Stolen Geocoins

October 1, 2006

Well I have had another geocoin stolen again. You would think all geocachers are honest good people. What are they going to do with the coins? Stick em in a box and hide em from everyone. If ever i am at some kind of event and a person pulls out a bunch of coins and dont let anyone see the codes then I am going to think he or she has a bunch of stolen coins. Beleive me its going to get ugly.

October 1, 2006

Well I have had another geocoin stolen again. You would think all geocachers are honest good people. What are they going to do with the coins? Stick em in a box and hide em from everyone. If ever i am at some kind of event and a person pulls out a bunch of coins and dont let anyone see the codes then I am going to think he or she has a bunch of stolen coins. Beleive me its going to get ugly.

I was under the impression that collecting geocoings was common practice. The sites I have seen for tracking geocoins say placing the coin in another cache is not necessary.

Thinking that all cachers are honest people is naive as cachers are simply a cross section of the general population so that 10% are always represented. You might wish to place your coins in premium member only caches to reduce the geopirate effect. If it is in a member only cache then at least you know the individual has paid money to support caching. Such a person seems less likely to 'steal'. One local cacher who places a good number of challenging caches has begun making his newest caches member only caches, but his profile page says non members can contact him and he will provide the location of the caches for them as well. This way he has some control over who is visiting his caches and can limit the cache pirate effect.

On a side note, all the coins I have seen cost $8-$12 to make. Is that what people are paying or am I looking in the wrong place? There also seems to be a market for these coins on ebay. I would think this would make grabbing these coins very attractive for the unethical.

October 1, 2006

Yes collecting coins is a common practice. People buy the coins for themselves. They usually place the coins in a coin book and they take em to meet and greets and other things like that. Usually they let other people look at the coins and let them write down the codes so they can "discover" the coins and build up their stats. As for ebay, those coins are suppose to be unactivated. Selling an activated coin is not any good to most people.

You are correct on the price of the coins. They run from about 8 to 16 dollars. Thats why I am upset about it. They cost me my hard earned money.

As for the geocachers that "collect" coins out of geocaches they are stealing. The coins are in fact a type of travel bug. Are we suppose to be able to take travel bugs and just keep em for ourselves? I think not.

Yes I know that anything we place in a geocache is subject to being taken. There is no law against it.

The coin is placed in the cache for other people to see and for the owner to track it and see how far it travels and where it travels. It is not placed in the cache for the first idiot to come around to take and keep it. unless its a FTF prize and the owner will state that in the description.

October 1, 2006

Pssssssst! Hey.....I got some geocoins for sale.........cheeeep!

Don't ask.......don't tell!

Wire Palidin.......San Francisco

October 1, 2006

Yes collecting coins is a common practice. People buy the coins for themselves.

As for the geocachers that "collect" coins out of geocaches they are stealing. The coins are in fact a type of travel bug.

Whie I certainly understand what you are saying, I wonder if you are including anything with your coins that makes it very clear you wish them to be used as a TB rather than something the finder can keep?

I am not new to caching, have no interest in geocoins, but was sincerily under the impression that if I found one I could keep it. The reason I am under this impression is because one of the larger geocoin tracking sites specifies they do not have to be put into another cache.

Check out geocoin.net to see what I am talking about. On the main page click on the various coins that can be tracked at the site. A common blurb for the coins is "If you found one of my geocoins, log your find here. My geocoins are meant to be kept and enjoyed. You don't have to move them to a new cache but you can if you like. It will be interesting to see which geocoin can rack up the most miles before ending up in someone's collection."

So I totally understand why you wouldn't want your investment in coins to simply end up in someone's private collection, but I can also completely understand how people with no ill intent could collect them and be clueless they were doing anything wrong. If I found one I would at least log it and see what the owner's intent for it was, but that's only because I have been around long enough to know to check these things. I can see many cachers finding the coin and not even knowing what a geocoin is.

38.2k · October 1, 2006

I was under the impression that collecting geocoings was common practice. The sites I have seen for tracking geocoins say placing the coin in another cache is not necessary.

It is a common practice, but honest collectors buy or trade for their coins. Taking a coin that is owned by someone, activated and meant to to travel so others can enjoy it is no different than stealing a travel bug.

I have no problem with collecting non trackable coins (as long as the owner doesn't have a mission for it) or trackable coins that have not been activated. I think the general consensus of the community is that these kinds of coins are meant to be trade items, but an "owned" coin that is sent out as a traveler should stay a traveler.

So I totally understand why you wouldn't want your investment in coins to simply end up in someone's private collection, but I can also completely understand how people with no ill intent could collect them and be clueless they were doing anything wrong

.

I've had at least two stolen so far. Each of my coins has a laminated note with it saying "This coin is meant to move from cache to cache for others to enjoy. Please do not remove it from circulation. It is not meant to be kept as a collectible". The coin's pages also say that, so there can be no mistake about it.

The missing coins also disappeared from caches with no associated logs. They were dropped off in a cache and the next finder said the coin was no longer there. This means someone visited the cache just to get the coin and left no record of their visit because they knew they were doing something that was not kosher.

Edited October 1, 2006 by briansnat

October 1, 2006

Sorry if i come off really pissed. I am just peeved. When you log in my coins it will state that the coin is to travel from cache to cache. I dont now how it is in other states but here in NC you will find a bunch of geocoins in the wild. IF you spend a day caching, chances are you will come across a geocoin. We look at em and admire em and then move em on to the next cache. We go home and enter tracking code and then we get another little pic for our stats page. If every coin is suppose to be stolen by the first person that comes to the cache then what is the purpose of haveing tackable coins?

6.5k · October 1, 2006

Whie I certainly understand what you are saying, I wonder if you are including anything with your coins that makes it very clear you wish them to be used as a TB rather than something the finder can keep?

Sadly, some people do see 'trackable on geocaching.com' as an indicator the thing is a traveler

I am not new to caching, have no interest in geocoins, but was sincerily under the impression that if I found one I could keep it. The reason I am under this impression is because one of the larger geocoin tracking sites specifies they do not have to be put into another cache.

Check out geocoin.net to see what I am talking about. On the main page click on the various coins that can be tracked at the site. A common blurb for the coins is "If you found one of my geocoins, log your find here. My geocoins are meant to be kept and enjoyed. You don't have to move them to a new cache but you can if you like. It will be interesting to see which geocoin can rack up the most miles before ending up in someone's collection."

Its possiable something you find is something you can keep, but you shouldn't assume that. Either check with who left it, or check out the tracking site and see what it says. If the tracking for the coin says anything but 'feel free to keep this', shouldn't you release it?

So I totally understand why you wouldn't want your investment in coins to simply end up in someone's private collection, but I can also completely understand how people with no ill intent could collect them and be clueless they were doing anything wrong. If I found one I would at least log it and see what the owner's intent for it was, but that's only because I have been around long enough to know to check these things. I can see many cachers finding the coin and not even knowing what a geocoin is.

I could only see someone keeping something by mistake if the whatever didn't tell you where to track it at. For example, sig items that are tracked at something like http://www.sigitem.com/ but don't give the url on the item... If i get a wooden nickel (or whatever) that says #067 on it, I may think they're just numbered... not that this is a tracking code for use something.

Thankfully all geocaching.com trackable coins are supposed to have the something about where to track them on the coin. The only way you could keep one of those (by mistake) is if you don't bother actually looking at the coin... "oh look something shiney, this was obvisouly meant for me to keep. What's this, 'track at geocaching.com' business, hmm I wonder why they put that on here? Oh well no matter why should I check that out, I've got a shinny trinket of my own... "

October 1, 2006

I placed my first coin back in July in a multi-cache that involves a 12 mile hike. I was doing another hike in the area yesterday and stopped by to check on the coin as it was still listed as being in the cache, not suprising since I was the last to log the cache, but the coin was missing. At least they had to work for it.

October 1, 2006

Sorry if i come off really pissed. I am just peeved.

Trust me, no offense taken, I totally understand where you are coming from.

When you log in my coins it will state that the coin is to travel from cache to cache. I dont now how it is in other states but here in NC you will find a bunch of geocoins in the wild.

I have yet to see one, but I am not the world's most active cacher.

If every coin is suppose to be stolen by the first person that comes to the cache then what is the purpose of haveing tackable coins?

Since my only knowledge of geocoins comes from the site I linked to in my previous post I have long asked myself why people would spend so much money for a collectable item. Now I know. I believe had I found a coin in the wild that had a tracking number/url on it or preferably came with a laminated explanation card I would understand what the intent was for it, but there are people out there who need to be told not to use the blow drier in the bathtub, ya know?

Another thing to consider is that the opinions you will find on this site are coming from mostly experienced cachers who not only have been around a long time, but read the forums enough to know what the general standards are. I consider myself of at least average intelligence, but it took me awhile to figure out just what the deal was with geocoins.

If I were to ever invest in such a coin I think I would place it in a member only cache and specifiy on a card with the coin I wanted it to travel only to other member only caches. Either that or only from 5/5 rated caches. Anything to keep the coin out of the hands of the general population which is where I believe most of the theives and newbies who don't know better are.

Just my thoughts, but please do understand I completely understand your frustration and disappointment. I placed my first cache a few years ago and it went missing in short order. Haven't placed another yet although I have grand intentions of doing so. I was crushed by the effort and expense I went through just being taken by a jerk or someone who simply didn't know better. My new motto is I won't place anything into the wild that I would be bothered by losing forever.

I have bunch of unused TB tags that I am simply slipping into caches I visit as I know my personality well enough to know the day I put out a TB and it goes missing I will be POed. So, I don't do it.

38.2k · October 1, 2006

I placed my first coin back in July in a multi-cache that involves a 12 mile hike. I was doing another hike in the area yesterday and stopped by to check on the coin as it was still listed as being in the cache, not suprising since I was the last to log the cache, but the coin was missing. At least they had to work for it.

In instances like these I suspect a previous finder. They'll know the cache location and can shortcut to it. They want that coin, but is it really worth not logging a smiley to them? Probably not, so I'm guessing they already have a "found it" for that cache.

October 1, 2006

In instances like these I suspect a previous finder. They'll know the cache location and can shortcut to it. They want that coin, but is it really worth not logging a smiley to them? Probably not, so I'm guessing they already have a "found it" for that cache.

I placed an unused TB tag in a cache recently and logged that I took nothing and left an item of no interest to anyone other than those interested in TBs. Within hours the owner logged that he had 'paid a maintenance visit' to the cache, found a TB tag in it and would put it to good use soon.

While I accept that it is the cache owner's prerogative to take swag from their own cache I can assure you I will not be dropping off anything of any value in any of their other caches.

At least the guy had the decency to log that he took it, but wouldn't ya think he would have left something in the cache in exchange?

When I leave trade items with actual cash value part of the enjoyment I get is seeing a future visitor log they took it. I would say the person taking the item logs it only 25% of the time. I have even left books registered with bookcrossing.com in caches with all the appropriate stickers and info on them. Not once has anyone logged they took the book on geocaching.com OR bookcrossing.com and I have confirmed the books have all been taken.

Bottom line is there seems to be a high percentage of people, at least in my area, who are swag happy and won't even give the person leaving the item the satisfaction of a log note.

No idea why I wrote all this, guess I just wanted an excuse to vent a bit.

9.3k · October 1, 2006

Each of my coins has a laminated note with it saying "This coin is meant to move from cache to cache for others to enjoy. Please do not remove it from circulation. It is not meant to be kept as a collectible". The coin's pages also say that, so there can be no mistake about it.

I think that's a great idea. Geocoins are one of the things I really enjoy in this game, and if said coins are not in circulation, I don't get to admire them. I move every coin I find. Probably 80% of the coins I find have nothing additional with them to indicate they are not just a high dollar piece of swag. I can certainly see how someone new to the game might get that idea.

Edit to add: I just released my first coin into the wild. I wish I had thought of Brian's idea.

Edited October 1, 2006 by Clan Riffster

October 1, 2006

The very first coin I placed in the wild was stolen. The coin itself says it is not to be kept, and the coin page says it is supposed to travel. Nothing has ever been logged for my coin since I placed it in it's first cache. The person who took the coin is a thief. No ifs, ands or buts. Just MHO.

October 1, 2006

It is becoming a common practice in my area for a cacher to place a geocoin "clone" with a laminated copy of the coin in a cache with the tracking number on it and for it to be passed around. This protects his investment and alows the coin to "travel". It is labeled a clone so the person going to the cache knows it in advance and it does not tempt a person to keep it. The real ones disappear fast in my area. I kinda like the idea

22k · October 1, 2006

Travel bugs are for traveling, geocoins are pretties (coin and icon).

(Except the moun10bike coin)

Edited October 1, 2006 by BlueDeuce

10.1k · October 1, 2006

Yes collecting coins is a common practice. People buy the coins for themselves. They usually place the coins in a coin book and they take em to meet and greets and other things like that. Usually they let other people look at the coins and let them write down the codes so they can "discover" the coins and build up their stats. As for ebay, those coins are suppose to be unactivated. Selling an activated coin is not any good to most people.

But, if someone 'discovers' my missing geocoins, then I will know where they are! I've discovered some strange goings on looking at coins that I've put into caches that have disappeared for quite a while.

The fact is that people want new icons for their coins. Geocaching makes money from them, and is more than happy to oblige. I have one out of five travel bugs missing, and three out of eight geocoins missing. I doubt that I'll spend the money for any new geocoins. On the other fin, two of my travel bugs have accomplished their goals!

1.5k · October 2, 2006

First let me say MODS, please don't move this, I think that a coin thread in here is a good idea, as not everyone heads to the different boards.

Drilling holes and defacing the coins then attaching a tag with clear intentions has helped many coins travel.

Coins if activated and in a cache are TB's and meant to travel. No need to trade for them if you know they are activated and you can help to move them (not to a binder of course). Hopefully they are clearly marked as such, if not don't take if you don't know and don't have a fair trade item.

Coins if unactivated in a cache are swag, trade fairly (yes, this means a 5-10 item). You then can activate it and keep it, leave it unactivated or activate it and send it on its way.

Coins withough GC tracking (they will say "trackable at geocaching.com" if they are trackable) are trade items.

If someone picks a coin up without logging it they know they are doing something wrong and nothin' can be done about it. I just wish they would at least have the decency to say they took it so others went rush out to look for something that's not there.

Other than our local group of friends who has gone searching for our coins I don't think any of our coins dropped have been traded for fairly or even reported taken (THOUGH THE NEXT LOG ENTRY STATES THERE IS NO COIN IN THE CACHE). We've taken to only dropping them on really long hard hikes, that way at least we know they had a grueling trip getting there to steal it!

1.5k · October 2, 2006

Whoops, to the original question---

Of the 14 trackable coins we have out 2 have gone missing.

(most of the coins we drop are non-trackable trade items)

Edit to note--we have 6 TB's out there and 3 of those are missing

So really the coins are fairing much better than our TB's are!

Edited October 2, 2006 by Hula Bum

October 2, 2006

I have bought 10 new civil war geocoins. They just came in the mail yesterday. They are really nice and I would love to put em out in the wild but with so many coins being stolem I am now scared to. Might do the picture of the coin and send it out.. sounds like a great idea, but who wants to look at pictures of coins when the real thing is so much nicer. Its a shame other goecachers are spoiling it for us.

1.5k · October 2, 2006

There's an ongoing debate of the laminated coin thing goin on in the coin forum. I personally don't like them, if I'm gonna find something I want to see the real thing. If you are going to make "copy" coins just make sure that on the coin page and in the title it clearly states that it is a copy and not the real deal so people aren't mad/disappointed when they get there.

October 2, 2006

I have one stolen. It was a PA coin and it had a hole drilled in it, and a padlock and and a dog tag.

Now I just trade them as swag and let someone else deal with the disappointment.

October 2, 2006

I have one stolen. It was a PA coin and it had a hole drilled in it, and a padlock and and a dog tag.

Now I just trade them as swag and let someone else deal with the disappointment.

Sounds like if the stealing keeps up, geocoins are going to be a thing of the past. The honest people are going to get tired of buying them only to have em stolen.

October 2, 2006

Sounds like if the stealing keeps up, geocoins are going to be a thing of the past. The honest people are going to get tired of buying them only to have em stolen.

My personal opinion is that trackable items simply cost too much. TB tags are what? $4 each? Coins are 2-3x that. I like the wooden nickel idea. About 50 cents to a dollar each and can be customized. If the trackable item was a low value item they probably wouldn't be as attractive to steal and it wouldn't be as much a disappointment to the owner when they went missing.

October 2, 2006

I had one 2006 CITO coin that was stolen. It was not bought as a collectable but as a coin to trravel between caches. It even said so on the coin's page. I run across coins and place them in another cache.

October 2, 2006

I just found my first two geocoins to day. I knew they were trackable and lurked the forums a bit to know they are special. It took a lot of work to get them in my hands so I can see the allure to hang on to them. That will only make it more special when I release them again.

One is drilled, tagged, and bagged. The other is traveling unmarked and free. It is pfalstad's Frozen Bone Geocoin and has traveled over 3100 miles. It wants to travel harder caches so I think I will try to place it here Quarry Park - Super Mario . I hope I am up to the challenge.

I have read about not releasing the coins in the "wild" or taking pictures and releasing those. I am now planing to get some of my own coins to release into the wild. I read this thread with uncertainty, but hope when I find my coins stolen, I will remember it is the cost of bringing to other cachers the joy I felt today.

Thank you all for the coins they are appreciated. - Daniel

Edited October 2, 2006 by yyzdnl

2.3k · October 3, 2006

Sounds like if the stealing keeps up, geocoins are going to be a thing of the past. The honest people are going to get tired of buying them only to have em stolen.

My personal opinion is that trackable items simply cost too much. TB tags are what? $4 each? Coins are 2-3x that. I like the wooden nickel idea. About 50 cents to a dollar each and can be customized. If the trackable item was a low value item they probably wouldn't be as attractive to steal and it wouldn't be as much a disappointment to the owner when they went missing.

I think it is good to release some so that others can see how cool they are and are encouraged to release some of their own. I have released some, after drilling a hole and attaching tags. I believe I have one missing. Regarding the price, if you shop, you can find some cheaper ones. I just got 4 coins, and released 3 of them -- the price being US$3.75 each(plus shipping.)

Here are the three, attached, tagged and traveling as a group:

9.3k · October 3, 2006

Dreamer, is that cable thingy something a non-handyman type such as myself could build? I gotta tell you, I'm the guy that couldn't build a cross if you supplied a pair of predrilled 2x4's. That cable looks like it'd outlast any tie strap or necklace chain.

October 3, 2006

If someone picks a coin up without logging it they know they are doing something wrong and nothin' can be done about it. I just wish they would at least have the decency to say they took it so others went rush out to look for something that's not there.

MAN! I feel real bad for keeping that coin now. Incase anyone is missing a nickle, I took it.

But seriously, Mabey I go about this whole cacheing thing totally different than others. I don't rush out to find a cache if I see a coin or TB is in it. I've never visited a cache a second time either. Once I've found it, Thats it.

I do feel for the origionator of this thread though.

The only 'trackable' I have ever found was a TB. I had it for less than a day. I think these trackables bring something to not only the origional owner, but honest cachers too. I enjoy helping others, and moving a trackable along is just another way I can help out. Its a good feeling. But when people take these trackables for themselves, they are not only stealing (yes, I said stealing) from the owner, but they are also taking away some of the enjoyment other cachers can get from these.

The TB I found belonged to the children of another cacher. Even if it was a coin, thats like taking candy from a child. And I hope others feel better about themselves for stealing them. Geocaching is based on the system on trust, and unfourtunetly, you can't trust everyone.

1.5k · October 3, 2006

Escout, it's very simple to do. You need a drill to go through the coin (put a piece of wood behind it so you don't drill through something important. Then you cut the cable and run it through, put your tag on and use the crimps they sold you to close it up with a pair of pliers. Piece of cake!

3.2k · October 4, 2006

One of my coins has gone missing. It was picked up by a guy who only cached during the month of May this year. He joined in April, found 15 caches in May, and last logged onto the site in August. He collected 3 coins and a TB and NONE of them were ever heard from again. His profile page shows that he owns 79 coins of his own. Perhaps he just decided to keep the ones he found. I keep hoping that someday he will move my coin along -- it had traveled 10,782 miles and I was really enjoying having it travel. :laughing:

October 4, 2006

We have a cacher in our neck of the woods (or in our case, the desert) who sneaks to caches and takes bugs, Jeeps and coins. After the owner has declared the item missing, the evil cacher then miraculously revives it from "the graveyard". He replaces the item with what I have now taken to calling a surrogate; coins and bugs are replaced with plastic poker chips, Jeeps are replaced with plastic toys resembling Jeeps. He will usually attach a tag with the tracking number to the surrogate (and just where did he get the tracking number?).

He is a crochety guy as well. If he can't find a cache it's because of bad placement by the cacher who OBVIOUSLY has no business placing a cache that people can't just hop out and find.

One time he bad-mouthed a cache hider several times saying that he could not find the cache, it was hidden in a questionable location and he was NOT going back to look EVER AGAIN! When a group of us found the cache rather quickly this jack*** went back out to the location and found the cache.

In a private e-mail I suggested that he apologize to the cacher hider for such a vicious attack; I suggested he do it publicly since his attack was so public. Over the next week, six of my caches went missing or were vandalized. One of my caches was a popular travel bug hotel that had seven TBs, one of which was hand-made by a young boy. Thankfully the TBs reappeared unscathed in another TB hotel about 30 miles away.

This fine gentleman also blasts folks for "discovering" items without actually having held them in their hand yet he is blatantly guilty of the same thing. He will shamelessly scold someone for this, yet he will e-mail cachers asking them to trade numbers for Jeeps so he can discover them.

As I read more and more forum threads, I see that unfortunately my area is not unique in its possession of such a fine ambassador to our game. We can all keep our fingers crossed and wish upon a star that everyone will play the game honestly, but in reality that just ain't gonna happen!

October 4, 2006

There will always be a pirate that lusts for gold. Travel bug gold. Travel coin gold. Jeep gold.

It is ALL gold. Lusty gold. Beautiful gold. Gold to be hefted in the hand. Gold that settles in the pocket

on a peg-leg hike back to the 4-wheeler. Precious gold.

And there it resides. Tucked safely in a drawer....along with loose change being kept to keep from getting more loose change when bills are broken. Catching the eye on a morn before work as gum and dental floss are rummaged.

There will always be pirates that lust for gold.

So hold your travel bugs tight! Give your Geo-coins a hug before depositing them in that dubious Tupperware square, sitting in an even more dubious location. Spin the wheels of your jeep...just one

last time before hooking and pivoting the ammo box lid.

I dream of pirates with big swords and huge eyepatches.......and they all want my swag! :laughing:

Chuckwagon

October 4, 2006

Sounds like if the stealing keeps up, geocoins are going to be a thing of the past. The honest people are going to get tired of buying them only to have em stolen.

My personal opinion is that trackable items simply cost too much. TB tags are what? $4 each? Coins are 2-3x that. I like the wooden nickel idea. About 50 cents to a dollar each and can be customized. If the trackable item was a low value item they probably wouldn't be as attractive to steal and it wouldn't be as much a disappointment to the owner when they went missing.

DaveA,

Where do you get those? Are they trackable?

October 4, 2006

QUOTE My personal opinion is that trackable items simply cost too much. TB tags are what? $4 each? Coins are 2-3x that. I like the wooden nickel idea. About 50 cents to a dollar each and can be customized. If the trackable item was a low value item they probably wouldn't be as attractive to steal and it wouldn't be as much a disappointment to the owner when they went missingQUOTE...

Pirates don't like wooden nickels! Pirates shun wooden nickels!

Pirates like HEAVY METAL nickels!

Pirates like Gold.....beautiful gold.

Smashing a gold doubloon on a pub counter top cannot be duplicated with a birchwood nickel.

So keep feeding us pirates your gold.

Lusty, trusty GOLD!

2.3k · October 4, 2006

I have had 3 taken out of 17, its funny I set out an All American coin and thought for sure it would get nabed but its been moved like crazy and gettings some good miles under its belt.

October 5, 2006

I have had 2 2006 Compass Rose Geocoins stolen. They were very nice. Hated to see them gone.

2k · October 5, 2006

My geocoins are not trackable and if someone logs one and says he is going to move it to another cache I will immediately email him to let him know that it is his to keep.

There was an occasion when I mistakenly took a coin that was supposed to move to another cache. When the owner of the coin told me of my mistake I immediately put it in a cache.

With that being said I am sure that the majority of missing coins are taken by cachers who know better but just don't care. There is nothing you can do about it except quit putting trackable coins in caches.

October 5, 2006

I just dropped this coin today. I like the idea that Jamguys used. He drilled a small hole in the coin and attached a personalized keyring. I think this will help to keep the coin from being taken out of circulation.

3.9k · October 5, 2006

I've only released one coin as a TB, and it made it farther than I thought it would. Basically if you release a coin you need to understand from the start that it's going to come up missing sooner or later.

El Diablo

8.4k · October 5, 2006

I've only released one coin as a TB, and it made it farther than I thought it would. Basically if you release a coin you need to understand from the start that it's going to come up missing sooner or later.

El Diablo

Same goes for ANY trackable item.

Hope for the best and expect the worst.

All trackables are personal property that has been left in public trust. NOW, how much do you trust the public?

It's unrealistic to EXPECT anything interesting to happen to it. If something does... JOY! If it goes poof....Eh, no biggy. Wait a couple years to see if it turns up and then restart a copy if it doesn't.

There are far better ways to invest your emotions than in a TB or Coin.

October 5, 2006

There are far better ways to invest your emotions than in a TB or Coin.

Never, never, never, never, never,........NEVER!.........

get addicted to Pirate Gold!! For in the end.........................

...travel bugs will BITE!

...jeeps will leave tire marks on your SOUL!

...and coins will rattle in your pocket like frozen apples on a tree.

October 5, 2006

Sounds like if the stealing keeps up, geocoins are going to be a thing of the past. The honest people are going to get tired of buying them only to have em stolen.

My personal opinion is that trackable items simply cost too much. TB tags are what? $4 each? Coins are 2-3x that. I like the wooden nickel idea. About 50 cents to a dollar each and can be customized. If the trackable item was a low value item they probably wouldn't be as attractive to steal and it wouldn't be as much a disappointment to the owner when they went missing.

DaveA,

Where do you get those? Are they trackable?

Wooden nickels? Just google on wooden nickel for several sites. I can't recomend one over another as I haven't used any of them. They *can* be trackable (anything can be), but you would need to find a site that will host the tracking for them (there are several, check out the coins forum for places that do this). If you want it trackable on GC.com I am not sure how to do that. I would imagine it would end up costing as much or more than a TB.

October 6, 2006

We don't keep anything trackable. Its fun to watch them travel. :laughing:

October 6, 2006

Sorry if i come off really pissed. I am just peeved. When you log in my coins it will state that the coin is to travel from cache to cache. I dont now how it is in other states but here in NC you will find a bunch of geocoins in the wild. IF you spend a day caching, chances are you will come across a geocoin. We look at em and admire em and then move em on to the next cache. We go home and enter tracking code and then we get another little pic for our stats page. If every coin is suppose to be stolen by the first person that comes to the cache then what is the purpose of haveing tackable coins?

Amen.

October 28, 2006

I was under the impression that collecting geocoings was common practice. The sites I have seen for tracking geocoins say placing the coin in another cache is not necessary.

It is a common practice, but honest collectors buy or trade for their coins. Taking a coin that is owned by someone, activated and meant to to travel so others can enjoy it is no different than stealing a travel bug.

I have no problem with collecting non trackable coins (as long as the owner doesn't have a mission for it) or trackable coins that have not been activated. I think the general consensus of the community is that these kinds of coins are meant to be trade items, but an "owned" coin that is sent out as a traveler should stay a traveler.

So I totally understand why you wouldn't want your investment in coins to simply end up in someone's private collection, but I can also completely understand how people with no ill intent could collect them and be clueless they were doing anything wrong
.

I've had at least two stolen so far. Each of my coins has a laminated note with it saying "This coin is meant to move from cache to cache for others to enjoy. Please do not remove it from circulation. It is not meant to be kept as a collectible". The coin's pages also say that, so there can be no mistake about it.

The missing coins also disappeared from caches with no associated logs. They were dropped off in a cache and the next finder said the coin was no longer there. This means someone visited the cache just to get the coin and left no record of their visit because they knew they were doing something that was not kosher.

The laminated notes do not always stay with the coins

Edited October 28, 2006 by scrubjay1986

October 28, 2006

See TB # ACYTVK. My one and only geocoin. I know it has been less than 2 months but do you think this one will move?

I keep updating the coin mission and description hoping the kidnapper will see it and release the coin.

I am afraid to send a direct e-mail asking for the coin to be released after seenig a post in another thread where the kidnappers cut the coin in half and released it.

Edited October 28, 2006 by Pegasi

1.1k · October 28, 2006

See TB # ACYTVK. My one and only geocoin. I know it has been less than 2 months but do you think this one will move?

I keep updating the coin mission and description hoping the kidnapper will see it and release the coin.

I am afraid to send a direct e-mail asking for the coin to be released after seenig a post in another thread where the kidnappers cut the coin in half and released it.

ok how about someone else sends the email? I've seen a few coins kicked loose once they know a lot of other cachers are watching the coin.

3.1k · October 28, 2006

This thread seems like the perfect reason to have a frontpaged coin FAQ. (Shameless thread plug...but something needs to be done!)

1.1k · October 28, 2006

geeeeez I hate these stolen coin threads! Worse tha the"ebay bashing' in the geocoin forum!!! I have just posted out some adoption requests to the "bereaved" and I will have a couple more to release here in Oztralia where I hope we can show some coins around a country that knows how to treat a guest. Coins ain't swag- they represent a cacher or a country or a district.

and actually they are probably not all that dear - our souvenire keyrings and stuffed toys cost as much before you stick a TB tag on them.

The only time coins have got me down is when I was reading to much of the negative stuff in the forums! usually i meet great folk, learn heaps and get to see some really nice shiny things! The kids really loved finding them in the wild they are so much more interesting than yet another mactoy ... but coins really need a mission tag or they might end up as swag because we also drop them in caches as prizes.

Stolen Geocoins

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment