Geocoins - Jumped The Shark?

[+Kealia]

Back to the topic at hand.. Am I to understand that I should stop producing geocoins? Or should I relate them closer to geocaching or what exactly are you telling me? Should I wait until my 500th find? Or just quit the coin business all together??? Guidance from the wise please. I would think the 1.50 per coin to gc.com would be a good thing for the community but maybe I am wrong.

 

You're free to do what you like. What you're hearing is people saying that we (those who have spoken out, we're not speaking for everybody) are tired of seeing every little thing slapped on a coin, marked with a tracking number and sold for huge profits.

 

Yes, some will buy anything. Does it mean that it's right to charge $14.95 for them? Opinions vary obviously.

 

To some, myself included, coins used to MEAN something. They used to be special and fun and represent something other than a way to make money. It's hard to believe that these are being done for the love of caching given the circumstances and the price tags.

 

There's no rule that says you have to have X number of caches found or hidden to make a coin. Anybody can (and they do) make and sell them. But just because you (and I don't neccessarily mean you) CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD.

 

What some of us are trying to do is tell the community that we want to see coins get back to what they used to be and not just be a commercial venture for anybody wanting to come in and make some money.

 

We (those who feel the same) vote by verbalizing our feelings and this and by not buying these coins.

Others show thier support by purchasing the coins.

 

Time will tell who is in the majority.

[+Kealia]

 

Some people make a coin and sell it for cost.

Some people make a coin and sell it for more than cost.

Some people make a coin and sell it on ebay for more than cost or make LEs for ebay.

Some people re-sale coins on ebay for a profit.

 

while others, trade only, give away coins and/or drop them in caches.

 

nielsenc

 

Correct.

 

So call it what it is. It's not a coin for the love of caching, or to represent something.

It's a coin for profit.

 

Call a spade a spade at least.

[+cqdx]

Back to the topic at hand.. Am I to understand that I should stop producing geocoins? Or should I relate them closer to geocaching or what exactly are you telling me? Should I wait until my 500th find? Or just quit the coin business all together??? Guidance from the wise please. I would think the 1.50 per coin to gc.com would be a good thing for the community but maybe I am wrong.

 

You're free to do what you like. What you're hearing is people saying that we (those who have spoken out, we're not speaking for everybody) are tired of seeing every little thing slapped on a coin, marked with a tracking number and sold for huge profits.

 

Yes, some will buy anything. Does it mean that it's right to charge $14.95 for them? Opinions vary obviously.

 

To some, myself included, coins used to MEAN something. They used to be special and fun and represent something other than a way to make money. It's hard to believe that these are being done for the love of caching given the circumstances and the price tags.

 

There's no rule that says you have to have X number of caches found or hidden to make a coin. Anybody can (and they do) make and sell them. But just because you (and I don't neccessarily mean you) CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD.

 

What some of us are trying to do is tell the community that we want to see coins get back to what they used to be and not just be a commercial venture for anybody wanting to come in and make some money.

 

We (those who feel the same) vote by verbalizing our feelings and this and by not buying these coins.

Others show thier support by purchasing the coins.

 

Time will tell who is in the majority.

 

Well put. I respect your opinion when presented in this fashion. Thank you.

Edited March 21, 2006 by jonutley

[+cqdx]

Wow, so many questions in this thread to answer.

 

Did we make some money on the Canine Cachers coins? Yes.

A large amount? Nope.

 

Anybody that has done a coin (or most buyers at this point) probably realize that we made some money so I'm sure this is not earth-shattering news.

 

Do I think we did it at a reasonable cost? Yes.

Would I be comfortable charging some the rates that I've seen on here? No way.

 

so you making some money on the canine coin is ok?

[+Renegade Knight]

14.95 for LE's is a whole heck of a lot more than 50% profit....

 

Whoops. sorry, becaues ICE doesn't do coins over 10.00 that 50% is a bit low even for an average of all coins.

[+Hula Bum]

Jonutley-

As memory serves the only LE Coins I have put up have been for Charity, with 100% going to that charity.

The only 1 personal coin (the Kealia/Hula Bum coin) that was put on ebay went for $220 and that money went to the fund set up for the family of the cacher who just died.

So, I'm not sure what you are referring to?

I could go on and on about how I feel, but in a rare instance Kealia and I actually agree on something, so I'll just say "yeah, what he said."

[+cqdx]

Jonutley-

As memory serves the only LE Coins I have put up have been for Charity, with 100% going to that charity.

The only 1 personal coin (the Kealia/Hula Bum coin) that was put on ebay went for $220 and that money went to the fund set up for the family of the cacher who just died.

So, I'm not sure what you are referring to?

I could go on and on about how I feel, but in a rare instance Kealia and I actually agree on something, so I'll just say "yeah, what he said."

 

All for charity? Respectable. Maybe I will follow your example

[+Kealia]

Wow, so many questions in this thread to answer.

 

Did we make some money on the Canine Cachers coins? Yes.

A large amount? Nope.

 

Anybody that has done a coin (or most buyers at this point) probably realize that we made some money so I'm sure this is not earth-shattering news.

 

Do I think we did it at a reasonable cost? Yes.

Would I be comfortable charging some the rates that I've seen on here? No way.

 

so you making some money on the canine coin is ok?

 

Couldn't let it go huh? Between the two of you this is really tiresome. I was actually impressed that you let it go with a "we agree to disagree" but I should've known better.....

 

I've taken the liberty of highlighting the the important word from the quote above. I've never hidden the fact, nor could I, that a few dollars were made on the Canine Coins. Not put out for profit, through a business that is linked to Oakcoins (yes, it's easy enough to look up "whois" records of both businesses and see the connections).

 

Why did I make that coin? I have a passion for my dogs and for caching, and after talking with a group of like minded cachers I put out those coins. Those were put out long before the frenzy started and I doubt anybody (else) questions my intentions.

 

Did you happen to notice the pricing on those coins?

 

Did you also happen to know about the 5 other coins that I've produced for my local caching groups at cost?

Probably not.

 

Lest I be accused of a personal attack, this is not. This are simple answers to your questions.

 

Now that this is ENTIRELY off topic, I suggest that we allow the OP to regain control of this thread.

 

Feel free to take a parting shot, though. Just make sure to do some more research before insinuating anything else, k?

[+cqdx]

So you did make a profit. That is all I wanted on the record. Thanks.

[+Hula Bum]

Ummmmmmm the post you highlighted and quoted said that, so then, wasn't it already on the record?????? Little late on that one.

 

And let's face it, everyone is making a profit on this board, it just depends on how much.

Edited March 21, 2006 by Hula Bum

[+cqdx]

Ummmmmmm the post you highlighted and quoted said that, so then, wasn't it already on the record?????? Little late on that one.

 

And let's face it, everyone is making a profit on this board, it just depends on how much.

 

I agree, profits are being made by most. And yes the profits vary.. just as the coin qualities vary

[+nielsenc]

 

I've taken the liberty of highlighting the the important word from the quote above. I've never hidden the fact, nor could I, that a few dollars were made on the Canine Coins. Not put out for profit, through a business that is linked to Oakcoins (yes, it's easy enough to look up "whois" records of both businesses and see the connections).

 

 

The reason I set up Oakcoins over 'personal' was to keep things clean for the IRS. I dont want to bore you with my $30,000 + Tax Lawyer and Accountant fees I have had for audits over the past few years. Of course, I was correct in my filings but the IRS sure made my life a nightmare. So anyone out there making a few bucks on coins should make sure to pay taxes, least the tax man come.

 

As for linking, you will notice I personally do DNS for anyone who asks, even my customers. If you have a hosted domain, I will pull secondary. I have been doing DNS records since 1994.

 

thanks,

 

nielsenc

[+GeoCrickets]

...There is at the least one coin per day on average being produced....

 

About 6 annoucments per day right now. Coins prices have gone up about 50% in the last year. Assuming last year that was roughly cost, the 50% is profit.

 

That is very true. A coin like the Prime Meridian that has nothing other then the stamping and GC tracking # should be less then $4 to make. I don't like the idea of people jacking up the price on LE coin. I asked one person why they are selling their LE at a much higher price when it cost the same to make the coin. He said why not people will pay the higher price to get the LE.

 

So untill people start getting wise to the price of the coins this will still be the case.

 

I think if a new cacher would like to make a coin and has not found a cache is fine. Maybe that person is selling his or her coins so they can then place some in caches.

 

Richard

[+budd-rdc]

For the record The Equator coin is not made by an individual. It comes from DX Coins and is produced through Oakcoins.

 

Ugghh. Why all the BS cloak-and-dagger?

A simple look up tells us that you own DX Coins. You and DX Coins are one and the same.

It's things like this that turn people off and make people suspicious.

 

 

Yes I am a part of DX Coins, never have hidden that. Does that mean its a one man shop? No.

 

Back to the topic at hand.. Am I to understand that I should stop producing geocoins? Or should I relate them closer to geocaching or what exactly are you telling me? Should I wait until my 500th find? Or just quit the coin business all together??? Guidance from the wise please. I would think the 1.50 per coin to gc.com would be a good thing for the community but maybe I am wrong.

 

- You can continue to produce Geocoins.

- Some of us (including me) will prefer your Geocoins to be related to Geocaching as much as possible.

- No, you shouldn't wait for your XXXXth find, but I like seeing Geocoins minted AFTER the cacher has established a unique identity.

- Your business decisions are not ours to make.

 

The biggest issue for me is the 3rd answer, minting a coin after the cacher has established an identity. Many people in my area have minted Geocoins (Marky&Joani, Workerofwood, kealia, nielsenc, CKayaks, GeoBrowns, frivlas, Mauison, Nurse Dave, rowanf, Sgt. Stitches, and others that I'm sure I've missed). They are enjoyable because each design represents the individual cacher's identity and interests, not just a "cool" idea off the shelf. The find counts for some of the names I've mentioned were quite low when they minted their coins, but their unique identities were already established.

Edited March 21, 2006 by budd-rdc

[+nmartin]

All of the above thread is good, and somewhat entertaining. But...where do we go from here?

 

Because this is a somewhat loose group, anyone can make what they want, call it what they want, and offer it for trade or sale. We need to be educated enought to recoginize the s*** from shinola.

 

If someone wants to make a signature item to put in a cache, does it matter how many finds they have? It is still a neat trade item as it represents that person. If someone wants to make a signature item to sell, why are you buying it?

 

As for the moral high ground, if you are putting coins in caches. That is good. If you are providing entertainment in the forums to us unwashed masses...well that is also good, but not as good as.

 

kealia, for consistently providing entertainment (and a voice of reason) expect something in the mail soon that will not be found anywhere else but in a cache.

[+Marky]

Some of us are addicted to collecting geocoins. Asking fellow geocachers to stop producing geocoins is kind of like asking your pusher to stop selling you drugs. Not that I would know anything about pushers and drugs. Why are you laughing? Seriously, I don't know anything about pushers or drugs. I was just using it as an example. Come on now, it's not that funny. Nobody makes me buy geocoins except me. Okay, Joani makes me sometimes.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to thank all of the people who have taken the time to produce some really interesting coins. An extra special thanks to those who have offered them for trade, and for those who have sold them at a reasonable cost.

 

--Marky

 

P.S. For anyone still listening, black nickel does not look good with black enamel. Just a note to future coin designers.

[+Shilo]

If anyone wants to make the "Jump the Shark" geocoin, I'll buy 2.

 

From a little over a month ago...

 

 

Now, will that be Credit or Debit?

This has nothing to do with caching but I'm in for a bunch of these. 2-17-06 was my 10-year wedding anniversary

[+Rattlingcrew]

I would like to make two coins. One for some Kansas history that is little known, applicable to surveying, bench marks, and plotting the surrounding states.

 

The other for the state's historical caches and cachers. I am not sure who came up with the Kansas coin out there now, they sure passed on a lot of great history .

 

I have well over 150 bugs and coins out in four accounts. I only have 1195 finds and 80 cache placements though. I would like to have one of those coins be a personal coin.

 

The game is a blast, anything we can do to support it has to be beneficial. The game has always been presented as a family friendly pastime.

 

If the geocoin craze finances growth for a couple of years, great! I donate considerable time to Geocaching. I wish I could get out more, but family and work comes first. Collecting coins is something I enjoy. If others find a way to finance their coin collection, I am all for it. Hopefully when I get ready to have my coins made, I'll be able to spread some out in caches. I picked the wrong occupation to shell out five grand for coins to scatter about.

 

My opinion is to keep Geocaching fun, whatever avenue you decide to take. I hope we can keep the fun factor alive.

 

I buy both, cache related and unrelated coins. If I like it, I try to buy one or two. I buy some on EBAY, I probably paid too much, but somebody else may have added to their collection with the profit they made off of me. I see nothing wrong with that. Glen

[+Rattlingcrew]

I would like to make two coins. One for some Kansas history that is little known, applicable to surveying, bench marks, and plotting the surrounding states.

 

The other for the state's historical caches and cachers. I am not sure who came up with the Kansas coin out there now, they sure passed on a lot of great history .

 

I have well over 150 bugs and coins out in four accounts. I only have 1195 finds and 80 cache placements though. I would like to have one of those coins be a personal coin.

 

The game is a blast, anything we can do to support it has to be beneficial. The game has always been presented as a family friendly pastime.

 

If the geocoin craze finances growth for a couple of years, great! I donate considerable time to Geocaching. I wish I could get out more, but family and work comes first. Collecting coins is something I enjoy. If others find a way to finance their coin collection, I am all for it. Hopefully when I get ready to have my coins made, I'll be able to spread some out in caches. I picked the wrong occupation to shell out five grand for coins to scatter about.

 

My opinion is to keep Geocaching fun, whatever avenue you decide to take. I hope we can keep the fun factor alive.

 

I buy both, cache related and unrelated coins. If I like it, I try to buy one or two. I buy some on EBAY, I probably paid too much, but somebody else may have added to their collection with the profit they made off of me. I see nothing wrong with that. Glen

[Not So Lost Puppies]

WOW, I didn't expect too pages to have been posted on this so quickly.

 

It would appear that there were some that didn't really read the OP very closely...

I have NOTHING against personal signature geocoins... put what ever you want on it along with your GC ID.

I have NOTHING against established geocaching organizations group coins either. I would really like it if anyone could get one after having cached in the area. (sort of like the souvenier smashed pennies) [Hint to various state orgs... price them well and continue to sell them]

 

What I was asking was if we have jumped the shark, I do see (I don't remember that posting though) that it was determined that we did some time ago.

 

I also didn't say that there is any requirement for having found X number of caches, etc....

No, I don't think there should be requirements, but I would at least like to know there is some sort of reasonable commitment shown to the sport/game before cashing in on the coin craze.

Though I'm sure that some would find it all the more collectible if someone put one out and the decided that geocaching wasn't something they want to continue doing.

 

This also was not a directed dig at any particular members or coins, yes, I know mentioned afew coins directly in the OP. And I have bought some of those mentioned coins, I may even complete the series if they continue to be well designed well priced coins, or I may trade some of my extras of those series for the remaining ones. They were just the examples of various recent coins that are not directly geocaching related or org/sig coins.

 

Yes, I was the designer of the World Travel coin (I think I posted that disclaimer) At the time that I designed it, there was NO unlimited geocoin in existance. [yes, the USA geocoins are close, but being that they are year specific they are not truly unlimitted, but are very reasonably priced and I do have afew of them] The express purpose of that coin was that it be unlimitted and at a very reasonable price. Basically as an alternative to TBs, and in an effort to put more coins in caches in the hopes that others will be able to travel and not get stolen. Right about the same time as the WT coin was made, the 'Generic Geocoin' was also made by someone else. I hope that also does the same job of getting them out into caches.

 

For a further information I make no $$ from those coins, though I do receive some coins as they reach certain sales quantities.

 

No, I don't have a personal coin yet, though it is getting close to final design for minting. But we do have a signature item out there, and some local cachers have some, as do some that I've traded with. It has even been shown here in the forums in someones collection.

Edited March 21, 2006 by Not So Lost Puppies

[+Kealia]

From another thread, somebody used the phrase that came to my mind when viewing one particular coin - any many before it.

 

(If you don't know what "jump the shark" means, Google it)

 

So when do you think this happened?

 

In an effort to not bash anybody, let's see if this discussion can be held without naming names.

 

IMO it started around Christmas of 2005. Just before Christmas a slew of new coins appeared that immediately started drifting away from caching-related themes. Now look where we are.

 

When did you notice it?

[+Cornerstone4]

That was the beginning of the big change for sure.

 

I had recently made the "Screw" Geocoin, and had many folks asking me when the "Nuts" would follow. There was such a flurry of coins out for sale, and Christmas was fast approaching, that I decided to wait until after the first of the year for the nuts. I figured I would give everyone's pocket books a break!

 

Well, February rolled around, and there was no break in sight, so I made them anyway.

 

The Screws were sort of a forum joke, and were only made for that reason. They sold out immediately...the Nuts never did as well. The market had definitely changed.

 

I'm not claiming that the change was for the better or worse...it's just different.

[+501_Gang]

That's when geocoins went down hill. Everybody and their brother making non-caching related coins. I started falling in to the trap and then realized that the quality was rapidly disappearing. The best coins are the true personal coin, non-trackable, and trade only in my eyes.

After a new, recent coin that came out, I'm very seriously thinking of dumping all my coins, activated or un-activated on Ebay and getting out of the coin crap all together.

[+The Moop Along]

I started collecting coins in the late summer of 2005. It turns out, I really never got to see the "good old days". I thought it was good when I started. Today's state, whew. Too many words to write. As far as timeframe, well, I never really saw anything but sharks.

[+nielsenc]

From another thread, somebody used the phrase that came to my mind when viewing one particular coin - any many before it.

 

(If you don't know what "jump the shark" means, Google it)

 

So when do you think this happened?

 

In an effort to not bash anybody, let's see if this discussion can be held without naming names.

 

IMO it started around Christmas of 2005. Just before Christmas a slew of new coins appeared that immediately started drifting away from caching-related themes. Now look where we are.

 

When did you notice it?

 

Maybe you should ask the mods to combine the threads.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=127101

Edited April 10, 2007 by nielsenc

[+Ryder3 & Better Half]

We started coin collecting seriously about the time the Geonuts came out,so we have not noticed a lot of change.(Before our time)

 

We have noticed a large increase in the variety around,some good,some well.........

 

BTW Cornerstone,we still think this one was a REALLY cool coin!

 

We will gladly take another 10!

[+nicolo]

...

(If you don't know what "jump the shark" means, Google it)

...

There's a good explanation on Wikipedia - there's even a picture of the Fonz!

[+AtwellFamily]

I would be guilty of "Jumping the Shark" on at least 1 maybe two coins I have designed.

- Scouting no relation to geocaching but someone asked for it, actually a number of people asked for it. I personally didn't keep any, in fact got mostly non-trackables with troop number on them to give out to eagle scouts of the troop I am from.

- Geolicious....slight link but kealia would disagree (I'm almost positive). Cute idea that I ran with, each flavor will have something to do with caching

 

Other than that, I have been around a short time and I have seen a real swing. I would even say that since my first coin in Oct 2006 that the market has move from over 50% personal and caching related to less than 50%. Even the caching related coins have stretched when trying to relate to caching.

 

I put coins in a few categories when it relates to this issue:

- Personal

- Related to geocaching

- Slight link but stretching it

- No link but a cute design or something someone will buy

- Statement coins (very few and personal in some nature but would still fit this group)

- Unapproved designs (a number non of us know)

 

edited for

Should I make a coin with this type of artwork, someone give me a date to put and the back.

Edited April 10, 2007 by Atwell Family

[+WWC-World's Worst Cacher]

I think you would have a hard time even justify the idea that it has "jumped the shark" in that there seem to be more and more coins being made and sold every month.

 

There are certianly a number of people who have quit buying coins, but based on the number of buyers and sellers it would would be hard to say that they have jumped the shark. If talking about quality . . . there were some pretty poor quality early coins, but not called that because it was new. I actually think the coins that continue to sell will get more clever and more artistic or they won't sell.

 

The other thing that has clearly happened is that there are more coins in caches which is a good thing IMO.

 

My Thoughts

[general_tupperware]

They jumped before I was collecting... But it's still continuing to get less and less GC related.

Personally my geocoin budget is way down there [points], so I don't buy more than the few that interest me. These don't always have to do with geocaching. Persoanals, organization, and country/state/province coins interest me most. But there are still some good coins coming out. Crake's symbology for instance (man I've gotta get one of those).

GT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Geocoin Budget

[+geoSquid]

To me, geocoins are, and always have been, cool versions of travel bug tags. That's why I started getting them (with some track-on-another-site Canada geocoins back in 2005ish).

 

Look at the threads in this very forum - some people think that geocoins are as precious as gold embossed diamonds (<cough> moun10bike coins <cough>). The shark got put in the water when people started thinking like that.

 

The specific moment jumped that shark was when custom icons were allowed, which caused people to want them for the sake of the icon - thereby simultaneously reducing the collectibility of non-trackable, non-custom-icon coins, while creating a beany-baby market of speculators on the demand of the icon enviers, AND increasing the cost of coins to the marketplace.

[+larry739]

It would be very interesting to see some hard numbers on number of geocoins introduced per month and the number of geocoins sold on the e place per month, average selling price, number of buyers, number of sellers, number of trades made, etc. Overall it would appear that there are many more coins being made now than in the past and that supply is catching up with demand finally. However, some geocoins reach the scarcity high price area faster than others. In parallel to this it would be interesting to see how many of these geocoins end up in circulation in geocaches as opposed to sitting in a collection somewhere. That seems to be the defining element to me. After all weren't geocoins originally made to be activated and put into caches? Perhaps there will come a day when geocoins are more plentiful than travel bugs in geocaches. When do think that day will arrive? I wonder how the monthly numbers of coins in geocaches would look?

[+Renegade Knight]

The exact moment?

 

When the first coin came out that wasn't a state, country, or signature coin.

 

Unlike "jumping the shark" for a series. State, Country, and Signature coins will live on. The rest I hope become footnotes.

Edited April 10, 2007 by Renegade Knight

[+nicolo]

If anyone wants to make the "Jump the Shark" geocoin, I'll buy 2.

 

From a little over a month ago...

 

 

Now, will that be Credit or Debit?

[+islander1988]

I really started getting into geocoins a year ago January, and it was at the peak of the craze when a run of a thousand coins could sell out in a day or two, you could have a coin arrive in your mailbox from the seller and see it going for twice what you paid on eBay, and ANYTHING sold for twice what you paid on eBay. From what I've heard, it seems like it was the beginning of the end of the original purpose of coins.

 

It is true that despite the fact few people could sell a run of a thousand coins any more, there are so many coins coming out that overall more are probably being sold than ever. However, geocoins have a life of their own apart from the original intent. I doubt many satin gold or 2-tone Compass Rose 2007 coins will ever see a cache because they'd simply get stolen. Geocoins have moved from cache swag to collectibles, and the increased price of minting hasn't helped. There will always be coins released, but now I tend to release the generic, mass produced ones because 1) they're cheaper, and 2) they're less likely to get swiped if they have little eBay value.

 

Someone mentioned the quality now is better than when coins started. I would agree that coins have gotten fancier with greater detail, more finely tuned artwork, translucent epoxy, magnets and hinges and axels and other bells and whistles. But I still like the look of the original coins. They had a simplicity about them that's attractive, and it was easy in those days to do something original. Now it's practically impossible, which is probably why coins have strayed from strictly geocaching topics. How many coins do you really need with a picture of an ammo can or a film cannister or a stylized G?

 

So, I'd say coins are past their peak, and that I came in too late to know "the good old days" first hand. But I would also say there are still some cool and original coins coming out (personal and commercial). They're just in the middle of a river of coins which makes them harder to notice.

[+Kealia]

 

Maybe you should ask the mods to combine the threads.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=127101

 

Thanks for the link, I'll have that done.

 

I vaguely recall the eariler discussion now and shame on me for not searching before posting.

[avroair]

October 2005

[+jAY miLLS]

Geez maybe some folks should take up a new hobby, like maybe playing checkers or something less stressful. Or at least get a date this weekend to relieve some built up pressure if ya know what I mean. Gawd isn't life to short to get bogged down in such nonsensical discussions about what really constitutes a geocoin, it just a matter of perception anyway. Yea its true, I am pretty new around these here parts, and some will just brush me off because of that, but even I get the fact that if you like a coin and can afford it you buy it, if you don't like a coin or can't afford it you just shrug and get out of the way and keep moving on. Nothing real difficult to understand about that. Live and let live man. Now I can't speak about the past but currently it appears that Ebay has over 500 coins up for auction. That isn't even looking at the various venders catalog of coins for sale. Seems to me that geocoins are alive and well from where I am sitting. Maybe getting a better seat is the answer.

[+Kealia]

I think you would have a hard time even justify the idea that it has "jumped the shark" in that there seem to be more and more coins being made and sold every month.

<edited for brevity>

The other thing that has clearly happened is that there are more coins in caches which is a good thing IMO.

 

Ok, but the NUMBER of coins isn't the point - whether they are in caches or out of caches. It's the relation to caching we're discussing. Any thoughts on that?

 

The specific moment jumped that shark was when custom icons were allowed, which caused people to want them for the sake of the icon - thereby simultaneously reducing the collectibility of non-trackable, non-custom-icon coins, while creating a beany-baby market of speculators on the demand of the icon enviers, AND increasing the cost of coins to the marketplace.

 

Very good point - I think the icons are partly to blame as well.

 

The exact moment?

 

When the first coin came out that wasn't a state, country, or signature coin.

 

Unlike "jumping the shark" for a series. State, Country, and Signature coins will live on. The rest I hope become footnotes.

 

Also a good point, although I recall some "commercial coins" (for lack of a better word to describe ones that don't fit the above categories) that were still geocaching related and pretty cool.

[+Kealia]

Geez maybe some folks should take up a new hobby, like maybe playing checkers or something less stressful.

Why? We can't discuss things here? How about a hobby where we find little boxes of stuff hidden in the woods? Seriously, it's ok to actually discuss things - not everything has to be a "for sale" thread.

 

Or at least get a date this weekend to relieve some built up pressure if ya know what I mean.

Yeah, we get it. No need for that type of comment, really. Care to actually join the conversation?

 

Gawd isn't life to short to get bogged down in such nonsensical discussions about what really constitutes a geocoin, it just a matter of perception anyway.

C'mon, is it really any more nonsensical that hunting tupperware?

[+Renegade Knight]

Geez maybe some folks should take up a new hobby, like maybe playing checkers...

 

Oh, thanks. That's where I store all my coin kludge. Iv'e got the Commercial Team and the "This Relates How?" team lined up for battle.

 

I'd go for chess but it's hard to decide a King and Queen and all the paws would be insulted.

[+WWC-World's Worst Cacher]

Yep gotta long for those good old days:

 

- The days when you really could never find a geocoin in a cache.

- The days when almost every coin on ebay sold for $20+

- The days when you had to be on the coin forums every minute of every day in order to have a chance at new coin issues.

- The days where you had to do a trackable coin, but in order to do a trackable coin with an icon you had to have a huge bank account.

- The days with no geocoin fairy, geocoin Easter bunny, no geocoin secret agent

- The days . . . . . well feel free to add to the list.

 

Those were the days weren’t they!

 

[CinemaBoxers]

I personally dont care when someone decides coins "Jumped the Shark"...

 

Im enjoying them. I like collecting, finding, moving, discovering, etc.. and Id hate to think of someone who was discouraged due to another persons opinion of what has 'value' and what does not.

 

I myself like artistic coins - I could care less what the relation to caching is if it appeals to me. After all, the best way to collect, is to collect what you like!

 

Heck, I do this for fun, and regardless of whos buying what, or who supposedly "jumped the shark" - Im enjoying the heck out of collecting coins.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Merged duplicate threads.

[+BlueDeuce]

Darn, I thought somebody finally made a Fonzie coin.

 

Aaaaaa!

[+ScoutingWV]

<snip>

 

And let's face it, everyone is making a profit on this board, it just depends on how much.

 

Um, no. Not everyone.

[+Hula Bum]

Id hate to think of someone who was discouraged due to another persons opinion of what has 'value' and what does not.

 

Goodness gracious, do people really think that others are so weak minded that discussions on this forum are going to brain wash them. Seriously, I've heard it time and time again on here, and I refuse to believe that people can't think on their own.

 

You don't care when coins jumped, that's ok. I do, that's ok too. But I don't think either of our opinions are going to "discourage" someone to think anything they don't believe on their own already. If I'm wrong, then that's really sad.

[+Cornerstone4]

Yep gotta long for those good old days:

 

- The days when you really could never find a geocoin in a cache.

 

Actually, I seem to remember the USA geocoins were fairly pletiful back then. Yes, there are more coins around now, but they are spread out in a lot more caches than we had back then as well...

 

- The days when almost every coin on ebay sold for $20+

 

 

In the true "Good Old Days", there weren't any coins for sale on Ebay. Ebay sales started just before we really jumped the shark.

 

The days when you had to be on the coin forums every minute of every day in order to have a chance at new coin issues.

 

To be honest, I found that kind of fun and exciting! In fact, that is what spawned a lot of the coin buying groups. I enjoyed the friendships there, and the thrill of the hunt. The sheer volume of coins that started coming out broke up the majority of the groups...it became too difficult to meet individual needs.

 

- The days where you had to do a trackable coin, but in order to do a trackable coin with an icon you had to have a huge bank account.

 

I managed to do a few different trackables back then...the big difference was, it was easy to sell 1000 coins then, so you got your money back right away. Now that the minimums have been lowered, there are a ton of coins to choose from, so selling 150-250 coins is probably harder than it was to move 1000 coins in "the good old days!"

 

- The days with no geocoin fairy, geocoin Easter bunny, no geocoin secret agent

 

 

And no Phantom Cacher either....

[+Hula Bum]

<snip>

 

And let's face it, everyone is making a profit on this board, it just depends on how much.

 

Um, no. Not everyone.

 

I still stand by what I said, but just an FYI you are quoting something that is over a year old....

[+Hula Bum]

Yep gotta long for those good old days:

 

- The days when you really could never find a geocoin in a cache.

 

Actually, I seem to remember the USA geocoins were fairly pletiful back then. Yes, there are more coins around now, but they are spread out in a lot more caches than we had back then as well...

 

- The days when almost every coin on ebay sold for $20+

 

 

In the true "Good Old Days", there weren't any coins for sale on Ebay. Ebay sales started just before we really jumped the shark.

 

The days when you had to be on the coin forums every minute of every day in order to have a chance at new coin issues.

 

To be honest, I found that kind of fun and exciting! In fact, that is what spawned a lot of the coin buying groups. I enjoyed the friendships there, and the thrill of the hunt. The sheer volume of coins that started coming out broke up the majority of the groups...it became too difficult to meet individual needs.

 

- The days where you had to do a trackable coin, but in order to do a trackable coin with an icon you had to have a huge bank account.

 

I managed to do a few different trackables back then...the big difference was, it was easy to sell 1000 coins then, so you got your money back right away. Now that the minimums have been lowered, there are a ton of coins to choose from, so selling 150-250 coins is probably harder than it was to move 1000 coins in "the good old days!"

 

- The days with no geocoin fairy, geocoin Easter bunny, no geocoin secret agent

 

 

And no Phantom Cacher either....

 

 

Wow C4, I couldn't agree more, thanks for taking the time to write it all out so I didn't have to!

Edited April 11, 2007 by Hula Bum