclusive lately - so hopefully I can get to an event sometime soon. Love the use of a brass cap in your design.

I've often thought that hiding the icons might prevent theft. Sort of like not placing your iPod on the dashboard of your car when you go into a mall to shop. However. It won't work. Security by obscurity only serves to prevent simple theft of opportunity. Anyone that is specifically trying to steal coins will by-pass this. In fact - ADDING MORE icons would be better. NOT deleting stolen coins from caches would be better. This way, the icon may appear and would represent the fact that the coin *may* be in the cache, but if it isn't then it isn't. Coin theft occurs due to the perceived value of the item - the coin. The only way to reduce the theft is to reduce the desire/value of the coin. This is hard - it would take tens of thousands of the same coin being released - eventually, the thieves would tire of stealing the same item again and again. (not all - some would still steal them). Coins are just the most obvious type of cache "theft". Bad trades, poor re-hides, etc - these are all ways of stealing quality and enjoyment for others. Cache "decay" only occurs when people participate in poor social behaviour. While me may forgive folks that are "learning", "don't know", "just started" and so on - this is by far not the majority. Most bad behaviour comes from greed and selfishness. Whether taught, acquired, or through personal failings. The key is that it only takes ONE to ruin what DOZENS have created. So, if your coin travels through a few caches before it is taken - reflect back on the joy it brought those that helped it. The one that stole it doesn't care what you think and probably isn't even listening.

I'd love to see more re-mints on these! They are great and I missed out on the first go-rounds.

Hey! I noticed that your Geo-handle is Laval-K9! For several years I had a girlfriend that went to Laval University - she was very nice and we visited the area together. Great part of Quebec!