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Observations On The Personal Coin (pc) Prefix


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Now that there have been more and more trackable personal coins being flat out sold on these forums I've noticed a lot of people asking "What will it be trackable as?". It would seem that, to some extent, if the answer is a PC coin there's a number of people who're no longer interested. Unless I really like the design sometimes that includes myself.

 

Does anyone else sometimes get the feeling that PC tracking kind of cheapens a coin to the point where it almost isn't even a personal coin anymore? For me I think the fact that every single one of them is grouped under the same icon sort of ruins it. There's not very much that's personal about that.

 

Another thing that I've found kind of shocking is that some people are just selling 200+ of their personal coin. Now there's nothing wrong with selling a few, but when it's that many it makes it a much less desirable coin to me. I'm only having 100 of my coins made up (of which I'll only have 75, which is a very small amount), and when someone who's selling almost all of theirs asks to trade I just can't rationalize doing it. Why would I trade (assuming I wanted a coin that's been publicly sold) for something I can buy? It just seems to me like the people who want to trade, but are also selling, are shooting themselves in the foot.

 

I know my collecting habits are vastly different from most people, but I'd be interested to see if anyone else feels the same way on either of these topics.

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I think it is a choice. How many coins are out there to trade? How many coins are being released into the 'wild'? How many coins are being sold?

 

I have read on here people really would like to pick up a coin but they have none to trade. I have read that people would like to buy but they would rather trade one of theirs. Others, just want to find them in caches.

 

When I buy coins, I try to buy at least 2 of them. 1 to keep and 1 to put in a cache so others can find it. I have sent 6 USA Geocoins on their way. 2 of them are 'missing'. I have sent 1 MD and 1 NJ on their way, people are always happy to find them in caches and move them along, esp the 'rare' ones not found in caches but found on Ebay :mad: .

 

For me, it was a choice. Allow those who want to trade trade, buy buy and find in a cache find in a cache. Since I travel for work and personal, both the US and Asia, I am going to drop mine off while I travel.

 

Knowing more people are buying over trading, I brought that number high. I have less then a handful of people emailing me to trade.

 

And even 1 coin we did End Station you cant buy, trade or find in a cache, well at least from us that is!

 

And yes, it is just PC. I did ask GS if I can do my own, order 1500, and they said no.

Edited by nielsenc
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Well considering personal coins are usually kept as siggy items, I know I'd never shell out the $ to make them trackable. What's the point? As to whether they are trackable or not, it makes no difference to me. I want the coin regardless, lol.

 

I like to trade whenever possible, but I'm not opposed to buying them either. I don't think I'll ever "presell" my personal coins. I'd rather have someone trade me a coin to get one or have someone find one in a cache.

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It would seem that, to some extent, if the answer is a PC coin there's a number of people who're no longer interested. Unless I really like the design sometimes that includes myself.

 

Does anyone else sometimes get the feeling that PC tracking kind of cheapens a coin to the point where it almost isn't even a personal coin anymore? For me I think the fact that every single one of them is grouped under the same icon sort of ruins it. There's not very much that's personal about that.

You need to ask yourself: What am I collecting? coins or icons?

 

I have had one person refuse to trade with me because my coin was not trackable, and that is fine. On the other hand, the manufaturer of my coin has told me that my coin is mentioned very often as a great looking coin when people decide to contact them to get coins made. Which leads me to believe that the actual piece of metal associated with the icon is incidental to many.

 

My initial introduction to coin collecting was actually in finding a local cacher's extraordinary sig item as FTF prizes in challenging caches (Geonap) long before I discovered on-line trading here. I was lucky enough to also find a M10B coin in a cache (I extended my vacation by a day to find it on the slopes of Mt St Helens). I mention this to point out that not everyone is in this for the trades. There are many cachers who'd be thrilled to find and move any of the coins they find in a cache (with decent instructions included with the coin of course) while remaining blissfully ignorant of this trading frenzy we've become a part of.

 

I definitely sympathize with the folks who are trying to start a collection without benefit of having their own personal coin. My collection would be significantly smaller if I had not had my own coin made. And fortunately, there are still lots of folks in my caching area that are stalking me waiting for the next one to be placed :mad::mad:

 

I haven't purchased very many geocoins; None since having mine made (charity auctions excepted), and it would feel very odd purchasing someone's personal coin since my early experiences go back to finding them as signature items in caches. It was weird enough trading my personal coin for another personal coin with someone other than the person associated with that coin.

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People collect, sell, and buy geocoins for many reasons, just like geocachers cache differently (all about the numbers, locationless, just the micros, only the 'real' traditional caches, etc.) It's all about how you want to do it. If you don't want a PC coin, that's fine, no one said you had to get one. I like my steak rare, but that doesn't mean if you like it well-done, you can come over to my table and complain that about how I eat my steak. I like most all personal geocoins and will trade mine for any I don't have. I have mine trackable which means I probably paid more per coin than most people, but I really don't care.

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I haven't purchased very many geocoins; None since having mine made (charity auctions excepted), and it would feel very odd purchasing someone's personal coin since my early experiences go back to finding them as signature items in caches.

Heh, but in charity auctions alone you've spent more than most cachers do buying peoples coins, heh-heh-heh. Just a little jab for my favorite do-gooder running guy :unsure:

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...Personally I'd rather a signature coin mean something to the cacher. That they are vested in that coin. That if you knew how to look you could see the real person because that coin shows a part of their soul. I really don't care to see a coin celebrating 100 finds, or their first cache, or something they slapped together because they could. I like when a personal coin tells a story. At some point I'd like there to be a story that can be read for each coin.

 

Organization coins are different, so I have different expectations for them.

 

When it comes to tracking, I don't care a whit. Maybe someday I will. However tracking takes up coin space and that space could tell more of a cachers story...So maybe I do care.

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You need to ask yourself: What am I collecting? coins or icons?

 

I have had one person refuse to trade with me because my coin was not trackable, and that is fine. On the other hand, the manufaturer of my coin has told me that my coin is mentioned very often as a great looking coin when people decide to contact them to get coins made. Which leads me to believe that the actual piece of metal associated with the icon is incidental to many.

I think I may have worded my post confusingly on that point. The truth is, I actually see more value (personal value, not monitary) in a coin that isn't trackable on geocaching.com. Again I know hardly anyone will agree with me, but PC tracking just seems kind of like a fad to me. It was cool when there were only a few, but now it's lost the initial charm. It seems that people do it just because "it's the cool thing to do". Oh, and the pdxmarathonman coin is one of the ones I'm most looking forward to getting. :ph34r:

 

As far as selling, all the points made so far do make a lot of sense. My thought, though, was that if you're selling your coins you're going to have a tough time if you also want to trade. Maybe some people simply are not interested in trading, in which case selling them is a fantastic way of gathering funds to help pay for the minting. In my mind that comes at the cost of making your coin have less personal value to the person buying it. I've bought a few personals, but they don't mean as much to me as the ones I traded for.

 

Think of it like this (and again keep in my this is what I think). State coins are like the state quarters, you see them every day. Personals that are sold are kind of like the new buffalo nickle, something nice that you find in your change every so often. Personals that you can't buy are the elusive and sought after original buffalo nickles. :unsure:

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I think pdxmarathonman has a good point. Some people collect coins for the physical coin and others want to collect anything that conveys an icon. If you had chips of petrified cow dung that were GC trackable and had their own icon, I have no doubt they'd sell like hotcakes. I have to admit I'd buy several.

 

I think having personal coins GC-trackable makes them more desirable for the owner because that opens up a lot of options as far as activating them and watching them. (They probably won't go far though) It also makes them more desirable for most others who happen to get an unactivated coin for the same reasons. The thing is, from the icon collector's standpoint it doesn't much matter which personal coin you have since there's only one icon. That may be a good thing or else some of us would go nuts trying to keep up with them all.

 

If a person really wanted to cheapen geocoins into something commercial, it seems to me you could buy enough tracking numbers to get a special icon, but then never have a public sale. Just turn a few out so people would know the icon exists. Wait about a month and then start listing them on eBay at the rate of about one per week. Should be some pretty high margins, I'd think.

Edited by Cache-bert
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If a person really wanted to be cheapen geocoins into something commercial, it seems to me you could buy enough tracking numbers to get a special icon, but  then never have a public sale. Just turn a few out so people would know the icon exists. Wait about a month and then start listing them on eBay at the rate of about one per week. Should be some pretty high margins, I'd think.

Or you could post here that you were going to sell 100 of your geocoins and sell them. Then, like you said, in about a month, start selling the other 900 on eBay. They'd sell like hotcakes. :unsure:

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Personally, I'm glad that all trackable personal coins are lumped under the PC category. Having a separate icon for every trackable personal coin out there would be rediculous. It would not matter to me if a personal coin was trackable or not - I'd only be interested in one if I thought their design was really cool, or if it's a cacher that I personally know (hint hint Vargsy). In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I think trackable personal coins are a waste.

 

On the other hand, I would like to see more State come out with trackable coins, and I would like to see them have their own icon too. I love adding those icons to my list, but I will collect the State - trackable or not.

 

I have a bit of a pet peeve over some of the other trackable coins that have come out lately. While it was a great novelty that GeoWoodstock III had their own trackable coins made, with their own icon, I don't want to see this happen for every event coin that's out there.

 

I also think things like the HC (holiday coin) icons are pretty rediculous. Where do we draw the line of who gets their own icon and who doesn't? Right now, it seems to me the only rule is that personal coins must be listed in the PC category.

 

I also read where the San Diego cachers were making their own trackable coin - good for them. But the trackable icon numbers they were assigned were "SD" numbers. Should that not have been reserved for South Dakota if they decided to put out a State coin?

 

And then there is the whole controversy over what constitutes a State coin, but I'll leave that rant for another thread. I've ranted enough in this one.

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Persoanlly, my coins are a signature item only. I just wanted something to convey my enthusiasm for the hobby and that was refective of a "handle" that I have had for years (since 1995 actually -- long before I was caching).

 

I traded about 30% of the coins to get other coins -- mostly from cachers I had read posts from in the forums, but never met -- or likely would ever meet. Sort of a "hands across the border" thing.

 

I don't sell them because I don't want to. I mostly place them in caches -- or even just give them away for fun.

 

Soon I'll have cached or traded them all and might do another one. At this point, I have completely given up on trying to get every coin or icon. There are too many.

 

I think the PC icon is somewhat unfortunate as it does remove the "personal" part of the personal coin. You pay for the numbers and I would much rather see these listed under the cachers name -- not for the icon, but for the ability to see which cachers coins you have found.

 

My most prized possessions when it comes to my coin trading are the e-mails! Especially from folks that like the coin I sent them -- I even have one of a cacher wearing a geobone!! (strangely, not one shot of a dog wearing one....boo hoo)

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