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X Marks The Spot!


Lemon Fresh Dog

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Hello all,

I just released 15 coins into a cache and attached 3 more to a TB Tag. Will they go missing? Hard to say -- and we've talked about that a LOT here.

 

However, what I wanted to suggest was what I did. I marked each coin with an "X" scratched it right into the enamel/metal.

 

To do this is I used a screwdriver and it worked really well.

 

Why mention it here? Well.....if everytime someone realeased a coin into the "wild" they scratched a litt;e "X" into it -- then anyone that traded or collected coins would know that these "X" coins were intended as travelers and could stay clear of them. Sort of a secret code -- stay away from "X" coins.

 

See an "X" coin on eBay? Don't bid .... and so on.

 

I know that some folks will still steal "X" coins, but it would still create a stigma if the practice was widely adopted.

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Hello all,

I just released 15 coins into a cache and attached 3 more to a TB Tag. Will they go missing? Hard to say -- and we've talked about that a LOT here.

 

However, what I wanted to suggest was what I did. I marked each coin with an "X" scratched it right into the enamel/metal.

 

To do this is I used a screwdriver and it worked really well.

 

Why mention it here? Well.....if everytime someone realeased a coin into the "wild" they scratched a litt;e "X" into it -- then anyone that traded or collected coins would know that these "X" coins were intended as travelers and could stay clear of them. Sort of a secret code -- stay away from "X" coins.

 

See an "X" coin on eBay? Don't bid .... and so on.

 

I know that some folks will still steal "X" coins, but it would still create a stigma if the practice was widely adopted.

Sounds like a new geocoin design to me.

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do very many coins get sold on e-bay that have been registered or activated? i could see how someone might keep an activated coin in there personal collections and putting your name or an X on them it might raise some eyebrows if you start showing them off. i have been lucky to find 2 USA coins in the wild and moved them on. I hope to send some non USA coins out to travel

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I agree -- if the coin is compelling enough, folks will still steal it. The idea though is that if we all know that an "X" means it was meant to stay traveling -- then showing the coin sort of marks you as being pretty poor ethically.

 

Selling would be eliminated, showing would be limited, so the "fun" part of owning the coin would be removed.

 

The idea of a private collection that no one can ever see takes at least some fun out of stealing the coin.

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Scratching an X on the coin sounds to me like destroying it. Before doing so I would rather prefer to place a laminated colour copy of the design in caches with the original activated coin kept in the collection at home.

Are you sure that ACTIVATED coins are traded in ebay? My feeling is that all those coins showing up in ebay are NOT activated and thus have never been placed in a cache by the owner and are - as a consequence - not stolen.

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do very many coins get sold on e-bay that have been registered or activated? i could see how someone might keep an activated coin in there personal collections and putting your name or an X on them it might raise some eyebrows if you start showing them off.

I don't think marking them will deter anyone from stealing it, but good luck selling it! :P

sounds to me the only way to not have a coin stolen is to copy it, so that if more copies are needed--after it is stolen--it is easily fixable.

 

no matter what you do to something, there is someone who will steal it.

 

i have stolen many things in my life--some can only be shown to those i trust--if i wanted it bad enough i took it. defacing it only meant it wasn't pretty in my displaying.

 

the "x" is too vague. and if you etch your name on the coin--those that steal it would have motivation to steal all of your 'collection' to make their collection 'whole' (ie: i have got one of each kind of coin 'chapterhouseinc' has released. i can't wait for him to put out another so i can go get it).

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I'm not sure if it is destroying the coin -- however, if the person tempted to steal it thinks it's destroyed -- all the better! The "X"'s I place on the coins I place do not make the coin unatractive.

 

I also agree that the name might actually make it more collectable -- for example, if you know that a "famous" cacher like Moun10Bike had placed the coin in the cache - the temptation might be to keep it.

 

The "X" is just a way to make it LESS desirable and to clearly indicate to the world that it was intended to be in a cache.

 

The idea of laminating coins is not really a bad one -- I just don't feel that finidng a picture or laminate copy is the same as finding/seeing the real thing. In fact, I wouldn't log it. To me, that's the same as seeing the number on a website and logging it. Can you really say you have "held" the coin? That's just my opinion though and I respect those that do this.

 

If I show you a coin with the number PC12345 on it, you have no quick way to know if it is activated or not. So if I bring it to an event, folks will look and go "ooooohh---ahhhhhh! what a nice coin". If it has an "X" on it, the coin is very clearly seen as taken as a traveller from a cache.

 

As for folks that steal and then are just selective as to whom they show their stolen items to......well.....those folks cannot really be stopped and are "special" cases. I, for one, am glad to make it less attractive for them to display and even happier if they see it as not worth stealing because of the "X".

 

As for collecting coins, there are three "profits" I see:

1) having it to admire yourself

2) having it to show others to admire

3) selling it to make money

 

The "X" would diminish #1 -- not eliminate it. The "X" would severly diminish #2 as folks would "know" you stole it (some might not care), the "X" would pretty much kill #3 -- it would be hard to sell an "X"ed coin -- at the very least, both the number of folks willing to buy/trade and the amount the would buy/trade for would be heavily reduced.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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LFD,

 

can you send me a picture of the mark you have been making on coins...I just paid top dollar for an "Experienced and Authentic Lemon Fresh Dog Originated Geocoin" on Ebay, and I want to make sure it's not a forgery...

 

jamie

You would see it very clearly. Geobones are not traveller coins -- so they are not marked at all (well.... ONE is)

 

The only ones to watch for are the ones numbered:

 

25.50,75,100,125,150,175

 

If you have one of these numbers, they were attached to Travel Bug tags -- if you ever see one of these numbers for sale or trade, someone has taken the Travel Bug tag off and deserves to burn in .....

 

oh! -- if you're okay with it -- can you PM me the number you have? I have a little spreadsheet of owners and like to keep track where I can. I do not care if folks do whatever they want with these (except the above obvously), but do like to know the owners when I can -- no big deal either way.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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LFD,

 

can you send me a picture of the mark you have been making on coins...I just paid top dollar for an "Experienced and Authentic Lemon Fresh Dog Originated Geocoin" on Ebay, and I want to make sure it's not a forgery...

 

jamie

You would see it very clearly. Geobones are not traveller coins -- so they are not marked at all (well.... ONE is)

 

The only ones to watch for are the ones numbered:

 

25.50,75,100,125,150,175

 

If you have one of these numbers, they were attached to Travel Bug tags -- if you ever see one of these numbers for sale or trade, someone has taken the Travel Bug tag off and deserves to burn in .....

 

oh! -- if you're okay with it -- can you PM me the number you have? I have a little spreadsheet of owners and like to keep track where I can. I do not care if folks do whatever they want with these (except the above obvously), but do like to know the owners when I can -- no big deal either way.

It was a joke, wasn't it NFA?

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:rolleyes:

 

sorry for the blood-pressure moment folks...I was just kidding

 

any coin or TB I find in a cache will keep moving through caches, and I'm only interested in buying geocoins from the original producer...

 

jamie

Edited by NFA
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