Geocoin Theft

[+pezteam]

We seem to be experiencing a rash of Geocoin theft in our area. several jeep travel bugs are still logged in caches but have not been there for months and this month I placed a new travelbug depot cache. Almost every coin that has been placed in the cachen (about 6) has disappeared and not been logged. It doesn't appear to be random because they only take the coins and jeeps. Are there any suggestions on what to do about this, short of not circulating coins?

[+WxGuesser]

I'd get one of those cameras that deer hunters leave out in the field. then make a new travelbug/coin hotel... publish it.. then when you see the pics of the dude stealing the coins, you'll know who is doing it. i really hate it when coins get stolen from my caches.. it makes me feel guilty..

[+Davispak]

Unfortunatly, this is an aspect of the game. When you release a TB/coin there is a good chance that it will eventually come up missing. I think coins and small TB's are probably more suseptable to this. Many may be mistaken for swag or some people just collect them and think nothing of keeping them.

My philosephy on this is that once you release it it is gone. If it lasts a day oh well, if it lasts years out there going from cache to cache..fantastic, but either way I no longer consider it mine and think it just another object I am tracking.

 

Edited for my lame spelin mistackes

Edited June 24, 2006 by Davispak

[+briansnat]

Its a sad fact that some people are so blinded by geocoin frenzy, they lose any sense of honesty they might have had.

[+Glenn]

If only someone could devise a way to put an exploding die pack in a geocoin.

[Keystone]

If only someone could devise a way to put an exploding die pack in a geocoin.

I'll take two! Sentcha an e-mail.

 

Oh, and I'm moving this thread over to the Geocoins Forum.

[+Audion64]

Yep it's sad what a little icon will do to someones morals. I'm fairly shocked that my Illinois Geocoin - Around the World One Cacher at a Time actually went missing... considering it was never supposed to even be placed into a cache or an event TB box... it was supposed to be physically HANDED from you to the next cacher. Someone had alot of gall to steal this one IMO. Of course I guess I'm not surprised... it went to an event that IMO had some pretty loose geo-moral standards anyway. I guess I'll need to specify on the next one I send out that it is NOT to be taken to any of these so called Mega Events.

Edited June 24, 2006 by Audion

[+ADK 46-R]

i have tried to find atleast 3 jeep travel bugs that have been said to be in certain caches in my area and everytime i go there they are never there. since the jeep giveaway ended it seems people have been collecting them for souvineirs. thats why i dont waste my money on coins hinestly, if you have a nice one it will eventually come up missing, its human nature.

Edited June 25, 2006 by ADK 46-R

[+The Blind Acorn]

Strange though how the coins I sent to Europe are moving on! I'm happy and appreciative to those helping with this!!!

Edited June 25, 2006 by The Blind Acorn

[+chaosmanor]

Strange though how the coins I sent to Europe are moving on! I'm happy and appreciative to those helping with this!!!

 

Yeah, we've had the same experience. Australia and New Zealand are very good places, as well. I think that this might say something about Americans that we don't want to hear, but really need to.

 

As for the attitude expressed by Davispak, we agree completely. Once we put it in a cache, it's ultimately just another piece of swag. If a note in the ZipLok, asking that the coin keep moving, isn't enough to keep someone from keeping it, then maybe our eight bucks has just bought that person a lesson in honesty, somewhere down the road. One Can Hope.

[+islander1988]

Coins moving around the Maritimes seemed to be pretty safe, but recently a friend had one of his go missing. Now, a Jungle Garmin coin of mine that I released with the intent of giving others a chance to win a geocoin from me (fashioned after something I saw someone here doing) seems to be MIA. I'm hoping the cacher just forgot to log it and that it will still turn up, but it's sad if a geocoin that I was using to give away geocoins got taken.

[+BlueDeuce]

As each day passes I am more and more convinced that coins should not travel via caches.

 

I do not equate them with Travel bugs. There is no 'Do Not Keep' notice, no logging instructions, and it isn't easy to add instructions with a homemade tag.

[+nscaler]

I have already posted that the problem with the icon(s) are that when you bring up 25 caches in a search, that coin icon showing up is just a beacon to thieves. A non Gc trackable coin (like mine) must be searched for either by reading the logs or actually looking in the cache.

Now if a certain E company would go after people who are selling stolen coins, this could help the situation. Then all you have is the thief who shows his/her coins to friends as part of his/her collection. They can't really do anything else with them. Maybe if they get tired of that coin, they could put it back in circulation - no questions asked ( oops, I found this coin in my drawer. Putting it back out soon).

[+geoSquid]

As each day passes I am more and more convinced that coins should not travel via caches.

 

I do not equate them with Travel bugs. There is no 'Do Not Keep' notice, no logging instructions, and it isn't easy to add instructions with a homemade tag.

 

Every coin I released, starting about 8 weeks ago is surrounded by a card that says this:

 

This geocoin is a traveller, not a keeper. Please log the find at www.geocaching.com and keep this coin moving like any other travel bug. Thank you.

 

Ce geocoin est un voyageur, et non pour conserver. S.V.P. enregistrez-le sur Geocaching.com et ensuite faites-le voyager comme n'importe quel autre Travel Bug. Merci.

 

Este geocoin es un viajero, no para guardar. Por favor registrelo en www.geocaching.com y mantegna esta geocoin en movimiento como cualquier otro travel bug. Gracias

 

Dieser Geocoin soll reisen. Bitte behalte ihn nicht und logge seinen Fund auf

http://www.geocaching.com/

Er sollte wie jeder andere Travelbug behandelt werden. Vielen Dank!

 

I have this as a PDF (6 cards on 8.5" x 11") if anyone wants a copy. I normally print them out on card stock, cut out the message card, and fold it in half to insert it in the coin sleeve/package, then put the coin in so it can't be seen.

 

The card fits inside the little plastic bag for a 2" geocoin, but can be trimmed to fit down to about a 1.5" geocoin bag.

Edited June 25, 2006 by geoSquid

[+chaosmanor]

Every coin I released, starting about 8 weeks ago is surrounded by a card... I have this as a PDF .5" x 11") if anyone wants a copy.

 

Excellent!! I just printed out a page of them. Thank you

Edited June 25, 2006 by chaosmanor

[+Ryder3 & Better Half]

We had a USA geocoin that was taken to Iraq, traveled all over Iraq, was brought back to the states. The cacher who had it,asked permission to hold on to it for a while longer to log it into caches they were finding. When they were ready to give it up, they asked to hand it off to another local cacher, so they could log it in and out of caches they found. We said it was OK, but that we wanted it returned to us when they were ready to give it up. Well, they placed it into a cache and left it there. A friend of ours saw it logged into the cache, and knew we wanted it back, so he went to retrieve it. It wasn't there. It had been removed, and it has been over a month now, and no one has logged it since. This coin had 14653.3mi logged on it.

It is really a shame that there are people out there that will stoop to keeping something that was CLEARLY meant to be a traveler.

[+danieloliveira]

We too have experienced a few "thefts" with regards to geocoins. It seems that these new and colourful coins are particularly sought after by collectors and we have had to resort to "extreme" measures to protect them.

In fact, the idea stems from Holland, where geocoin theft is aparently high according to visiting geocachers.

I have resorted to drilling a hole on the side of the geocoin and attaching a tag or passport to the coin. In this way, I hope to make the coin less attractive to collectors but more attactive to cachers who practice in the true spirit of the game.

 

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

It seems that the icon in the listings is indeed a beacon to thieves and that there are cases (more and more every day) in which there is a systematic "thieving" that occurs in areas.

 

This also occurs with "regular", tagged TB's as well. I am aware of one area in which the thief actually delights in stealing these items.

 

So...what can you do? Nothing. You can enjoy the coin for as long as it travels and be aware that at some point, somehow and somewhere -- it will be taken and placed in a drawer.

 

If you want to remove the profit motive from the coin -- you can damage the image on the coin to make it less attractive to the secondary sales market (drilling and scratching seem to be popular). At least this prevents the thief from being able to list it for sale on eBay (or make it far less attractive for a buyer)

 

Maybe I am naive, but I think MOST people are honest and want to get along, play by rules and trade fair. However, we all know that you can place a cache with very nice items in it (coins, little toys in packages, games, etc) and by the end of a few dozen visits, the cache is full of old golf balls, broken toys, cheap/smelly stuffed animals and the like). All it takes is one fool to ruin the fun.

 

So? Enjoy the hobby, the views, the walks and the journies your TB's have had. I've always held to the truth that the only person you can have control over in this world is yourself. Trying to control the actions of others will only lead to frustration and disapointment. Hold yourself to the high standards of trading fairly and treating TB's with respect.

Edited June 26, 2006 by Lemon Fresh Dog

[+Digi Man]

You know the funny thing is I was reading in another thread and it said something about the Green Man coin and the other one on that site and then gave a link to that site. So I was reading some info in the FAQ's about the coin, and this kind of disturbed me a little:

 

What is a Geocoin?

 

While not actual currency in any country of the world, a Geocoin is an exciting item to leave in a geocache. It's light, easy to carry during a hike, attractive, and turns a cache into a fun treasure hunt. If you are seeking a cache, you may wish to collect different style Geocoins: homemade, personalized, travel bug Geocoins, or one in the style offered right here at geocachetreasure.com. Geocoins may be collected for personal treasure, or take them from one cache and leave them at another. If you are hiding a cache, leaving Geocoins in the cache will generate quite an interest in your cache. Remember, all ages of people hide and seek caches, and Geocoins appeal to people of all ages.

 

What do I do with a Geocoin?

 

You would traditionally use the Geocoin in the new, high-tech adventure game called geocaching. If you are seeking a geocache, you might put a Geocoin in your pocket and when the cache is found, if you take something from the cache, you would leave the Geocoin in its place. If you find a geocache and it contains a Geocoin, you might take the coin and add it to your personal collection of Geocoin treasure or you might take the coin, leave something in its place (perhaps a Geocoin of a different type or style), then put the recently acquired Geocoin into the next geocache you find.

 

I mean... here is a site that actually tells someone new to keep the coin!!! Makes me not want to send anymore out at all...

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

The Greenman coin is non-trackable -- so it's really from a differnt era in the whole "coin craze". I would be surprized if someone took one of my non-trackable coins and moved it into another cache.

 

Of course, I guess I wouldn't even know about it if they did.....

 

This is actually one of the problems in the whole coin thing. There are three general varieties! Each of which has different "rules" - so it gets confusing for some finders.

 

1) Token/Coin -- non-trackable. Keep it, cache it, but trade fair?

2) Coin -- GC Trackable. Move from cache to cache and watch it's journies on GC.com

3) Coin -- Trackable elsewhere. Move from cache to cache and track it at someothersite.com

 

Then, of course, there are the UNACTIVATED coins that are left as FTF prizes, etc.

 

This is one reason I decided to create the original Geobone with a loop to attach a TB tag to. It makes it very clear which ones are to travel. Of course, it also means I pay for a TB tag rather than just the number like I would on a coin.

 

My thought is that the statement "Trackable at www.geocaching.com" will strike some people as a suggestion, not a "rule". Maybe coins should state "This coin must be tracked at www.geocaching.com -- NOW!"

I think that "Track this coin at ...." is a bit stronger.

 

Any ideas?

[+Cornerstone4]

Here is what I have been doing:

 

 

As you can almost see, I put a picture of the icon on the tag, and then add the tracking numbers in large font, since some coins they aren't very visible unless you know to look for them. The reverse of the tag has some verbage explaining that it isn't a trade item, and to please keep it moving.

 

If I have a specific goal for the coin, I'll add that instead.

[+Arrow One]

We too have experienced a few "thefts" with regards to geocoins. It seems that these new and colourful coins are particularly sought after by collectors and we have had to resort to "extreme" measures to protect them.

In fact, the idea stems from Holland, where geocoin theft is aparently high according to visiting geocachers.

I have resorted to drilling a hole on the side of the geocoin and attaching a tag or passport to the coin. In this way, I hope to make the coin less attractive to collectors but more attactive to cachers who practice in the true spirit of the game.

 

 

I too, have drilled holes and attached tags, but a few still turned up missing.

[+Big JohnP]

I haven't drilled any holes on the few that I have started putting out, but I did engrave my geonick on them. So far, so good. They have been moving.

[+forthferalz]

Strange though how the coins I sent to Europe are moving on! I'm happy and appreciative to those helping with this!!!

 

Yeah, we've had the same experience. Australia and New Zealand are very good places, as well. I think that this might say something about Americans that we don't want to hear, but really need to.

 

As for the attitude expressed by Davispak, we agree completely. Once we put it in a cache, it's ultimately just another piece of swag. If a note in the ZipLok, asking that the coin keep moving, isn't enough to keep someone from keeping it, then maybe our eight bucks has just bought that person a lesson in honesty, somewhere down the road. One Can Hope.

 

yeah - send them out to Australia! especially tassie - see some real wilderness. We have a stargate cache now at bottom of the state so it can ping back to you after a short road trip. I found one of the grand experiment coins and a rather rundown looking USA coin we polished up. Decided to make a coin safehouse for some puzzle coins. Travelbug tags are almost as dear as coins by the time we get the tags and bugs won't always FIT.

 

I have spent lots of time and money on this hobby but imho it's a better investment than the gym; keeps tum and brain trim and you can take the kids so what the heck - I'll be using recycled containers from now on and putting a coin in for FTF