Western Mass Clan

I've recently created my own hand casted zinc geocoins. These coins are pretty hefty at 2 inches in diameter and 3/8 inches thick. I employ a sand casting mold and a hand carved wooden blank. I prepare the mold, get an imprint of the coin (with individual number) and then pour the molten zinc into the form. I then wait for it to cool, clean it up and later apply colored translucent enamel to the recessed parts of the coin on both sides and apply black paint to the lettering. The whole process takes an hour or so total per coin spread out over a few days. Here are some pictures of the finished product. Each coin comes with a customized certificate of authenticity. I also make "jumbo" wooden nickels of the same dimension (I used one of my wooden nickels to make the blank for my mold). Heads Side - the wooden blank used in the mold is on the left, the finished coin is on the right. Tails Side - the wooden blank used in the mold is on the left, the finished coin is on the right. You can still see some sand from the mold stuck in the lettering of the blank. For scale.

Hi! Between family and work commitments and a digital camera battery that died, I'm about a week late getting these "thank you!" pictures posted. The entire family was delighted to have received a package from Hamilton, New Zealand from Butterfly_lady. Thank you so much!i What a terrific souvenir mission this was! The package was chock full of goodies! There was some hair clips for my daughter, a rugby keychain for my son (The All Blacks ... Kia Mau!), some tea for WMC Mom, as well as some kiwi figurines & plushie, a flag, postcards, keychains, a patch for my backpack and of course a pair of geocoins! We received a Crake Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Geocoin(s) (BTW, I'm a HUGE fan of Crake's work) and a gorgeous South Pointing Chariot Geocoin. Thank you very, very much! I did not have either coin in my collection yet - yeay! Here are some pictures.

1. Souvenir Email Sent - April 15, 2008 2. Souvenir Name Received - May 1, 2008 3. Souvenir Mission Sent - May 29, 2008 4. Souvenir Mission Received - May 26, 2008 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I'm a little late in getting my package sent out (to Sweden), however, I hope that it will have been worth the wait for my mission recipient. I wanted it to really represent my area and there is one hand made item that I needed to finish and didn't do so until yesterday. I also received my mission a few days ago! Thank you! However, I'll save the "official" thank you post for when I can take pictures tonight. Yay! Matt

I'm sitting here killing a little time while some video I'm putting together for my work finishes compiling and I thought I would share my latest signature item. I've decided to start minting my own hand crafted geocoins. For the last two years my most popular signature item has been our WMC "Jumbo Wooden Nickel" (see my profile page for examples). Over the winter, I decided to step it up a bit and decided to hand craft my own homemade geocoins. After researching many methods of doing so, I finally settled on sand casting zinc. I carved a blank out of one of my jumbo wooden nickels with the idea that I'd fill in portions of the coin with translucent colored enamel to give the coin some character. The results so far have been great. Here is Coin #001 that I made about a month ago. I've since minted about a dozen coins - most of which are already spoken for. I've varied the colors from coin to coin to keep things interesting. Here are some pictures of the finished product. Each coin comes with a certificate of authenticity and bag. The coins are HEFTY! Each is 2" diameter and nearly 3/8" thickness of solid zinc. Right now I'm making only a few a week, so these coins will be reserved for FTF prizes, special cache drops, and perhaps the occasional geocoin mission. I doubt very much I'd be able to produce these in large enough quantity to realistically sell them. It's just a hobby for now. Ultimately I hope to make around 50 or so ... but that may take me all year! I'd guess about 40-45 minutes worth of labor goes into each coin over the course of 3 days or so. The basic steps are: DAY 1: Prepare the mold, melt the zinc with the blow torch in a cast iron pan, pour the zinc and wait for it to cool, open the mold and extract the coin, remove the sprue and file down the edges, then CAREFULLY apply colored enamel to heads side - wait for it to dry completely. DAY 2: Apply enamel to the tails side - wait for it to dry completely. Day 3: Paint the lettering and numbers - wait for it to dry, then print the certificate of authenticity and bag it up. DONE. The WMC Hand Cast Geocoin HEADS SIDE with the WMC "brand" - the wooden blank I put in the sand mold is on the left. TAILS SIDE with the state of Massachusetts, coin number and our caching name - again, the wooden blank is on the left The WMC Geocoin with a penny (for scale)

Because of family gatherings, I completely missed the announcement on May 16th. Would anybody who purchased this coin have an extra they'd be willing to trade or sell? Thanks! Matt

I know. It's not the same, though ... IMHO. It's like getting the second edition of a collectible. 1st editions are orders of magnitude better. Sure, there's probably no way to tell the 1st and 2nd editions apart when it comes to geocoins - but in my mind I'd rather have a first-run coin. That's just me though. Others may not be so picky. Ah well. Live and learn. Matt

AAAAAAAAUUGGHHHH!!! I MISSED IT!!!! DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!! Being a fan of puzzle caches (both solving and creating them), I literally feel sick to my stomach having missed this neat coin idea. I was watching this thread hoping not to miss out when these finally went on sale. But my son and I both had our birthdays bookend this past weekend (Mine was Friday the 16th when the announcement was made and his was Monday the 19th) and between plans with friends and my son's birthday party, I wasn't watching. I didn't see Friday's announcement and they were all snapped up before I realized it. DARNNIT DARNNIT DARNNIT!!! I'm REALLY disappointed to have missed out on this coin. Nuts. Anybody buy some extras for trade / sale? Romo

1. Souvenir Email Sent - April 15, 2008 2. Souvenir Name Received - May 1, 2008 3. Souvenir Mission Sent 4. Souvenir Mission Received Thanks!

Sounds like fun! This will be my second time doing this. I'm in for one mission. 1. Souvenir Email Sent - April 15, 2008 2. Souvenir Name Received 3. Souvenir Mission Sent 4. Souvenir Mission Received Regards, Matt

Is it too late to participate in this? I would be interested if there are people who still need to be paired up. My birthday has not occurred yet this year (May).

Hi all ... I know this may be a bit off topic, but I noticed his geocoin and icon are the Green Bay Packers logo. Now, first things first, I'm not going to sit here and scream "trademark violation"!! I actually think it's a neat coin. I'm asking because my avatar - that I call "Smiley G" - features a character wearing what appears to be a Boston Red Sox hat. (see my avatar to the left) I considered making it into a geocoin myself, but am a little gun shy about using the stylized "B" on the hat for the coin. Any thoughts? Is there a policy on this ... or is it a "I hope nobody really notices" thing? Where is the line? Are there "fair use" laws for trademarked logos for something like a personal coin made at your own expense? Another example of a recent geocoin that features a trademarked logo that comes to mind is one that depicts the green smiling guy from the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (a 2007 coin). If this would be more appropriate in its own thread, please feel free to split it out. Thanks, Matt

As my original post said, you and I are basically in agreement concerning the annoyance factor of the "photo by photo" approach. Better to receive a summary at the end of the day. Or perhaps even better, once done uploading multiple photos to the cache page, the poster could then click a "done posting pictures" button which would initiate the sending of a single notification to the cache owner and those who are watching the cache listing. As always, My 2 cents. Matt

Somehow I doubt that very much. It still puzzles me how somebody could read a very well done cache description, go on a great great hike, be treated to great views, solve a very challenging puzzle, or have a fun filled afternoon pursuing a very thoughtfully placed cache and then, after all that, type ... "Found it. TFTC!" Considering the amount of thought and work I go into placing a cache, I always find logs like that very disappointing - borderline insulting in some cases. At the very least they're of zero use to anybody else who wants to learn more about other cacher's experiences with a cache. Anyway, this mini-rant really belongs in a different thread. Of course, considering that "itsnotaboutthenumbers.com" lists me as the 2nd wordiest cacher in the world EVERYBODY (save 1) has shorter logs than me. IMHO I don't think the addition of more cache attributes will make a lick of difference in the quality of online logs. Some cachers are simply lazy when it comes to logging. Peace, Matt EDIT: grammar

Not in my experience. The vast majority of photos I've seen on cache pages have been attached to a "found it" or "did attend" log.

Hi TPTB! I humbly request that you consider making the following a part of your "Ver. 2.0" upgrade for later in the year: Posted Photo Notification Just as when you are notified that somebody has logged one of your caches or TB's, I thought it would be a nice addition to also receive a notification when a user posts a photo to your cache. Often, I don't realize that somebody has posted a photo until several weeks or even months after they've logged the cache when I'm casually perusing my cache listings. Because of the time-intensive process of downloading, sorting, resizing, and commenting photos, cachers don't always post pictures the same day as they post their log. I think it would be great to receive a notification that reads, "Cacher A has posted a photo to your listing 'Insert Random Cache Name'". Of course, the real trick would be to find a way to cut down on the annoyance factor when the local shutter bug posts 25 photos to your cache page. Perhaps a work around would be limiting notifications to one per day per cache page - kinda like a summary of all posted pictures for that cache for that day. Anyway, just a thought! Keep up the great work. Matt

Email sent. Thanks!

SANTA ARRIVED YESTERDAY FOR THE WESTERN_MASS_CLAN! Receieved a package from Ontario yesterday with the following coins in it: ~~ Bouncy Bunny series commemorative coin ~~ res2100 / Ellesche Donauschwaben family history coin ~~ Toronto 2006 geocoin I wonder who my Secret Santa might be? Pictures to follow. It was a pleasure to receive a package from fellow puzzle cache lovers and fellow cachers of German decent (my family hails recently from near Bad Herrenalb - I have 3 first cousins who still live there). Now I'll have to work on moving some of those Bouncy Bunny caches to my "solved" bookmark list. It'll give me a wonderful excuse to visit Toronto! Matt aka Western_Mass_Clan B) 1. Participating - email sent. Thanks! 8-NOV-2007 2. Received Name - 17-NOV-2007 3. Mission Complete - 17-DEC-2007 4. Santa Arrived - Y*E*S*! HO! HO! HO! 21-DEC-2007 :santa: :santa:

It took me a few weeks to get it put together, but my Secret Santa package will be dropped in the mail tomorrow! :D :D 1. Participating - email sent. Thanks! 8-NOV-2007 2. Received Name - 17-NOV-2007 3. Mission Complete - 17-DEC-2007 4. Santa Arrived - Not Yet. B) :D

Not to worry Jeremy, I've got you covered ... no need to modify your Roomba. Cache Bot™ (Patent Pending) Matt

The key to avoiding the parallel stick syndrome is to get creative with the hide. This is one of my hides that has strict instructions to "not cover cache container when rehiding". Yes, that's a 50 cal ammo can under there. Of course, this isn't the Cool Cache Container thread, so I'll close by saying I like reading and writing good logs too!

Yes, you never know what may be in there!!!!

Fun stuff. I'm glad I decided to participate this time around. Will enlist the kids' help to make this one special for the recipient. An update: 1. Participating - email sent. Thanks! 8-NOV-2007 2. Received Name - 17-NOV-2007 3. Mission Complete 4. Santa Arrived

Another suggestion: In addition to spreading out the cache publication day to day, if you feel strongly about maximizing the possibility of having different FTFs for each one, you may want to ask your reviewer to also vary the TIME OF DAY at which the caches are published. If you have the 4 caches published, say, four days apart, but they're all published in, say, the late evening, you're probably very likely to get the same cachers FTFing them anyway! Most of the caches in our area tend to be published in the evening - and they same crowd of 3 or 4 cachers always seems to go after them then. Caches published in the morning would likely have a different set of FTFs (the other FTF hounds being at work, etc.) and may also make it more likely people with young kids may be able to go for the FTF as well. Your reviewer may or may not be able to accomodate a specific time though, so don't get upset if your reviewer says, "No, sorry. Evenings are the only times I have available to review!" Just my 2 cents. Matt

My first time doing one of these exchanges. Should be fun! Thanks for coordinating it! :mad::santa: 1. Participating - email sent. Thanks! 8-NOV-2007 2. Received Name 3. Mission Complete 4. Santa Arrived :)