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Geocoins Stolen From The Mail

geoSquid

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geoSquid

+geoSquid

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Posted (edited)

geoSquid geocoin #279 (copper) has been reported stolen in the mail. If you see someone auctioning it let me know. If you see someone holding it, slap them upside the head for me please. :laughing:

 

Actually, if other people know of identifiable coins that have been stolen, this might be a good thread to list them for future reference.

Edited by geoSquid
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Haughton's Hunters

+Haughton's Hunters

Posted
Posted

geoSquid geocoin #279 (copper) has been reported stolen in the mail. If you see someone auctioning it let me know. If you see someone holding it, slap them upside the head for me please. :laughing:

 

Actually, if other people know of identifiable coins that have been stolen, this might be a good thread to list them for future reference.

 

Stealing something from the mail is Federal offense. If you know someone has a coin that was stolen from the mail, call the nearest USPS and ask them who to contact. They will know what to do. Posession of known stolen goods is illegal as well, so even if they aren't the ones who stole it, if they feel they did nothing wrong, they'll have no problems telling where they got the coin from.

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SUp3rFM & Cruella

+SUp3rFM & Cruella

Posted
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Hope your story ends like this one:

 

Stolen iPod recovered - You might have heard that iPods are beginning to become something people like to steal. I heard that this is becoming a real problem in NYC, where the police have suggested people use some other type of ear buds. Apparently the white ear buds are a dead give-away that you have an iPod on your person. What a sick society we are part of. I sometimes consider inviting the Vogons to a poetry read hoping they will actually build that “Intergalactic throughway”!

 

In any case, one person who had an iPod stolen from her house managed to get it back. The Washington Post reported in mid-May. Once the iPod was gone, she and her husband searched eBay listings for the iPod which had a special statement engraved on the back. After some searching they discovered a listing of an iPod showing that particular inscription.

 

After contacting the police, they traced the seller to a Sports Cards and Memorabilia store. Police contacted the store and discovered the person who had sold it to the shop, then arrested the thief. There was no word in the article if the thief was forced to pay back the money he got from the store owner. Although the thief did get a reward, a stay in jail during his birthday.

 

I am really happy for this family who used the Internet to find the item taken from their home. The moral to this story? Use the Internet for good things and good will come of it.

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geoSquid

+geoSquid

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We will keep our eyes open for your coin! :( (undercover coin agent! LOL!!)

 

A number of people have asked why both coins I've worked on are serial numbered (GAGE8 and geoSquid). The main reason is just so they are more "individual", but the reason seldom spoken is so that stolen coins are more readily identifiable if they turn up on eBay or being offered for trade/sale. There are no unnumbered coins (although the 6 mint samples have something other than a number, I know where all 6 mint samples are :D )

 

Yes, I hope they turn up too, since the coin was pinched by a Canada Post employee between Ottawa and Montreal (or, to be fair, by someone with access to the mail between Ottawa and Montreal). The package arrived slit open without a coin/pin, but with a note inside from Canada Post saying they received it that way or it was damaged in transit. So for the person who asked how I know it was stolen, I hope that answers your question. I suppose it may not have been stolen, it may have just accidentally been subject to some kind of strange mechanical envelope slitting machine issue and fell out, getting noticed later and having the note inserted when they couldn't find weird envelope contents bouncing around the ground, but I'd say the good money is on "stolen".

 

I'm also keeping an eye out for GAGE8 coin #198 which was pinched with a cache that was muggled a few months ago.

Edited by geoSquid
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avroair

avroair

Posted
Posted

Coins routinely cut the envelopes they are in and get lost. It happens from the coins jostling around in the envelopes. The good money is that this is what happened, not somebody stealing it.

 

Yep. I sent a batch of my first geocoins out from a New York post office and 6 envelopes turned up without coins in them. :D I returned to the Post Office to inquire and they said the machine does that alot. They don't perform hand stamps in NYC. I always mail coins from New Jersey and have them hand stamped. The only problems I have now are packages to foreign countries. Seems 1 in 4 don't make it to the destination. :(

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geoSquid

+geoSquid

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Coins routinely cut the envelopes they are in and get lost. It happens from the coins jostling around in the envelopes. The good money is that this is what happened, not somebody stealing it.

 

Although I do not doubt what you are saying can happen, I find it difficult to believe, given how I pack them, and that out of 200ish sent out packed this way, only one seems to have had this issue.

Edited by geoSquid
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avroair

avroair

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Posted

It is likely that someone might have taken it since it is a coin and even to non cachers deemed as valuable or a collector's item. We can only hope the person is stupid enough to show themselves either thru the website or on ebay or something like that.

 

I am sorry for your loss.

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Eartha

+Eartha

Posted
Posted

Folks, go back and read the threads about how to package your coins. It's in the pinned "Everything Thread" There was a lot of discussion on how to pack the coins so they don't cut through the mailers, it's apparently a common enough problem that their were numerous posts about it. You cannot "assume" anything and start accusing people, when it could have simply been the packaging. Don't start accusing postal workers of theft. They work hard in all kinds of weather to get your coins delivered, and would not risk losing a job over a small trinket. Did you secure the coins inside the package? Did you pad the package? Tape it securely around the edges? or was it simply placed in an envelope and sent on its way? Read the shipping thread, it's very informative!

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Laval K-9

+Laval K-9

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Posted (edited)

We will keep our eyes open for your coin! :D (undercover coin agent! LOL!!)

 

Yes, I hope they turn up too, since the coin was pinched by a Canada Post employee between Ottawa and Montreal (or, to be fair, by someone with access to the mail between Ottawa and Montreal). The package arrived slit open without a coin/pin, but with a note inside from Canada Post saying they received it that way or it was damaged in transit. So for the person who asked how I know it was stolen, I hope that answers your question. I suppose it may not have been stolen, it may have just accidentally been subject to some kind of strange mechanical envelope slitting machine issue and fell out, getting noticed later and having the note inserted when they couldn't find weird envelope contents bouncing around the ground, but I'd say the good money is on "stolen".

 

 

We are the ones who received the damaged envelope. We still have it in our possession so, we are including a picture so you can see by yourself that it was open by someone, it was surely not done mechanicaly. The brown envelope was inside the plastic bag from Post Canada saying they were sorry. Big deal! :sad:

envelope.jpg

Edited by Laval K-9
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Jake - Team A.I.

Jake - Team A.I.

Posted
Posted

I purchased a bunch of padded envelopes with a self sealing strip. I set aside some coins for a trade and closed the envelope, waiting for a trader to send me their address. It took about a day or so for them to get back to me. In that time, the seal had already become un-affixed. I'm sure that if I didn't add the extra tape I apply, that it would have come appart in transit. The picture looks like no extra tape was applied to the envelope.

 

The post office has sorting machines, and untaped edges could easily get caught. These machines would account for the look of a torn edge. There's actually a geocoin dedicated to the Torn Geocoin Envelope.

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MountainMudbug

+MountainMudbug

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I totally agree that packaging methods can make all the difference.

Those who are shipping coins out really need to take precautions. A few extra cents is worth it to make sure it arrives safely.

 

I haven't mailed any coins, but I do mail a lot of stuff for ebay and my website. Whatever gets shipped, wrap it in a little bubble wrap (even though the envelopes are already padded), and stick a couple pieces of crumpled newspaper in there too. If they can't feel exactly what is inside the package (especially coinage), the scum (whoever they may be) will be much less likely to risk opening it up to find out.

 

And tape the heck out of the envelope on the ends, that will significantly eliminate the 'machine ripped the package' excuse. And as Jake said above, those self-seal things can come loose easily, so tape the heck out of that too.

 

I've shipped over a thousand packages and only twice have buyers claimed they did not arrive. And one of those had a Delivery Conf. that showed it was delivered, so go figure on that.

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Shop99er

+Shop99er

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Posted

When I mail geocoins, I seal the envelope with the self-sealing strip. Then I staple it twice, then I use clear packing tape to tape over the staples. So this way, it has three levels of protection.

 

What is isn't telling you is that you need:

 

1) A 6-year-old to open the package.

 

or, if you don't have one....

 

2) A jackhammer, crowbar, and TNT.

 

On the other hand, I have never had a coin from Mauison come up missing. :sad:

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Eartha

+Eartha

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Posted

The photo looks like the bag was torn in the machine they run envelopes through at the post office. They use a machine to cancel stamps, and unless you wrote all over the package "HAND CANCEL" "FRAGILE" or asked them to cacnel it verbally when you were there, it would have been machine cancelled. The coin can jam up the machine, since it's a solid unbendable object, while the envelope is flexible, and RIIIIIIP! Plink! Roll! There goes your coin under the table, into the crack and down into the basement or some other place of now return. Someday someone is going to be sweeping the floors at the Post Office and wonder what is this shiny object? With the bazillions of pieces of mail that pass through and the number of people who handle them, they may not going to remember the one cacher who asked "have you seen my coin?" It wouldn't hurt for you to call the Post Office that sealed it in the palstic bag and ask if it's been found. Was there a zip code on the plastic bag?

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hidnseek

+hidnseek

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I know that there are stores that sell unclaimed luggage left at airports (there is one in the Ottawa area)

 

So I wonder if there is a store that sells unable to be delivered items? Or just what they do with all the stuff that rips out of envelopes and can not be claimed.

 

Did you contact Canada Post and let them know what was missing? They have to have some kind of lost and found but I don't know how that works.

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slumbersix

+slumbersix

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I know that there are stores that sell unclaimed luggage left at airports (there is one in the Ottawa area)

 

So I wonder if there is a store that sells unable to be delivered items? Or just what they do with all the stuff that rips out of envelopes and can not be claimed.

 

Did you contact Canada Post and let them know what was missing? They have to have some kind of lost and found but I don't know how that works.

 

The post office does have a place they send "undeliverables" to to be sold. I'm not sure exactly where its at, but I know it exists.

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Big JohnP

+Big JohnP

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Posted

I just got a report that some coins that I mailed out over 4 months ago finally arrived in the mail. Boy did that take a long time to get there!! (and it was only a 60 mile journey)

 

B) Wow! Now, that's what I call "snail mail". The snail must have been exhausted ;)

 

Glad to hear your coin made it to destination.

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Green Achers

+Green Achers

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Posted

[The post office does have a place they send "undeliverables" to to be sold. I'm not sure exactly where its at, but I know it exists.

In the US, they auction off the floor sweepings. So once your coin breaks out of the packaging, they don't assume to put things back together... rather they toss it into the auction. So it turns out that your coin that was 'lost in the mail' could be legally owned by the winner of a government auction. Your only protection would be the insurance that you could have bought.

 

Of the coins I've mailed, three letters (totalling four Green Achers Glowing Benchmark coins) never arrived. For incoming coins, only one never arrived. Why do these things happen? Who knows.

 

The only good news is that I was able to successfully replace the missing coins so my tradee didn't feel like I was the skamster. :D (The lost incoming was also resolved.) The bad news is that's four less coins that I'll be stashing in caches in the future. ;) That's because my project planned to (a) Sell some, (B) Trade or Gift some and then © Stash the rest to bring joy to unexpecting cachers. B)

 

So a lost coin here or there is no heart loss. It just happens and it's not going to take my joy! B)

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geoSquid

+geoSquid

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Part of the problem is that for small items, such as a single geocoin, the post office has the advantage. How much time should I spend trying to recover my costs (the cost of replacing Laval's coin) from the post office.

 

Answer: not much. I could waste more time on hold on the customer service line waiting to ask about it than the item is worth.

 

Make no mistake, the post office knows this too.

 

Given the lack of other marks on the envelope in the picture and the convenient tear pretty much exactly where a human would open it, I still say the good money is on "stolen in the mail".

 

And if people think no postal employee would risk their career for a trinket, you are sadly mistaken. Postal theft is sufficiently commonplace that solutions have been proposed such as cameras watching employees, and metal detectors on exits where the employees work.

 

Personally, I've had birthday cards arrive, slit open, minus the bank note that was included at the source. Yes, people shouldn't mail bank notes... of course, if postal employees didn't STEAL the bank notes, there'd be no problem mailing them would there? As a test a some years back, I mailed out a dozen letters across canada from a dozen postal outlets around town. Each one had a $2 note in it. Only 7 arrived intact. This led me to conclude that there are postal employees who are willing to risk their career for $2, and if that's the case, then someone willing to risk their career to steal a geocoin is well within the bounds of reasonable.

 

Can machines eat your mail? Sure they can, and it definitely happens. But machine eaten mail is usually much more damaged. Could a machine have eaten this one? Possibly, but I doubt it.

 

Strangely enough, it's the big stuff that seems to get stolen less, presumably because it's harder to walk out with a larger item than something that's easily pocketable.

 

So if you are a postal worker, and are offended by my opinion of postal workers, well, I'm sorry you feel that way.

 

In any case, I think this topic has been beaten to death. The point was to make note for future reference that copper geoSquid #279 has been misappropriated. That aim has been achieved.

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pdxmarathonman

+pdxmarathonman

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Posted

[The post office does have a place they send "undeliverables" to to be sold. I'm not sure exactly where its at, but I know it exists.

In the US, they auction off the floor sweepings.

Doesn't it seem strange that the auctions are not online? Seems like shipping charges could be included :anitongue:

This way, they don't run the risk of getting the most value for the auction :anitongue:

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geoSquid

+geoSquid

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In any case, I think this topic has been beaten to death. The point was to make note for future reference that copper geoSquid #279 has been misappropriated. That aim has been achieved.

 

So close the topic and no one else can comment. :anitongue:

 

Good plan. I never noticed before that the originator could do that. Thanks!

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