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RealWorldAvatars signature geocoin, take three


RealWorldAvatars

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So as some of you know from a previous thread, I am apparently cursed. ;):D Hubby and I wanted to create a signature geocoin to leave in caches. We started out with one minting company, received a really awful sample coin followed by a nearly-identical awful sample coin. Switched to another compay, and all seemed to be going extremely well, until the shipment of coins arrived and I was sorely disappointed with the obverse design.

 

At that point, I officially gave up. Between two companies, we'd waited 10 weeks, and frankly I was just plain tired, emotionally worn out. I figured I'd just deal with the coins that I didn't really like, put them in caches as planned until they were all gone, and then never, EVER try messing with signature coins again. I wrote a sad letter to the second company, posted an equally sad little note here, and tried to get over it.

 

The second minting company, however, refused to let me give up. After talking with their engraver and factory folks, they determined that the problem was the nature of my obverse design; the limitations of die stamping just make it impossible to get right. They convinced me to devise a new design for the front of the coin, and try minting a sample.

 

I'm either an incurable optimist, a fool, or both (is there really a difference?), but now I'm getting all excited again. I'm posting the new design below; I'd love to hear what people think of it before I give the final okay.

 

GEOCOIN-new-final.jpg

 

Would you go out of your way to find a cache if you knew one of these signature coins was there for the taking?

- CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

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So as some of you know from a previous thread, I am apparently cursed. ;):D Hubby and I wanted to create a signature geocoin to leave in caches. We started out with one minting company, received a really awful sample coin followed by a nearly-identical awful sample coin. Switched to another compay, and all seemed to be going extremely well, until the shipment of coins arrived and I was sorely disappointed with the obverse design.

 

At that point, I officially gave up. Between two companies, we'd waited 10 weeks, and frankly I was just plain tired, emotionally worn out. I figured I'd just deal with the coins that I didn't really like, put them in caches as planned until they were all gone, and then never, EVER try messing with signature coins again. I wrote a sad letter to the second company, posted an equally sad little note here, and tried to get over it.

 

The second minting company, however, refused to let me give up. After talking with their engraver and factory folks, they determined that the problem was the nature of my obverse design; the limitations of die stamping just make it impossible to get right. They convinced me to devise a new design for the front of the coin, and try minting a sample.

 

I'm either an incurable optimist, a fool, or both (is there really a difference?), but now I'm getting all excited again. I'm posting the new design below; I'd love to hear what people think of it before I give the final okay.

 

GEOCOIN-new-final.jpg

 

Would you go out of your way to find a cache if you knew one of these signature coins was there for the taking?

- CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

 

Yes, I surely would!

:P

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So as some of you know from a previous thread, I am apparently cursed. ;):D Hubby and I wanted to create a signature geocoin to leave in caches. We started out with one minting company, received a really awful sample coin followed by a nearly-identical awful sample coin. Switched to another compay, and all seemed to be going extremely well, until the shipment of coins arrived and I was sorely disappointed with the obverse design.

 

At that point, I officially gave up. Between two companies, we'd waited 10 weeks, and frankly I was just plain tired, emotionally worn out. I figured I'd just deal with the coins that I didn't really like, put them in caches as planned until they were all gone, and then never, EVER try messing with signature coins again. I wrote a sad letter to the second company, posted an equally sad little note here, and tried to get over it.

 

The second minting company, however, refused to let me give up. After talking with their engraver and factory folks, they determined that the problem was the nature of my obverse design; the limitations of die stamping just make it impossible to get right. They convinced me to devise a new design for the front of the coin, and try minting a sample.

 

I'm either an incurable optimist, a fool, or both (is there really a difference?), but now I'm getting all excited again. I'm posting the new design below; I'd love to hear what people think of it before I give the final okay.

 

GEOCOIN-new-final.jpg

 

Would you go out of your way to find a cache if you knew one of these signature coins was there for the taking?

- CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

No don't think I would, Wa is too far from the UK!!! But hey I'd trade for one :D:):P

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So as some of you know from a previous thread, I am apparently cursed. ;):P Hubby and I wanted to create a signature geocoin to leave in caches. We started out with one minting company, received a really awful sample coin followed by a nearly-identical awful sample coin. Switched to another compay, and all seemed to be going extremely well, until the shipment of coins arrived and I was sorely disappointed with the obverse design.

 

At that point, I officially gave up. Between two companies, we'd waited 10 weeks, and frankly I was just plain tired, emotionally worn out. I figured I'd just deal with the coins that I didn't really like, put them in caches as planned until they were all gone, and then never, EVER try messing with signature coins again. I wrote a sad letter to the second company, posted an equally sad little note here, and tried to get over it.

 

The second minting company, however, refused to let me give up. After talking with their engraver and factory folks, they determined that the problem was the nature of my obverse design; the limitations of die stamping just make it impossible to get right. They convinced me to devise a new design for the front of the coin, and try minting a sample.

 

I'm either an incurable optimist, a fool, or both (is there really a difference?), but now I'm getting all excited again. I'm posting the new design below; I'd love to hear what people think of it before I give the final okay.

 

GEOCOIN-new-final.jpg

 

Would you go out of your way to find a cache if you knew one of these signature coins was there for the taking?

- CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

 

 

We would rush out to a cache to get one of these, but since we live on the east coast, we're afraid we couldn't rush real fast! LOL!!

 

Where is that Geocoin Fairy when she is NEEDED???? LOL!! :D

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I'd love to be able to buy/trade for one too. It represents four of my favorite games! I've played Mah Jong for about 3 decades now, chess for even longer (... but I'm not going to say for how much longer - I'd be dating myself even more :laughing: ), and just started playing D&D a couple months ago. (The original non-computer, sit-around-the-table-verson.) And, of course, geocaching!

 

Neat design! I hope it works out.

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So as some of you know from a previous thread, I am apparently cursed. :laughing::unsure: Hubby and I wanted to create a signature geocoin to leave in caches. We started out with one minting company, received a really awful sample coin followed by a nearly-identical awful sample coin. Switched to another compay, and all seemed to be going extremely well, until the shipment of coins arrived and I was sorely disappointed with the obverse design.

 

At that point, I officially gave up. Between two companies, we'd waited 10 weeks, and frankly I was just plain tired, emotionally worn out. I figured I'd just deal with the coins that I didn't really like, put them in caches as planned until they were all gone, and then never, EVER try messing with signature coins again. I wrote a sad letter to the second company, posted an equally sad little note here, and tried to get over it.

 

The second minting company, however, refused to let me give up. After talking with their engraver and factory folks, they determined that the problem was the nature of my obverse design; the limitations of die stamping just make it impossible to get right. They convinced me to devise a new design for the front of the coin, and try minting a sample.

 

I'm either an incurable optimist, a fool, or both (is there really a difference?), but now I'm getting all excited again. I'm posting the new design below; I'd love to hear what people think of it before I give the final okay.

 

GEOCOIN-new-final.jpg

 

Would you go out of your way to find a cache if you knew one of these signature coins was there for the taking?

- CindyV (Mrs. RWA)

 

Wait, I'm confused. You went with a company because you liked the sample you received but the coins you actually received were nothing like the sample? You kept the coins anyways and now the same minting company has convinced you to purchase more coins?

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Wait, I'm confused. You went with a company because you liked the sample you received but the coins you actually received were nothing like the sample? You kept the coins anyways and now the same minting company has convinced you to purchase more coins?

 

Not exactly, heh. We went with one company because we liked the previous coins they showed on their site. They eventually provided two sample coins, neither of which was particularly inspiring (read: not nearly as nice as the stuff on their site). At that point, we decided to switch companies. I asked here for some recommendations, chose the company whose previous coins looked most similar to the kind of thing we wanted, and started the process over. This second company doesn't generally deliver samples, though, so the first time we saw our new coins was when they arrived. The reverse design was absolutely spiffy, but the obverse was as disappointing as it had been in the first company's samples. That's pretty much the point where I wrote my letters, had a good cry, and decided to just live with the coins.

 

The second company contacted me the day after they received my letter, politely chewed me out for giving up on them, asked me to submit a second obverse design, and said they had a "win-win" idea in mind that would make us all happy. The new design has now been submitted, they're going to engrave and mint a sample this time, and I look forward to seeing what they suggest doing after that. If the answer turns out to be that they'd like me to pay all over again for a run of replacements, that's not going to happen. However, that doesn't exactly fit the win-win philosophy, heh. I would be perfectly happy to pay for a second set of die fees, if that's what it takes to get the perfect coin, and of course I've already offered to send the first set of coins back to their factory so that they can recycle the metal. We'll see what they have in mind.

 

I feel like I'm in the middle of some weird geocoin soap opera. Tune in next week to see what happens, heh. :lol:

 

just out of curiousity though... what does the binary code represent? I understand the chess piece, the 20-sided die and the majong tile, but not so much the binary code.

 

Both halves of RealWorldAvatars (my hubby and myself) are employed by the videogames industry. :unsure: He's a game engineer; I'm a writer and journalist. So while we love the traditional games, we're equally crazy for the more modern variety.

 

Unobscured by the circle and game pieces, that binary code reads "GAMES GAMES GAMES GAMES GAMES!"

 

If you come to the GeoBoo, perhaps we can arrange a trade.

 

Wouldn't miss GeoBoo for the world! It's going to be our first event, and we just can't wait to meet a whole bunch of other cachers. :lol::huh::D (<-extreme joy) There's no way the new coins will be ready in time, though. Hmmmmm... but that does give me an evil idea for a "hostess gift"... the sample coin from the first company is lame, but hey, it's totally unique... :laughing:

 

I would love to do a Personal Coin trade when you are ready....

 

Many apologies!! We're determined not to get caught up in geocoin collecting, so we're just planning to leave our coins in caches as signature items, and maybe swap them at events like business cards. However, we're talking about 300 coins, so it won't be long before local cachers find two or three of 'em and start looking for someone to trade with, I'm sure. :unsure: We're going to be strewing 'em all over the Pacific Northwest (like Johnny frickin' Appleseed, heh), dropping them off wherever we vacation, and sending a bunch down to my folks in Arizona who have just started caching under the RWA name as well. Since they're all "for keeps" and the only thing we ask is that they not be flogged off on eBay, it's a good guess you'll find them for trade not long after we have them in hand!

 

Again, I want to thank everyone here for all their help, moral support, and advice with this project. I'd have probably given up after the first big setback if it hadn't been for y'all.

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Wait, I'm confused. You went with a company because you liked the sample you received but the coins you actually received were nothing like the sample? You kept the coins anyways and now the same minting company has convinced you to purchase more coins?

 

And the final verdict is... they're producing minted samples right now, should have them ready in two weeks, and will be charging us only the cost of shipping to replace the whole run of 300 coins. :D:P:) (Why doesn't this forum have a dancing frog icon? D'oh!) If I wasn't already impressed as heck with the speed and professionalism of this minting company, I certainly would be now.

 

I'll post photos when the samples arrive in a couple of weeks, if anyone is interested in seeing 'em, and then wait with barely-controlled excitement for the whole batch so I can start leaving them in caches!

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I'll post photos when the samples arrive in a couple of weeks, if anyone is interested in seeing 'em, and then wait with barely-controlled excitement for the whole batch so I can start leaving them in caches!

IF we don't work out something at the Boo, I'll give you a list of good caches to leave one in over here. :P

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