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Sculpting My Own


tiki

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First off - Hello everyone!

 

My wife and I started geocaching several years ago. We haven't been very active lately, but while planning an upcoming trip to New Zealand I looked into possible caches out there and found out about geocoins for the first time.

 

I am REALLY excited to see that people are making coins! I am an artist - and when I began geocaching I always wanted to cast my own little "coin-ish" signature items to leave in caches. Why didn't I do it? I didn't want to leave neat metal trinkets without ever being able to find one in return. Looks like things have changed for the better!

 

So - I have a few questions. I've been searching the posts and have learned a lot - but I need a few details.

I plan on sculpting and casting my own coins - this will be a tad pricey (around 7$ each) - but they will be neat and very different from minted coins. These will be very hand made - I will be personally carving the serial numbers into the wax as I make each coin. I have noticed that several "geocoin-ers" have produced trackable coins that work with geocaching.com. From what I read - they need to say "trackable at geocaching.com" (or something like that) and have a serial #.

 

- Where can I find the specifics on requirements for trackable coins at geocaching.com?

 

- Do I have to pay a fee for my coins to be tracked?

 

- If there is a fee - do you folks think it is worth it?

 

Thanks for any advise you can spare -

 

Henrik

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First off - Hello everyone!

 

My wife and I started geocaching several years ago. We haven't been very active lately, but while planning an upcoming trip to New Zealand I looked into possible caches out there and found out about geocoins for the first time.

 

I am REALLY excited to see that people are making coins! I am an artist - and when I began geocaching I always wanted to cast my own little "coin-ish" signature items to leave in caches. Why didn't I do it? I didn't want to leave neat metal trinkets without ever being able to find one in return. Looks like things have changed for the better!

 

So - I have a few questions. I've been searching the posts and have learned a lot - but I need a few details.

I plan on sculpting and casting my own coins - this will be a tad pricey (around 7$ each) - but they will be neat and very different from minted coins. These will be very hand made - I will be personally carving the serial numbers into the wax as I make each coin. I have noticed that several "geocoin-ers" have produced trackable coins that work with geocaching.com. From what I read - they need to say "trackable at geocaching.com" (or something like that) and have a serial #.

 

- Where can I find the specifics on requirements for trackable coins at geocaching.com?

 

- Do I have to pay a fee for my coins to be tracked?

 

- If there is a fee - do you folks think it is worth it?

 

Thanks for any advise you can spare -

 

Henrik

Groundspeak needs to approve the design ahead of time. If you really want and expect the coin/tiki to travel from cache to cache then you might consider the significant expense of tracking. Basically though, the tracking on the coins that I have seen has been treated as a mission to add one more icon to our stats pages. So, is it worth it? To the icon whores it is. :lol: Is it worth it to you? I hope you can make that determination from the input you'll receive here. It wasn't (isn't) to me.

 

Also, you alluded to the concept of leaving AND finding coins in caches. I think you might be a bit on the optimistic side. You'll see many coins being purchased here in the forums. My estimation is that the vast majority of those are intended as trade items and that fewer than, say, 10% of a given coin's minting will ever see a cache. Some people share the thrill of gaining the icons by letting people look at (but not touch) their coins at events. Some just let you look at the photos <_<

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Your coin idea sounds very cool and I'd love to trade you for one if you indeed get them made. Personally, I don't think gc.com tracking is worth it unless it's a state or cacher group coin. It's an added $1.50 per coin expense I personally didn't/do not want.

 

I placed about 30% of my regular coins into caches with the note in my profile that it's the finders choice on whether to keep or place into another cache. Only 1 was ever treated like a TB and taken to Sweeden of all places. I've seen two get redopped as a FTF prize in a new cache. Other than that people have kept them/traded them for other coins.

 

Also with regards to tracking, with the exception of my moun10bike coin, none of my trackable coins have been activated or logged, nor will they be.

Edited by AtlantaGal
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Thanks everyone for the great info. The tracking price is too great - I figure I will just stick a bug to a handful of coins to spread a few out into the world. Can't tell you how excited I am about this whole geocoin thing. I always thought a neat coin would be such a treasure to find in a cache.

 

OK - I want to get a few cast and ready before my trip to NZ in March. I bet I can get some in Hawaii caches within a month or so. A few more questions for you all about geocoin design.

 

- What do put on your coins? I perused a gallery link in another thread that showed a lot of great designs. Many of them linked to a personal website. I am putting together a website specifically for my geocoin - I figure "Tiki", the link, a serial #, and possibly "aloha" (if space allows) will be all the text I can fit. Will this cut it?

 

Thanks again for the help -

Henrik

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Its all coming together!~

 

I registered a domain name for my geocoin to point to, designed the coin, spoke with my foundry about casting large (for me) runs, and will start sculpting the coin tomorrow! Hope to have it molded and off to the foundry within 2 weeks. I am so excited! Will let you all know when the first batch is done -

 

Thanks for all the info and advice. It seems I am getting into a slightly addictive hobby.....:ph34r:

 

Henrik

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Just a quick note to keep you all up to date. I finished sculpting my geocoins, and am SO happy with the way they turned out. Very different, and very hand-made! I am in the middle of the molding and casting process (lost wax casting takes time), and will let you know when the first coins are in bronze. looks like two to three weeks. I am also putting together a geocoin page - www.geotiki.com, but all you will see for a bit is the placeholder. Please be patient! Thanks again for your help/advice, and happy caching!

 

Henrik

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Thanks for the trading interest - since I am going to be doing these coins in such limited numbers, I will be doing a combination of selling (to pay for this whole operation), trading, and caching. I am only going to be able to keep a small handful for caching and trading, though, due to the high cost of making/casting the coins. I'll know more in a week or so - and I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for the interest!

 

Henrik

 

PS - DancesWithMoose - can you recommend any good "don't miss" South Island NZ caches?

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