Do Holes Really Help?

[+guinea gal]

I have seen many threads that mentioned drilling a hole in a geocoin to decrease its value in hopes that a cacher with sticky fingers won't be tempted to keep it. I have also read other tactics, too, such as marking it or including a tag. I have always wondered if drilling a hole in it really helped? After reading about it again in the Fess Up, Who Keeps The Coins They Find? thread, I decided I had to ask, and I wasn't sure that thread was the place to ask it (tangents 'n all) so I decided to start a new thread.

So-for those of you who have hole-y coins "in the wild", has it worked?

I got started on geocaching indirectly through collecting elongated (pressed) pennies. Needless to say, my EC collection is much bigger than my geocoin collection. Several of the ECs have holes in them. I didn't put them there, they came that way. Presumably someone along the line decided putting holes in them would make them appealing as necklaces or keychains. I don't think that fad went over well, even though now there are EC presses out there with a hole punch built into the machine. So now there are old ECs in the world with holes in them.

I personally don't like holes in my ECs, but that doesn't keep me from collecting them. Presumably, someone who really wanted to keep a geocoin they found in the wild wouldn't be deterred by a hole, either. As I own one of those little battery operated, hand held engravers, I have been engraving my initials on coins that I release. I would similarly guess that if someone wanted the coin bad enough, they wouldn't care that there is a GG engraved on both sides. But the three coins I have out are moving, so maybe there is something there.

Does anyone else have ideas on this? Do holes help?

 

(I have run across a cacher recently who thought, just for fun, he might weld a state Geocoin to the bottom on an ammo can, tracking # face down, just to screw with people! Sadly, I think some people around here would still steal the ammo can and try to cut it loose!)

[+Mystery Ink]

Holes or defacing the coins do help from what I have seen especially since alot of collectors don't want defaced coins it lowers the value.This cache has been doing fine the coins are attached to the container as well.

GCRYED

[+IceCreamMan]

I'm skeptical about this. First of all, I don't think coins are lost any more often than travel bugs. And most coins that go MIA have fallen victim to the same forces that afflict travel bugs. Someone picks it up and looses it, forgets they have it or just quits caching OR the cache is muggled or otherwise destroyed. Drilling a hole in a coin, in and of itself, won't do anything to solve that problem (though if the hole is used to attach a tag, it might make it more likely the person picking it up will realize it's nature and move it on with due speed).

 

Secondly, if someone is going to steal a coin why would a little hole stop him? If I found a mou10bike v1 or v2 in a cache, it would go into my collection, hole or not, why would a thief stealing a coin for their own collection be any different? There have also been cases of thieves selling activated coins on Ebay. If they don't mind ripping someone off by selling activated coins, why would they draw the line at selling activated coins with holes in them?

 

I've got about eighty coins in the wild and, so far and the only ones with hole are the ones that were made with them. I've only lost a handful of them (knock on wood). Two of those I've lost have been because the caches were destroyed. I'm hopeful the others will turn up some day, but if not, I'll probably recycle the numbers on the next coin I make.

[+AtlantaGal]

It works for me... so far.

[+pdxmarathonman]

Holes or defacing the coins do help from what I have seen especially since alot of collectors don't want defaced coins it lowers the value.This cache has been doing fine the coins are attached to the container as well.

GCRYED

That coin in the lower right hasn't been defaced. Hmmm, what does the other side look like?

[+Marky]

(Goal) Tags really help travelbugs and geocoins move, and drilling holes in geocoins allow tags to be attached to them. That is the main reason I drill holes in mine.

 

--Marky

[+fox-and-the-hound]

We found this the other day and it seems to work pretty well. We'll probably do something similar.

 

[+The Blind Acorn]

We found this the other day and it seems to work pretty well. We'll probably do something similar.

 

 

Where does that dog tag/TB looking thing come from??? PM me if you know.

[+pdxmarathonman]

We found this the other day and it seems to work pretty well. We'll probably do something similar.

 

 

Where does that dog tag/TB looking thing come from??? PM me if you know.

Yeah - I didn't know they made them as small as a penny

 

They're for sale here

[+AtlantaGal]

Where does that dog tag/TB looking thing come from??? PM me if you know.

 

That's a Travel Buddy Tag from Geoswag. My coins don't leave home without them! They're very reasonably priced if purchased in 10-packs.

[+vds]

It works for me... so far.

 

Me too....so far. Launched three coins drilled out with (lame) home-built attached tags mentioning the coin goals a month ago. Thinking positive thoughts.

[+vds]

That coin in the lower right hasn't been defaced. Hmmm, what does the other side look like?

 

Nobody would EVER want one of those. Better try to dump it on eBay

[+Team JSAM]

It sounds like the drilling works I thing I will start drilling I was also thinking of using a keyring then welding the end so its even harder to take the tag off any maybe they will give up and put it back in a cache.

[+Team JSAM]

As far as tags go these would work just as good as the ones at the geoswag store and if you buy more then one set most sellers are combining s/h making for a pretty good deal.

 

Clicky

[+Mystery Ink]

That coin in the lower right hasn't been defaced. Hmmm, what does the other side look like?

 

Nobody would EVER want one of those. Better try to dump it on eBay

UM thats the whole point of that cache. IT'S for logging purposes only.

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

I scratched "X"'s into all the coins in my TB called "Learn to Log a Geocoin" -- it was stolen. (or taken, or borrowed, or otherwise is no longer in circulation and reported MIA)

[+BadAndy]

Over 40 of my personal coins and another dozen or so of my travelling coins are out in the wild. No holes, tags, threats or defacements. So far they fare about the same as any other travelbug has.

 

I believe most geocachers are decent folk. The ones that would steal a coin would steal it defaced or not. They also would be the same ones that trade pocket lint for premium swag.

[+pdxmarathonman]

Nobody would EVER want one of those. Better try to dump it on eBay

UM thats the whole point of that cache. IT'S for logging purposes only.

True. But the Geonap and the aforementioned Moun10Bike coins aren't chained-up with the others. I am sure they didn't spend more than a few minutes in the box But I am sure you knew we were joking about a Moun10Bike coin, since your profile indicates that you've seen both sides of one

Edited April 26, 2006 by pdxmarathonman

[+guinea gal]

Holes or defacing the coins do help from what I have seen especially since alot of collectors don't want defaced coins it lowers the value.This cache has been doing fine the coins are attached to the container as well.

GCRYED

 

What a neat idea for a cache!

Unfortunately I don't think one like that would last around here, considering a fight broke out recently over a unactivated geocoin that was left as a FTF prize, and 2 people found it! : ) I agree, someone who wants a coin bad enough won't care if there is a hole in it. I have three coins in the wild so far. I etched my initials in 2 of them, and they are still traveling. The third is a Bikedog coin, which I left intact. So far it is traveling also, but I think it is still going through the friend of a friend of a friend channel. But everyone is enthusiastic about sending it on its way (it is one of the Bikedog race coins)

[+Mystery Ink]

Nobody would EVER want one of those. Better try to dump it on eBay

UM thats the whole point of that cache. IT'S for logging purposes only.

True. But the Geonap and the aforementioned Moun10Bike coins aren't chained-up with the others. I am sure they didn't spend more than a few minutes in the box But I am sure you knew we were joking about a Moun10Bike coin, since your profile indicates that you've seen both sides of one

LOL

[+chaosmanor]

Over 40 of my personal coins and another dozen or so of my travelling coins are out in the wild. No holes, tags, threats or defacements. So far they fare about the same as any other travelbug has.

 

I believe most geocachers are decent folk. The ones that would steal a coin would steal it defaced or not. They also would be the same ones that trade pocket lint for premium swag.

 

Exactly! I've seen gecoins with holes in them, and I think it's silly, in most cases. If I send a Geocoin or a Travel Bug into the world, and it disappears, well, it's only a few bucks. There are better uses of my time than drilling holes into metal discs. If I really don't want one of my coins stolen, I'll keep it!

[+bob393]

I don't drill mine and I have lost one so far, out of about 12.

I think it would help but I couldn't deface a coin like that.