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What Is A Geocoin?


Renegade Knight

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The reason I ask is the variety of sources that exist now. If the Franklin Mint makes a coin, slaps the word 'geocoin' on it and sells it for an arm and a leg is it really a geocoin? If they made it trackable on the GC.com is it a geocoin? If they made it trackable on their own site is it a coin? If Jerry makes a geocoin "for the kids" and sells it to cachers does that make it one?

 

Do they need to be from an organization or cacher? Does tracking make it one regardless of the source? Does it have to have a caching theme regardless of the source, or maybe just a caching tie in?

 

Should the sponsor of the coin have something to do with geocaching?

 

There are enough coins out there and coming along to where it's all anyone can do to keep up with the real coins. As people come along and take advantage of the potential geocoin market I'm not so sure that some of what is going to come along will be the real deal.

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I agree with Lemon Fresh Dog. Although some "geocoins" are really pushing it, but those ones are not signature items, from caching events, states or caching groups. :P

 

One thing you didn't mention was the shape of the coin. Round is nice, but there's also a really cool coin out there shaped like a bone. :)

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I'm not sure if this is an attempted high-jack -- so throw me out if it is! :)

 

I truely believe that a geocoin should be used as a caching item (so at least one should go in a cache -- but hopefully more).

 

I would ask the related quesiton - are there "geocoins" that are designed solely for trading, collectiing and selling?

 

If so, are they a geocoin, or just a token?

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I would ask the related quesiton - are there "geocoins" that are designed solely for trading, collectiing and selling?

I do plan on putting some of mine in caches. I'm trying to hold out for the truly special caches to do it, though. I know of a few I've done that i plan on revisiting just SO I can put a coin in them.

 

The coins I made were made because I wanted to do it. I like having something I can do anything I want with. They made me happy, and I hope they're cheery enough to make some others smile too.

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I agree with being placed in caches to qualify. When I first started caching we had a cacher here who made 2 1/2 buttons for every cache he did. When I first started cacheing it was a badge of honor to retreive a Boonieman button/coin his buttons used a mercury dime as the center picture and then the name of the cache and the cache coords. He made them in advance and placed them when he found them. I did a 5 1/2 hour canoe trip to get one of his buttons and another 7 1/2 mile hike to get one. It was the thrill of earning the button. Now you can simply go to ebay and buy one. I like the trading but nothiing beats the thrill of earning it. Look for a couple of special Federation coins on some 5 plus mile hikes and a canoe trip cache coming soon.

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Oh, I placed probably 50-70 in caches easily. However, once the same cachers kept raiding local caches, taking the coins and not mentioning it in either the onsite or online logs, I began to put fewer out into caches. I still place them when I cache out of the Atlanta area, and occaisionally I'll leave a brass one in the metro area. But it's not often. Those folks kind of ruined it for everyone else.

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I think at least one of the coins needs to be placed in a geocache for it to be a geo-coin  :laughing:

I found a US quarter dollar in a cache once. Would this also apply to coin currency and mean that all Quarters are a geocoin too?

Ooh, ooh... me too. Not to mention pennies, nickels, dimes, and various foreign coins. Guess I should have saved them for my collection. <_<

 

Seriously, I plan to put a few (very few) of my coins in caches. Mostly to commemorate special caches (like my 500th find) or special hunts. But even then I was thinking of leaving them as a gift for the cache owner (not sure yet how I would swing that). At a little over $5 each (including die fees, shipping/ insurance) they just cost too much for me to leave all over. Now at some point in the future when I can get another 100 made I might leave more in caches (cost for the next 100 will be just over $3 each including shipping) but even then they'll be a rare thing. I agree with Atlanta Gal - - they'll just disappear. My sig item is a dream catcher (which is why there's one on my coin) so the coins are more of a special item & I don't plan on them being real common.

 

Windrose

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At a little over $5 each (including die fees, shipping/ insurance) they just cost too much for me to leave all over.

Mine would have cost that much also, so I upped my original order to 150 to bring the cost per coin down to under $5. I had $4.90ea invested in my original run. Of course the reorder of 100 were about $2.30ea (I ended up with free shipping due to a mistake by fedex). The 2006 coins should be around the $3.40 mark since I only have 1 new die fee and will be ordering 150 again.

 

I think the thing that irks me the most besides folks just taking them out of caches and leaving nothing or no log is when I see "took coin. Left wooden nickle." Um, that's not close to trading even.

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I think at least one of the coins needs to be placed in a geocache for it to be a geo-coin  :blink:

I found a US quarter dollar in a cache once. Would this also apply to coin currency and mean that all Quarters are a geocoin too?

The big difference between that quarter and a coin I might have minted is that if you make a trade with the creator of that quarter it is called: Paying taxes. :laughing:

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They should definitely have to have some placed in caches to be a real geocoin. When mine are ready I plan on reserving a certain amount to stick in caches as a reward for a great cache. Hopefully they will be retrieved by cachers who aren't there just for the coin.

I just placed the first of many Joefrog coins in a cache today! :blink:

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