Coin Theft

[+briansnat]

I released a trackable geocoin and it made it to three caches before it disappeared. The last person to grab it left it in a cache (and noted it in his log) and several days later the next finder reported no geocoin in the cache. There were no logs in the book or online in the interim.

 

The lack of logs makes it obvious to me that someone went to the cache specifically to lift the coin and didn't leave any logs so as to cover his tracks.

 

The coin was packaged with a laminated card stating that the coin was a TB that was to move from cache to cache and it said in bold letters that it was Not to be kept for a personal collection. This was also stated on the coin's page, so there can be no mistake as to my intent as the owner.

 

I realize that when you release any kind of TB there is a chance it can disappear, but most of the time they wind up either with a novice cacher who takes it, then drops out of the sport, or they go bye-bye with a plundered cache. Rarely have fellow geocachers targeted TBs and intentionally keep them.

 

I always assumed that geocachers were largely an honest group. How else could a sport where people leave containers filled with goodies in the woods for others to find survive, if most of us didn't have some level of honesty. I'd chalk this up to one dishonest person, but from discussions at recent events it appears that coin theft is the norm rather than the exception.

 

So what it is about this geocoin mania that makes geocachers throw their integrity out the window?

[+9Key]

So what it is about this geocoin mania that makes geocachers throw their integrity out the window?

Markwell: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=64691

[+nfa]

I released a trackable geocoin and it made it to three caches before it disappeared. The last person to grab it left it in a cache (and noted it in his log)  and several days later the next finder reported no geocoin in the cache. There were no logs in the book or online in the interim.

 

The lack of logs makes it obvious to me that someone went to the cache specifically to lift the coin and didn't leave any logs so as to cover his tracks.

The other alternative is that the last logger logged it into the cache but, left the geocoin at home, next to their collection of candy stolen from babies and seeing-eye dogs cut loose from blind people...

 

I don't know who the last logger was/is, and am not suggesting that this is what happened, only what could have happened.

 

jamie

Edited December 20, 2005 by NFA

[+AtlantaGal]

Not one trackable geocoin that I released into a cache is still an active traveller. All were clearly marked that they were TBs too. It just doesn't matter to people. If they want it, they seem to take it. I won't release trackable coins that I own into a cache again. I learned my lesson.

 

I did release one of my personal coins as a TB by drilling a hole in it and attaching a TB tag. It seems to be travelling ok. But sooner or later someone will steal it I'm sure.

[+2Wheel'in]

Sorry to hear of your Geocoin's misfortune Brian...but I fear that it is all our misfortune. You mentioned "integrity"...I don't think that type of person, whether geocacher or not, ever had any integrity to begin with. Geocoins, for lots of reasons, have risen to the level of High Value Items and I fear we've only seen the last 6 inches of the dragons tail when it comes to Geocoin theft. How I hope I am wrong.

Regards,

Bill

[+Cornerstone4]

We have had a problem with this in the San Diego area for the last year or so. This started when the only coin that was really out there were the USA Geocoins. It also included any YJTB's that were in caches.

 

There were never any logs, the coins and jeeps just disappeared. It had to be someone just looking for those to steal. I placed my first coin in a cache up in Riverside county. It was grabbed and moved to a San Diego cache the very next day. (By someone that is a friend.) The very next day it was missing from the cache.

 

What has happened is nobody will place jeeps or coins in caches that are easily accessible. For a while, you couldn't find one without doing a cache with a 4 star terrain rating or higher.

[+Rusty O Junk]

That's exactly why I'm preparing to release my Compass Rose in a cloak.

 

What I've done is scan both sides of the coin, cut them out then place them into one of those little air tight plastic coin holders. The tracking number is very viable and can be logged/tracked.

 

I know, I know, its not the real thing but the real thing would be lucky to last 24 hours. I did explain on the web page that the real thing isn't in the cache and posted a picture there.

 

After all I did buy the tracking number and I want to use it and remove the temptation to pocket the coin.

[+wimseyguy]

I recently logged a EU coin that was set up the same way as Rusty has shown. Except instead of using one of the snaptite holders, they just cut a disk out of plexi and laminated the scans to it.

So, I got the icon, , and so can others, but I still have not seen an actual EU coin.

[+GeoHills]

That's exactly why I'm preparing to release my Compass Rose in a cloak.

 

What I've done is scan both sides of the coin, cut them out then place them into one of those little air tight plastic coin holders. The tracking number is very viable and can be logged/tracked.

 

I know, I know, its not the real thing but the real thing would be lucky to last 24 hours. I did explain on the web page that the real thing isn't in the cache and posted a picture there.

 

After all I did buy the tracking number and I want to use it and remove the temptation to pocket the coin.

Has it traveled far?

[+ChapterhouseInc]

i am thinking that the COPY method is the best, wether you use the cases or just laminate it. this makes certain that your coin will travel, as you can easily just make another to put out. steal my copy, i can make another; steam my coin and i am sol.

 

any why advertise that it is a copy? this makes then know not to go after it. if it is advertised just like a regular coin and they go to the cache to steal it, if it is a copy enough times, theywould stop stealing them. i have invested a lot of time into stealing these coins, but they are copies, maybe i should stop stealing them.

[Hugh Jazz]

This makes me wonder why people keep buying tracking numbers for their geocoins. Aside from being a donation to the site (nothing wrong with that), most of these coins don't seem to end up in caches at all (probably due to the problems identified by the OP).

[+frivlas]

So, making a copy of the coin like this is an acceptable practice? I was considering sending a couple of coins out but didn't want to lose them.

 

Friv

[+junglehair]

Well, I just released a New York Geocoin into the wild today. Left clear instructions with the coin that it is meant to be treated as a travelbug and moved from cache to cache. I guess we'll see how many caches it actually gets to before ending up in someone's collection.

[+briansnat]

So, making a copy of the coin like this is an acceptable practice? I was considering sending a couple of coins out but didn't want to lose them.

 

Friv

Apparently, its the only way to keep them from being nabbed by unscrupulous geocachers. Kind of sad. Takes all the fun out of it.

[+lpyankeefan]

seeing-eye dogs cut loose from blind people...

 

I'm sorry! I laughed at this part of your post Jamie. Had a really BAD day at work. I guess that I wasn't expecting something like that to be posted. Well, that and my warped sense of humor.

 

We have a frien whose coin has circumnavigated the globe AND actually returned to him He held onto it for a few weeks and then ACTUALLY sent it BACK OUT again. I told him he should play the lottery instead.

[+AtlantaGal]

What I've done is scan both sides of the coin, cut them out then place them into one of those little air tight plastic coin holders. The tracking number is very viable and can be logged/tracked.

I love this idea because it still keeps them small. Laminants can get bent up in caching packs and are not as long lasting as something like this.

[+Eartha]

So, making a copy of the coin like this is an acceptable practice? I was considering sending a couple of coins out but didn't want to lose them.

 

Friv

Yes, this is allowed. Using just the number to allow people to log it virtually is NOT allowed. But you can only send out the laminate version or the actual coin, not both.

[+frivlas]

So, making a copy of the coin like this is an acceptable practice?  I was considering sending a couple of coins out but didn't want to lose them.

 

Friv

Yes, this is allowed. Using just the number to allow people to log it virtually is NOT allowed. But you can only send out the laminate version or the actual coin, not both.

Oh, you guys just made me very happy! Thank you!

[+clan_Barron]

I guess we've been lucky, our Geowoodstock III coin has been moving nicely since we released it in Maine this summer. It has traveled 4K+ miles and is currrently wintering in Arizona

Edited December 20, 2005 by clan_Barron

[Dancingfool]

One thing to keep in mind is that caches are accessable to non geocachers as well.I think most people who are out there are honest and will move traveling items along.That said I have a TB I have had for several weeks.I was going to drop it in the nearby APE cache on a visit to log the pile of coins left by a group from Florida.No coins in the cache and no logs showing them leave.Turns out they were only passing through.One of my Maryland coins is in the hands of an experienced cacher who has yet to respond to my e mails about the status of my coin

November 4 by traveler&wild raspberry (483 found)

took the dancing fool coin..left a magnet...

[view this log on a separate page]

 

I have 31 travelers moving about and try to keep an eye on them and email folks who have them too long. Several people forgot they had them and dropped them right away.My USA coin was lost but turned up

My USA geocoin

One was on top of a mountain for months.I love to open my email and see my stuff moving around.As has been talked about in this thread you own the number and can send out a copy or some kind of facsimile of the missing traveler.

[+zygote2k]

if you are worried about something you placed in a cache might get stolen, don't place it in the cache! WAAAH.

[+CraigInCT]

I guess we've been lucky, our Geowoodstock III coin has been moving nicely since we released it in Maine this summer. It has traveled 4K+ miles and is currrently wintering in Arizona

The tax goddess still hasn't logged her taking it from CT. I watched that coin sit there for days and finally ran up to save it, just to find it gone. No signed log, no coin log, no web cache log until right after I logged my find. I still think my cache log saved your coin from the void.

[+Renegade Knight]

So, making a copy of the coin like this is an acceptable practice?  I was considering sending a couple of coins out but didn't want to lose them.

 

Friv

Yes, this is allowed. Using just the number to allow people to log it virtually is NOT allowed. But you can only send out the laminate version or the actual coin, not both.

Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering.

 

Back to the OP.

 

Yes, people will steal the coins. The solution is to use the tracking as a claim of ownership. If it shows up on eBay it's stolen property.

 

The dilema is if that coin is acquired in good faith and then you find out it's a traveler. What's the right thing to do then? Return it, sure, but you are still out the bucks.

 

There is nothing special about the coins when it comes to integrity, people either already had it or they didn't. I've seen too many double faced geocachers to think that that kind of person bypassed this hobby. Worse I've watched them get applauded for being upstanding geocachers on the surface while knowing full well the crap they have pulled. Some of them who get kudos, I'm sure their coin collection...is coming along.

Edited December 21, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+welch]

Coin Theft, Are people so obsessed?

 

So what it is about this geocoin mania that makes geocachers throw their integrity out the window?

Yes I think they probably are. Many coin collectors are honest nuts who bought what they have, a few are not. It doesn't take many clepto freaks to steal a lot of stuff.

 

Hopefully you mangled the coin up good before releasing so its the worst piece in their ill gotten collection.

[+ChileHead]

Well, I just released a New York Geocoin into the wild today. Left clear instructions with the coin that it is meant to be treated as a travelbug and moved from cache to cache. I guess we'll see how many caches it actually gets to before ending up in someone's collection.

I saw that - I might go pick it up tomorrow if it's still there!

[+GrnXnham]

I totally mangled up three USA geocoins before releasing them into the wild. It appears to have helped a little.

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

I plan to do the following:

 

Release the "real" coin

Scratch it and copy the number

If/when it is stolen, I will release a "ghost" coin using the same TB #

 

If folks steal the coin, then at least by marking them we will all question where they got them. It basically prevents them from showing them at events and/or selling them on eBay.

 

Sure.... they may show them to some close friends/thieves, but it would be like stealing the Mona Lisa -- you'd have it, but would you ever really "enjoy" it if others never could see it?

[+IceCreamMan]

I've been having pretty good luck. I have my "Coins in the Wild" listed on my coin page (see link below). So far, they're all still in action.

[+dhenninger]

I sent a NJ coin to Slovakia for a cacher to place in a cache. They placed it in Dzandzurova dzura

 

Not only did some steal my coin, but they stole the whole cache.

 

Ironicly, the last person to find the cache before the coin was placed, was a former NJ resident.

 

Dave

[+Audion64]

I'm sure it won't have a major effect but maybe it'd clue the clueless cachers into the fact that coins are supposed to be moved, not taken.....

 

How about making sure your coin is 1) in its own good quality ziplock, 2) has its own little log sheet.

 

We the undersigned have moved this coin from cache to cache.

We hope that you will do the same. Keep the momentum going!

 

Name______________________Date

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

 

Just a thought.

Maybe by seeing that other people have moved the coin, newbies will realize better that it's supposed to move.

And just maybe seeing how many people have a 'stake' in the coin will put ever so slight a guilt factor on the potential thief.... yea I know... wishful thinking.

[+scaw]

ive drilled a hole in 2 of my coins in hope it makes them less atractive to 'keepers' only time will tell if its worked or not.

 

 

[+rowanf]

I am sure I will have geocoins disappear... but it hasn't happened yet. I've only had coins in the wild for a month or thereabouts after all.

 

This is my favorite of the ones I've released. Compass Rose RF#3 I hope it keeps going.