ModelCitizen

How do you feel about option 3: Send out the real thing, then send out a proxy when the real thing is stolen without traveling much? Or are proxies disliked regardless of the reason? I'm just trying to get a feel for the general consensus. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

Just for your information, almost 50% of the geocoins I have released have gone missing or been stolen. I have released 39 geocoins and 19 of those are now missing or stolen. I always release the actual original geocoin but after a coin has been missing for over a year I send out a copy to continue the travels of the original. Some of the original coins have disappeared from the very first cache I placed them in without logging a single mile of travel. That seems like such a waste to me so after a year I release a proxy. The names of all of my copy coins start with "*COPY*" so they are clearly identified as copy coins. I still get flack from some people that don't like copy coins, but since I sent the original geocoin out into the geocaching community in good faith and it was stolen or lost I feel I am justified in sending out a replacement copy after a year. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

I'm ModelCitizen and sign cache logs with "Model Citizen - Zero Discipline". I'm a pretty average looking guy and fairly reserved and laid-back so people are often very surprised to learn that my hobbies are skydiving and riding and racing powerful sportbike motocycles (crotch rockets) and my little roadster sportscar on road courses and occasionally on drag strips. One of my favorite rock bands is Van Halen. They have a song "Panama" that has the lyrics "model citizen, zero discipline" and I thought that described me pretty well so I chose it as my geocaching nick. Thanks for this cointest, Applewomyn!

I sent a couple of POW/MIA geocoins out with the goal of reaching "The Wall" - the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall in Washington DC. One of them accomplished that goal - twice! Here are the pictures I took before I sent them out traveling.

This looks like an AWESOME trading opportunity. I am so disappointed that I found it too late. If you have a mailing list of people to notify when another math trade starts, please add me to that list. Thanks! Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

Placing a little piece of masking tape or some other opaque tape over the tracking number before taking the picture makes it easy to ensure that the number doesn't show up in the photo without having to edit the picture. I've seen several people include the tracking number in their cache logs too. They'll say something like "Took geocoin CR60G3, left TB 610400". I haven't yet witnessed a case of tracking number abuse from that happening.

I too found one of those white jeep TBs still in its original box about a year ago. It's surprising that the box could hold up that well after so much time on the trail.

I like your coin photos, Joranda. Sparkley! What's the background you photographed them on? I've seen your coin being offered for sale and wondered about what a "Deadman's Hand" is. I'm not familiar with that term. Is that a certain poker hand? Birdman, your coin photos look great - especially that copper one in the center. It looks like the light was just right on that one.

I agree! Those are some beautiful coins. I especially like the Tumbleweed, the Geocoin Fairy, and the Symbology. Oh wait, I like the Crowesfeat30, the Aztec Calendar, and of course the Compass Rose too. My wife just walked in and loved the Triple Dragon. I guess that's all of them. When the Symbology coins were being sold I wanted to see a larger picture of it so I could try to read all the writing on it. Can you post the pictures larger, A&T? 600x600 seems to work pretty good for each side. It lets you see the detail in the coin. Great pictures everyone! Thanks so much for posting them. If I can't get a new geocoin in the mail every day, at least I can see great pictures of great geocoins posted fairly often.

I'm getting ready to send my NAVSTAR geocoin out to travel, so I took some pictures to remember it by... Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

Playing with the OverTheEdge coin...

More TeamEccs21 pictures... There's some shiny hubcaps on that Jeep (tree)...

Cynthia/OverTheEdge was kind enough to trade coins with me. She got a Satellite Series 4 and I got her personal coin. Here are the pics...

And here's the shiny gold coin they sent me... These are a couple of great looking coins and I am very happy to have them in my collection. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

I just completed a trade with TeamEccs21 for one of their personal coins. They were very generous to actually send me two versions of their coin to photograph and keep. Thanks, TeamEccs21! Here's their antiqued coin (not sure what the metal is)... Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

Great pictures, OROBORUS! You certainly get tremendous results without much work and in a very short time. I especially like that Mauison coin photo. The colors really pop. The coin is practically glowing in the sun. Thanks for posting. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

I use a Nikon digital SLR camera with the standard Nikon 18-70mm zoom lens (which is pretty good). It's not a macro lens, so I get a fairly small coin image that I have to crop. I hope to get a good 100mm macro lens one day but they are EXPENSIVE! Usually I shoot indoors in a little light tent I bought and I use three desk lamps with natural color light bulbs in them for lighting. For most photos I just use one or two of the lamps, but sometimes I may use all three at different angles. For some coins I get better results outside on a bright, but cloudy day. I've tried using the flash with and without a flash diffuser, but since I can't predict what the flash reflections will look like I don't use the flash anymore. I've tried all kinds of different settings for the camera, but I haven't found any settings that work work well for every coin. Plus, I keep changing the light levels and light angles and have to adjust the exposure to compensate. I've tried the "close up" or "macro" automatic setting in the camera, but prefer to take control of aperature and shutter speed myself. I spend a LOT of time on each coin, shooting it over and over until I have what I want. The last coin I photographed, the Satellite Series V4, was shot on manual settings of f18 (for sharp focus across the coin) and 1/13 second exposure using a tripod. One thing I try to practice to save me time is to really look at the coin in the viewfinder before taking the shot. Look for uneven lighting, reflections, fingerprints and smudges, bits of lint or cat hair (yeah, we have a cat), or anything else that detracts from seeing the coin clearly. Shoot the coin at an angle to eliminate reflections of the camera on shiny coins, but use the shallowest angle you can. I post-process the photos using PaintShop Pro to adjust contrast, exposure, white balance, sharpness, and to change or eliminate the tracking number. I shoot on white card stock paper, but then trim the coin out of the picture and paste it onto a pure white background in the photo editing software. Or, I may paste the coin picture onto a background photo that matches the design or theme of the coin. Information overload? Sorry. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

GREAT coin designs, GeocachingDragon. Those are BEAUTIFUL! I'll have to consult with some of you when it's time for me to mint a personal coin. There's a lot of artistic talent here. Blue skies and happy caching! Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

AWESOME Compass Rose geocoin photos, PengoFamily! I remember seeing those during the Compass Rose photo contest. This is one reason I like seeing other people's geocoin photos - there are a lot of creative and artistic people involved in geocaching. I also LOVE your personal geocoins. I don't know how I missed these when they were sold. Or were they trade only? Thanks again for posting your photos. Model Citizen - Zero Discipline

Wow! Great photos everyone! I love seeing all these different coin designs. Thanks for posting. Let's see some more! Geo.Error: None of these coins are my design. These are just coins that I bought to send out traveling. So far, I have just purchased other people's coins that I like. I haven't designed my own personal coin yet.

9/11 Fallen Heroes Geocoin.

World Travel Geocoin.

Satellite Series Version 4 Geocoin.

POW/MIA Geocoin.

TomcatATgod's F-14 Tomcat Geocoin.