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tiki

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Posts posted by tiki

    Life Expectancy

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Here's my "2 coconuts" -

     

    We've been dealing with a notorious coin thief on Oahu for over a year now, and coins are getting snapped up left and right. How do I deal with this? Easy! I made my coins non-trackable, and I expect the finder to keep them. Just something you may want to consider - I get a lot of great e-mails from happy folks who found my coins "in the wild". Now the only thing that gets my goat is when someone takes my coin without leaving a thank you (or even a "took coin") in the log! The nerve of some people ;)

     

    Tiki

    Upcoming Coins

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Holy Poop! Those are AMAZING! I am sooooooo in love with these nautical devices (I'm a huge lover of the Aubrey/Maturn books). Amazing blend of art, science, and design. Lemmie just say I'm down for a TikiCoin trade for any of the working navigation coins. When they are released I'll post again in the trade thread. wow Wow WOW!

     

    Tiki

    Anyone speak Latin?

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Woah!

     

    A BIG Mahalo to everyone - amazed at how many responded! I think I may have my "coin translator" - I'll be responding to everyone who sent an e-mail. Thanks again! As the coin (sloooooooowly) takes shape I'll post some photos here (as long as that is ok - it is non-trackable, and not for sale, so that is OK to post - correct?).

     

    Mahalo!

     

    Tiki

    Anyone speak Latin?

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Aloha everyone -

     

    I'm in the process of making a few "ultra-rare-non-trackable-never-to-be-sold-only-given-away-personally-by-me" TikiCoins (a-la Moun10Bike) and I am in need of someone who is very comfortable with that ever-so-spiffy "dead" language: Latin. I'd like to have a few phrases translated into latin for a coin. Please e-mail me or PM me if you are a latin buff. PLEASE only respond if you feel confident translating text into latin - I'd hate to inscribe an embarrassing typo on a coin! :unsure:

    This is a long term project, but if you help me out and are VERY patient I'd be happy to send the helper one of the coins when it is done (whenever that is!).

     

    Mahalo!

    Tiki

    GEOCOIN TRADING, WANTS, OFFERS AND LISTS

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Aloha everyone!

     

    Well, I am down to my last YAWP tikicoin from series one (except for my 1 "keeper" in my collection book). I was gonna drop in a cache, but after seeing one go for some serious $$ on the Bay of E the other day, I thought I may take advantage of its trading power! ;)

     

    Here is a shot of the coin (well, not the exact one, but it is just like this)

     

    YawpFrame.png

     

    a YAWP non-trackable signature TikiCoin. The first design minted in the original series of 5 tikicoins, this one is numbered 174/200 and was cast way back in 2005. You can read more about it at my site:

    http://geotiki.com/geotiki/yawp.html

     

    Okey-dokey - now for the trade. Call me crazy, but I have been-a-yearning for one of those Mega-huge 5 inch monster geocoins for a while now.

     

    MegaAC.JPG

     

    I love the generic design, the concept, and most of all, THE SIZE! I am most likely nuts to try and trade for something of this size - but it never hurts to try! B) I'll be dropping the Yawp in a cache in a week or two if this trade turns out to be as crazy as I think it is.

     

    Mahalo, Tiki

    Newbie Geocoin making question

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Aloha Rock-it!

     

    I also love making things out of clay, and while pressing tiles in my studio it dawned on me that they would make great travel bugs! I bought some travel bug dog tags, wrote the numbers on the back of the moist tiles (along with some instructions), and Tiki's Travelin' Tiles were born! They got a lot of miles on them, but I think they have stalled out. I need to make some more! I can't wait to see what you guys make -

     

    13a3b75f-8091-4264-8a43-5ac720f9c2c0.jpg

     

    http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=650262

    http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=659841

     

    Tiki

    Has there ever been a coin made with a hologram?

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Believe it or not the new (well, new as of 2000) japanese 500 yen coins use a lenticular effect in the actual stamped metal of the coin! Take a look - When viewed from the top, the zeros in the 500 appear to be filled with decorative lines, but when you tilt the coin at an angle you see this:

     

    new500_4p1.jpg

     

    http://www.mint.go.jp/eng/operations/coin/new500-02.html

     

    apparently the 2 pound coin has the same technology. Really neat effect - I kept one of the coins from my last trip (a pricey keepsake!)

     

    I am sure this is a seriously complex die to make, and is way too crazy for a geocoin. But if anyone is up for trying I'd trade for one! :)

    Learning a hard lesson!

    in Trackables

    Posted

    I don't know what to offer in advice other than it might be a good idea to transfer your received payments into your bank account *immediately* in the future so that they can't do this to you again.

     

    Hey there - I'm afraid this wouldn't really work. When PayPal awarded the buyer a refund from our account (see my post above) we didn't have enough in our paypal account to cover it. Paypal took what they could, then froze the account till we transfered funds into Paypal from the bank account we have tied into our PayPal account.

     

    Serious stuff! :)

    Learning a hard lesson!

    in Trackables

    Posted · Edited by tiki

    Aloha Tsun -

     

    Sorry to hear about your PayPal woes. I wanted to add a bit to your excellent post on how to get seller protection via PayPal. Before I get into it though I want to say I use PayPal daily for selling my artwork, and I am 95% happy with it. It allows me to sell my work around the world without having to hand over a 50% commission to a gallery. That said, though, I do feel that PayPal overall is unfairly balanced towards the buyer. I sold a complete set of TikiCoins on ebay a year ago and met all the criteria for seller protection that you listed above. The buyer claimed that the package arrived sealed and empty. I asked the buyer to please report the problem to the post office so I could begin the process of claiming the insurance $$. THe buyer did nothing, and asked for a refund. We communicated via email for 30 days (my trying to get the buyer to report the problem to the post office, they buyer trying to get a refund). I felt so bad I sent the buyer another Tiki Coin (I no longer could make a full set - he/she had bought the last one). Once the 30 days was up, they buyer reported fraud to PayPal and mailed me the empty package back along with the extra tiki coin I had sent. This is when I learned several VERY important things about dealing with Paypal and the post office. With Paypal, there is a 30 day moderated greivance period where the buyer and seller formally exchange emails that are read by Paypal. After this period, Paypal reviews the emails and decides who is "right". I had no idea of this, and was giving the buyer the benifit of the doubt - I was patiently trying to work out the problem outside of the paypal/ebay system. They buyer, on the other hand, was waiting for the 30 days to tick by, so he/she could then up their "fraud report" to the critical level and I was no longer allowed to reply or plead my case. PayPal then took the money out of my account. Ouch. The other lesson was, you can only get postal insurance if the person receiving the pacage files a report (via USPS). Even though the coins were fully insured against loss or damage, since the buyer never filled out a simple form I could not recoup my losses. So, I was out 5 TikiCoins and my $$!

    Man! You can tell I needed to vent! :) Lesson learned - the SECOND you get some fishy things going on in a PayPal arrangement, contact paypal and begin the investigation process.

     

    whew. My fingers are tired!

    Tiki

     

    Edit: Just re-read this - sounds so bitter! I gotta note I've sent out, like, 800 or so coins paid for with paypal, and have had only 1 problem. All in all, PayPal rocks - and I LOVE printing out my own postage labels.

    PRICEY...what's with the trend?

    in Trackables

    Posted

    I think you need to look at the bigger picture but I'm not justifying prices for everyone's coins.

     

    Paypal Fees

     

    Packing/shipping: going to the post office, envelopes, stamps, etc.

     

    Website/Employees: some people need to pay for a number of these services.

     

    Designer Fee: Paying someone to do your work (not all people need this service) but most do.

     

    Hosted Codes: Some of us have to pay to have the codes hosted

     

    Groundspeak: tracking numbers/icons

     

    Coins itself: Split the metals increases price (yes, it does!), shape, cutouts, colors, gems, hinges, size, amount of colors, 3D, you name it there is a charge. The prices have gone up since I've started.

     

    Customs fees/Shipping: That is a huge chunk of change right there.

     

    I may have missed a few things but you get the idea. When you add this all up, it is pricey to have a coin done. I only wish that everyone would have a coin done and do it on their own, then when the complaints come in about price, the attitude might change a bit. I know from my own personal experience after everything is said and done, I don't get paid even minimum wage for all the work/time I put into a whole coin project. The Rainforest Jewel itself was 3x's what it normally cost me to do a coin and I can tell you that I walked away with very little to show for it monetary wise.

     

    Anyhow, I used to think the same way, then when you move into the design/production side of things, you quickly learn that most coin makers are not becoming rich quickly. There really is alot that goes into the whole process and for some of us this is an avenue of artistic expression versus pumping out designs for profit.

     

    Again, I can not stress enough that there is so much more than paying the mint for coins. If it was that simple and cheap more people would be doing it on their own.

     

    My 2 geocents

     

    I totally agree with tsunrisebey here - while we do not have to pay designers, web support, and minters (we are crazy enough to try and do it all!), we have seen a big rise in shipping and metal costs since the last time we cast our TikiCoins. All of this ties into the plummeting dollar, the astronomical oil prices, and the spike in metal costs. This time last year when I cast coins silver was going for $8 and ounce. Now it is over $15! The drastic increase in the cost of raw materials has to make an impact on the finished coin's cost.

     

    Tiki

    2008 Alaska Geocoins Now On Sale

    in Trackables

    Posted

    The gold relief and solid gold coins are both sold out.

     

    Holy Kamoley! That's it - I'm making solid gold Tiki Coins now! :D

     

    Seriously, though, these coins are fabulous! Beautiful design and execution. If anyone in Hawaii bought one of the gold ones, I'd love to get a look at it! :D

    Scavok 2008 Handmade Geocoins

    in Trackables

    Posted

    These are amazing! I LOVE the copper coins - and (as you may have guessed) I am a big fan of handmade geocoins! Would you consider trading one of your copper coins for one or two of my new bronze tiki coins? The stars of my geocoin collection are all handmade coins, and yours would be a wonderful addition!

     

    Mahalo,

    Tiki

    My first simple handmade Signature Coin

    in Trackables

    Posted

    One of those would be an AMAZING cache find! I love well done signature items - and I REALLY love hand made geo-coins. Great work!

     

    PS - an earlier poster mentioned the silver art clay. Only trouble with that is (a) it is expensive (slightly more than the cost of silver) and (:D you need a kiln (hight temperatue oven) to fire it - although I've seen it done on a gas stovetop or with a torch. Not that I am knocking Art Clay - I've used it a lot and realy like it! Perhaps you could make a few "extra special" siver sig coins for trading or well-loved caches.

     

    Love the coins!

    Tiki

    Czech geocoin 2007

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Oh MAN! See what happens when your computer is broken for a spell - you miss out on cool coins! I'd LOVE to trade someone one or two of my few remaining TikiCoins for one of the silver version of this coin. I have a few replica groschen that were pressed for me on a neat old coin press in the main square in Prague back in '97. I LOVE Prague! Soooo many neat old metal things - I took about 1000 photos of doorknobs :sad:

     

    Lemmie know if someone is up for a trade!

     

    one of the many amazing door knobs/doorways:

    doorknob.jpg

     

    bought my coins a few stalls down from this guy:

    market.jpg

     

    Mahalo -

    Tiki

    NEW Letterboxing Geocoins

    in Trackables

    Posted

    Ok - I rarely go for a non-handmade coin - but this one is amazing! It is very "Crake-ish" in its fabulous design and execution. Anyone up for trading one for a TikiCoin? PM me if you are!

     

    Great coin! Nice to see one so well crafted!

     

    Mahalo,

    Tiki

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