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Snosrap

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Posts posted by Snosrap

    Geocoin / Cache Question

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    As far as I understand it, the $1.50 that you are paying (which is included in the cost of the coin/TB dog tags) is for the number and the ability to track it. Thus you can scratch the number on any bit of old rubbish and send that out instead.

     

    The only thing I would say, is if you do this make it very clear on the cache page and in the title of the "coin" what you are doing so that you don't annoy all your fellow cachers (call it simulated or pretend or something)...

     

    Personally, I'd try to make a "coin" as similar to the real thing as possible. If I were going to do this, I'd scan the coin and then print it onto some shrinky plastic to make a thin hard plastic disk. But that's just me...

     

    Bambi.

    I'm not into this whole coin/icon collecting thing but surely sending out some sort of 'facsimile' coin is not in the spirit of the thing at all.

     

    If I thought I was visiting a cache with a geocoin in and found what amounted to a photo of one I'd be extremely disappointed.

    Geocoins

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    The Groundspeak coin policy is here.

     

    Basically, there need to be 1000 to get a prefix and icon (the first two letters of tracking code), but you can now get an icon for personal coins if you get at least 500 made.

     

    There are also design rules, so you can't just buy numbers and attach to anything you want.

     

    As for collecting geocoins, you could apply the argument to many things that people collect. For example why collect stamps if you aren't going to use them to send letters?

     

    T

    Thanks Tiggr. That explains a lot.

     

    Simply put: it's worth a minimum of $900 for a personal batch of 500 coins.

     

    I wonder why they need to know which manufacturer you are intending to use. Do they get a commission? And how come the Geo-screw was approved if the requirement is that they should be "predominantly two dimensional"?

     

    I guess you've hit the nail on the head with the 'collecting thing'. That's why I made the comment about Geo-thimbles and Geo-spoons. Mind you, it sounds like they would not obey the 2D rule either!

    Geocoins

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

     

    I would expect that if you wanted to create a laminated cardboard coin, and pay for the tracking (don't know if you have to buy in bulk or not?) then as long as you where happy, and Groundspeak got the tracking money, then your answer could probably be yes, although I don't fancy rating the wear and tear of your coin!

    It's not really the practicality of the thing that makes me wonder. It's just a question of whether there any real limit to how many of these icons there will ultimately be!

     

    I can see the day when people's profile pages contain literally hundreds of icons and the whole thing becomes meaningless. Or would this just make it even more :laughing: for those that enjoy this sort of thing?

     

    How does this 'tracking fee' thing work?

    Geocoins

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    If they were just pretty keepsakes I could see their use as FTF prizes or cache-bait but I still don't understand why they need an icon each and their relevance to Geocaching in general.

     

    Also, can anyone answer my question as to whether we can have one each and whether they can be made of plastic/cardboard/clay etc? What are the rules/guidelines to getting an icon issued by TPTB? Do you need to bribe them with few examples of the completed items? :laughing::lol:

     

    Why not geo-thimbles or geo-spoons?

    Geocoins

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    So they appear to be a specialised sort of swap which has its own icon but which is seldom actually swapped in a cache?

     

    It still appears to me that thier sole purpose is to provide colourful icons for people to fill up their profile pages with. I s'pose it's like bird-spotting; I don't understand that either!

     

    Incidentally, what's to stop everyone creating their own and having an icon each? Do they have to be metal coins or could one create a laminated cardboard version?

    Geocoins

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    Can someone explain the "Geocoin" thing for me??

     

    What is their purpose in life? I assume that when the great Geocaching Gods created the principal there must have been some caching-related thinking behind them.

     

    I guess it's one of those "if you have to ask you'll never understand" type of questions; but it does seem to me that this whole Geocoin business is getting slightly out of hand and relates less and less to 'traditional' Geocaching.

     

    A high proportion of them never seem to be released and many more are only handed round at meets for people to log solely for the acquisition of an extra icon on their profile.

     

    At least with Locationless, Virtual and Earth Caches you had to physically visit somewhere using co-ordinates, and TBs generally have a mission which involves being moved from place to place, but what on earth is the point of Geocoins?

     

    Each to their own and that sort of thing. I don't intend any criticism, and I'm not for banning anything just 'cos it's not my bag - I'm just a bit baffled. :D:(

    "multi" Caches - A Plague In The Uk?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted

    I’ve been giving a bit of thought to this myself recently.

     

    I have a cache the sole purpose of which is to show a little bit of interesting local history (yes, there’s a plaque). A few years ago I would probably have set it as a virtual but since the ‘new’ rules dictate otherwise I have placed a micro at the site. Due to the nature of the area the micro has been muggled on two or three occasions so far which is really annoying for me to replace (although that was one of the reasons I chose a micro in the first place) but even more so for the cacher who had to post a DNF to draw my attention to the situation.

     

    I am now considering making this an offset (and my reading of the guidelines make this a Multi) but the area doesn’t really lend itself to decent hiding places within a short walk of the site.

     

    So my choices are: keep replacing the micro (and the general :unsure: that this entails) or place a proper box half a mile away (which defeats the object of the cache).

     

    If only we still had virtuals!! :blink:

    I Am Sad. Are You?

    in United Kingdom and Ireland

    Posted · Edited by Snosrap

    My "lucky caching hat" (a Tilley).  Mrs N hates it so much she bought me a leather Jacaroo for Christmas which is now great as my "lucky inclement weather caching hat" but the Tilley will make a return in the summer, I have no doubt.  To be fair I do look a bit of a wally with it on, so she may have a point.

    I too love my Tilley hat and always wear it whilst caching. It's one of the broad-brimmed variety so is equally good at keeping the rain out in winter!

     

    I wouldn't call it 'lucky' though as my frequency of DNFs testify!!

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