Non-trackable coins as swag?

January 23, 2007

I am going to get my own coins made soon.

Besides trading trackable coins I would like to leave my coins as swag in caches.

I think that the average cacher who takes a coin will not activate it or trade it, it will just sit in a drawer. Leaving a trackable coin seems like a waste of money to me.

With that thought in mind, it makes sense to me to have non-trackable coins made for swag.

Does anybody else do this?

Thoughts/comments?

Thanks,

Lakebum.

January 23, 2007

Everybody will keep the non-trackable coins as swag.

Most people will keep trackable coins moving, but a few might keep them.

I suppose that most coins made, whether they are trackable or not, are sitting in collections going no place at all. I recently had our first coin made, it was non-trackable. But that doesn't mean I won't make my next one trackable.

It's up to you. Hope you find a suitable answer to your question.

1.3k · January 23, 2007

There are many people who make non-trackable coins, esp for leaving coins in caches.

Some people will only trade trackable to trackable.

Why not make two versions of your coin, Just do a different DIE/Mold on the back. This way, you can have coins to drop in caches and one for trading (if that was your plan).

4.2k · January 23, 2007

COINS AS SWAG?!?!?!? I could hug you!

Ok, now that the mental picture is clear of your mind -

In my opinion, and those of some others in here, this is the perfect reason to have a coin done.

Trackable coins do go missing as well, but with a non-trackable coin it's usually obvious that it's swag.

If you do decide to set a few free to travel, you can always attach a TB tag to it.

3k · January 23, 2007

There are many people who make non-trackable coins, esp for leaving coins in caches.

Some people will only trade trackable to trackable.

Why not make two versions of your coin, Just do a different DIE/Mold on the back. This way, you can have coins to drop in caches and one for trading (if that was your plan).

To save on die costs you could leave an area for engraving and just leave it empty on the nontrackable or put a sequential number on it, too. The "trackable at..." text could be lasered if you're only doing a small number of them. Ask your production company for good alternatives as well. :huh:

2.6k · January 23, 2007

I collect coins and also leave some as swag.

Our coin is a non-trackable coin that we have never offered for sale and we trade it for the same.

Some of the best coins we own are non-trackable ones. I started out thinking trackable was the way to go, but soon decided it was a pain having all the trackables around. I like a really thought out non-trackable over a quick money maker trackable any day.

2.3k · January 23, 2007

For traveling coins not tracked on this site, you can attach a TB tag. Its very clear that this is meant to travel.

January 23, 2007

Non-trackable coins are the way to go!

I've said it before, but I always hate having to part with that cool coin I found in a cache. Sure, I get the happy warm feeling that someone else will have the "joy of discovery" in a few days (or weeks) when I move the coin to a new cache - but the greedy coin-hog in my soul is always sad to see it go. I've never found a non-trackable coin in a cache, and I can't wait till I do! (I have left a bunch of my non-trackable coins in caches, tho).

And there you have my 2 non-trackable cents :huh:

PS - I forgot to add that I hate chewing my nails over the few trackable coins I own that are out there braving the wilds. I've only got 4 out running around - and already one is MIA. I dunno how people can manage more than 4! The "fire and forget" non-trackable coin drop is so worry free. And it is always fun to see who gets your coin. Of course you may have to deal with the frustration of someone taking one of your spiffy personal coins and leaving a McToy or quarter in its place! I know - I know, I left the coin, I can't complain about what people trade for it :huh:

Edited January 23, 2007 by tiki

1.5k · January 23, 2007

Another non trackable vote here.

If you want to leave them as swag there is no need for tracking numbers, as they are for trading, not travelling. If you want them to travel, like said, add a tb to them (for the few you set free).

There are still collectors who will trade for non trackable (look to the "older" taders-as most of them care more about the coin than the icon, hence the willingness to still trade for NT coins.)

And best of all it saves you money allowing you to get even more to leave out there!

3.3k · January 23, 2007

Well, I suppose I could have quoted kealia above, but I didn't want the hug torture :huh:

Non-trackable swag. 100%. And, yes, the older traders do care about the coin as a coin, and will thank you for it in spades.

1.4k · January 24, 2007

Non-trackable for swag!

I made my first personal geocoin non-trackable, and traded 75 of the 150 almost right away. I will leave them in my own (few) new caches as FTF prizes, and I will leave a few in very hard to get to caches.

I also freely trade geocoins with no regard whether they are trackable or not. Lots of people trade trackables for my non-trackable personal, and I have traded spare trackables for others non-trackables.

I have lots of cool coins in my collection without tracking codes.

1.4k · January 24, 2007

I have yet to find a non-trackable left as swag, but I would love it!!

January 24, 2007

I made my coins untrackable and have still made good trades with them (I also have trackable local coins for trading with people looking for trackables). To be honest I have so many coins now I haven't gotten around to activating a lot of them, so tracking doesn't mean much to me. When I started out I wanted to collect trackables and icons, but now that they are so common it's more about the coins themselves.

And it's nice to see you want to leave some as swag. When I did mine I made two metals that will only be available from caches (one as FTF prizes in my caches, the other simply for dropping).

3.8k · January 24, 2007

All of the coins we've made are non-trackable, and we will continue that way.

And yes, we do leave coins that we've made in caches from time to time. We also never mention in the on-line log that we did. We put that cache on the watchlist, and wait for the log that someone found the coin.

Regarding the notion of making a non-trackable and a trackable version, that just seems like an incredible cost increase for no real reason. If you produce a nice coin, people will want it, trackable or not. If someone doesn't want it only because the coin is not trackable, then fine.

January 24, 2007

A vote for the non-trackable. :huh: I'm into geocoins for trade as I think a lot of others. It is a bonus to get a trackable and activate it towards a travel bug count. If it comes with an icon, then a double bonus. But I don't trade just for getting numbers or icons. I trade for the sheer joy of enjoying all those good looking coins and getting to know a little bit of the cacher through them. GeoCoin designs are getting better & better. Tracking numbers don't make them anymore desirable in my opinion. Out of all our personal and event coins, most were trade. I didn't get much of a chance to drop any into caches. So if you plan to use them as swag, go non-trackable. If you want to count number and icons, go to a geocoin event and discover the ones you like!

Just what is the percentage of trackable coins that actually get out into caches in the geocaching world?

Lummieh

January 24, 2007

OK, I would agree with the non-trackable as you guys are describing it. But I do have question. How much do you really save by not having it trackable? Say I wanted 250 made up without. All non-trackable. Am I not still looking at the 500+? Or is this a question for a different thread? (Be nice, I am still new here) :huh:

4.2k · January 24, 2007

You save $1.50 per coin without the tracking number + the cost of the mint ot engrave/etch the number on for you + the $150 fee for the icon itself.

If you go non-trackable, you can make as few coins as you want (although I think most coin makers have a 100 coin minimum).

January 24, 2007

Thanks, Now I think I will join the non-trackable crowd when and if I ever make my own! :huh:

2k · January 24, 2007

I like non-trackables. They seem like more of a signature item to me.

January 24, 2007

I am probably going to make enemies whe I say this, but I think the idea of activating a coin just to have it listed on your inventory is dumb. I did that with a couple of the coin I have and realized how stupid it looked on my list. Therefore, I'm all for the non-trackable coin. At the moment, I don't have a coin of my own. If I do, I like the idea of making non trackable versions too.

January 24, 2007

I too am in the non-trackable group, when I had my personal coins made I only intended to trade them or leave them as swag. I have used them to build a great collection, and even though I have met people who will only trade trackable for trackable, they are rare and I usually have a trackable coin in my trade bag for them. In my opinion it's thier loss. I have just now ordered some new personal coins, again non-trackable, but this time I have gotten them in more than one metal, one of which will be for trading, the other for leaving in caches only.

3.5k · January 24, 2007

My coin is non-trackable and I left quite a few of them as sawg or FTF prizes. I did number the coins though as I think that makes them more collectable. My next coin will also be non-trackable.

1.5k · January 24, 2007

I am probably going to make enemies whe I say this, but I think the idea of activating a coin just to have it listed on your inventory is dumb. I did that with a couple of the coin I have and realized how stupid it looked on my list. Therefore, I'm all for the non-trackable coin. At the moment, I don't have a coin of my own. If I do, I like the idea of making non trackable versions too.

Nah, no enemies!

1.8k · January 24, 2007

I've been putting out non-trackables for 3 years now all as gifts and a way of saying thanks I had fun/liked your cache. :huh:

I've also been putting unactivated trackables in caches for a long time now and always considered them to be swag also, i could be wrong would not be the first time just ask all three of my teenagers!

Pepper

2k · January 24, 2007

If I made a non-trackable where could I sell a few to help cover the cost? I couldn't advertise here they will kill the thread. (they might kill this post :huh: ) If i post for trades in the pinned thread that is one thing but still need to recoup some cost.

BTW, do alot of people read the pinned thread for new non-trackables for trade?

January 24, 2007

Non-trackable! But you MUST put one in a cache near me :huh: !

January 24, 2007

Our personal ones are also Non-Trackable. I have made some swaps with other folks. I did feel that same as you I left them non trackable so those who want to keep them do not feel obligated to move them.

Course I have heard that you really can't call them Coins (because you can not track them) most around the Carolina's call them Token's.

I call them coins, they are the same as the others just no tracking number.

Mrs.Parrothead

Edited January 24, 2007 by Mr. and Mrs. Parrothead

4.2k · January 24, 2007

If I made a non-trackable where could I sell a few to help cover the cost? I couldn't advertise here they will kill the thread. (they might kill this post ) If i post for trades in the pinned thread that is one thing but still need to recoup some cost.

BTW, do alot of people read the pinned thread for new non-trackables for trade?

With all due respect - why should you be able to recoup the cost? If it's your sig item, you should pay for it. I'm not sure when it became normal to have other people pay for something that you want. Atwell Family - this is not a direct "shot" at you. There seem to be a lot of people who think this way, so I'm again speaking in generalities.

And yes, a LOT of people look at the trade list often.

4.2k · January 24, 2007

Our personal ones are also Non-Trackable. I have made some swaps with other folks. I did feel that same as you I left them non trackable so those who want to keep them do not feel obligated to move them.

Course I have heard that you really can't call them Coins (because you can not track them) most around the Carolina's call them Token's.

I call them coins, they are the same as the others just no tracking number.

Mrs.Parrothead

That's odd. I've never heard of anybody not referring to a personal. non-trackable as anything other than a Geocoin. IMO, these are the TRUE geocoinis. Some of us in here don't like to refer to the loads of coins coming out that have nothing to do with caching other than a tracking number as "geocoins", but that's another thread! :huh:

2.8k · January 24, 2007

If I made a non-trackable where could I sell a few to help cover the cost? I couldn't advertise here they will kill the thread. (they might kill this post ) If i post for trades in the pinned thread that is one thing but still need to recoup some cost.

BTW, do alot of people read the pinned thread for new non-trackables for trade?

I can tell you from personal experience, make your personal coin non-trackable, and do not sell it. I really thought I needed to make a trackable coin with an icon for my first personal coin (don't get me wrong, I love my coin!) But by selling it, that eliminated alot of the trading that I could have done. Which was the reason for minting it to begin with. My next coin is not going to be trackable, and will not be sold. I'm scrimping and saving to have it minted, but I'll be able to trade and leave some in caches. I won't get the response when I request a trade "Sorry, I bought it." LOL

January 24, 2007

I have yet to find a non-trackable left as swag, but I would love it!!

Come south to California! They aren't plentiful, but we've seen a few non-trackables as swag. We've left a couple as swag, for that matter. The trick is to make it clear what the thing is, so that finders realize what they have. We've also put unactivated trackables in caches, as swag. Again, it is important to label it as an unactivated, trackable geocoin. What we never do, though, is mention it in the log; that keeps it a random thing: the finder. No sense in letting everyone know that there's a free-and-clean coin out there! :huh:

January 24, 2007

Non trackable is the way to go. Seems like a waste of money for trackables. Too many folks keep them anyway. Look at the lost TB issues. As far as the geocoin/token theory goes, why not call trackables travel bugs??? Other than not having a bug tag, it's function is the same. It just leaves the happy finder disappointed knowing they must part with this find. I'm all for nontrackable GEOCOINS.

"my 2 cents"

Mike

Traveling Chief

3.1k · January 24, 2007

Non-trackable! But you MUST put one in a cache near me !

Yep! We want coins in caches!

If I made a non-trackable where could I sell a few to help cover the cost? I couldn't advertise here they will kill the thread. (they might kill this post ) If i post for trades in the pinned thread that is one thing but still need to recoup some cost.

BTW, do alot of people read the pinned thread for new non-trackables for trade?

I can tell you from personal experience, make your personal coin non-trackable, and do not sell it. I really thought I needed to make a trackable coin with an icon for my first personal coin (don't get me wrong, I love my coin!) But by selling it, that eliminated alot of the trading that I could have done. Which was the reason for minting it to begin with. My next coin is not going to be trackable, and will not be sold. I'm scrimping and saving to have it minted, but I'll be able to trade and leave some in caches. I won't get the response when I request a trade "Sorry, I bought it." LOL

I feel exactly like this Joni. We did our first track w/icon and ran into that same problem when trying to trade. Our next coin will not be trackable! Bring on the trade/cache only coins!

January 24, 2007

I can tell you from personal experience, make your personal coin non-trackable, and do not sell it. I really thought I needed to make a trackable coin with an icon for my first personal coin (don't get me wrong, I love my coin!) But by selling it, that eliminated alot of the trading that I could have done. Which was the reason for minting it to begin with. My next coin is not going to be trackable, and will not be sold. I'm scrimping and saving to have it minted, but I'll be able to trade and leave some in caches. I won't get the response when I request a trade "Sorry, I bought it." LOL

This is a good point. The group of us who made the Lunenburg County Cachers coins are discussing the 2007 version, and because of the cost of the proposed design and the desire to make it trackable with an icon, we're thinking we'll probably sell some to help offset the costs. However, we're going to have a LE version that only locals can buy so we still have something special to trade and release. I think that's one way to improve trading possibilities when you do a sale. Seems to work for Mtn-man.

January 24, 2007

This thread inspired me to finally get around to making one of my non-trackable coins into a travel bug. As I said in my previous post - I'm all about a non-trackable coin that you leave in caches you visit. I mean, isn't that what the coins are for? (not to poke a hornet's nest or anything!)

That being said, sometimes you may want to have a trackable coin. EScout was on-the-money with his picture - and here is my version:

sillygirl & jrr showed me some nifty travel bugs they picked up, and I copied the presentation (laminated card with grommet) of one of my favorites. Drilled a hole in a King Mojo "reject" coin that I set aside as I wasn't happy with the casting. Hope he gets to travel a bit without getting pocketed.

The bug's page:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=667782

Will set him free this weekend!

January 24, 2007

If I made a non-trackable where could I sell a few to help cover the cost? I couldn't advertise here they will kill the thread. (they might kill this post ) If i post for trades in the pinned thread that is one thing but still need to recoup some cost.

BTW, do alot of people read the pinned thread for new non-trackables for trade?

With all due respect - why should you be able to recoup the cost? If it's your sig item, you should pay for it. I'm not sure when it became normal to have other people pay for something that you want. Atwell Family - this is not a direct "shot" at you. There seem to be a lot of people who think this way, so I'm again speaking in generalities.

And yes, a LOT of people look at the trade list often.

This really crystalizes the whole issue vis-a-vis our own PC. We really want to put one out, but the cost is holding us back, and neither of us are terribly artistic, although we can get around that part. We can see both sides of this issue, as we *do* do some trading, and we like what we like, trackable or not. But the fact is that tracking geocoins is fun, and so is "collecting" icons And we know that there are a lot of cachers who really enjoy seeing the coins that we put into caches - we get lots of nice comments - and we enjoy seeing other people's coins. The plain fact is that, unless we were to mint one for every single cacher out there, lots of cachers would never see any PC we issue unless we make some that are trackable. OK, nothing says that every cacher has the right to see every geocoin issued. Still, we like the idea that it is *possible*. Thus, we would want to issue trackables. But also issuing non-trackables, just for trading, makes a lot of sense to us, and we will definitely keep this idea in mind when the time comes. And we agree; we should not expect to recoup our expenses for this, any more than we expect someone to pay us for the gewgaw that we attach to the TB dog tag. This is like pin trading at Disneyland or the Olympics; you usually have to buy a few before you can start trading.

1.7k · January 24, 2007

This thread inspired me to finally get around to making one of my non-trackable coins into a travel bug. As I said in my previous post - I'm all about a non-trackable coin that you leave in caches you visit. I mean, isn't that what the coins are for? (not to poke a hornet's nest or anything!)

That being said, sometimes you may want to have a trackable coin. EScout was on-the-money with his picture - and here is my version:

sillygirl & jrr showed me some nifty travel bugs they picked up, and I copied the presentation (laminated card with grommet) of one of my favorites. Drilled a hole in a King Mojo "reject" coin that I set aside as I wasn't happy with the casting. Hope he gets to travel a bit without getting pocketed.

The bug's page:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=667782

Will set him free this weekend!

Wow, I think that's the nicest TB info tag I've ever seen! Hope he somehow makes it to my neck of the woods.

As for the issue of non-trackable coins, I've had my own personal coin minted as a non-trackable. I've never sold it (other than for charity) so its trade value has held up. I've also dropped a few here and there, mostly on caches that aren't visited too often (mainly because the cache requires some effort to get there) so the coin is kind of a reward. I've also dropped them in spots that we've enjoyed being at.

January 24, 2007

Good feedback, thanks all.

For some reason I felt that for a geocoin to be legit and tradable it would need a tracking number. It seemed to me that since coins with tracking numbers are more expensive they will bring a higher value in trading and are more desirable even though it did not make sense since I believe most trackable coins in collections are not activated anyway. I have been enlightend.

I like the idea of attaching a travel bug to it to make it trackable. I think I will have my coins made with a hole in them so this is easier to do.

The point about spending the money on more coins instead of tracking numbers is a well taken point.

Thanks.

8.8k · January 24, 2007

This is the way to go, unless you want to make them all trackable, then you have to consider the cost of the travel bug tags too, as opposed to adding tracking numbers. If it's just for a few of them, it could work just fine for you.

January 24, 2007

I have been looking at geonickels, instead of the trackable geocoins. I have a picture of it and everything, just waiting for the money to come in. I will be able to order it in a few days! I am so excited!

The only question I have is, do people trade for geonickels as well with non-trackables? I have been looking into starting a geocoin collection. I am making the geonickels either way, but I just wanted to ask!

January 24, 2007

I have been looking at geonickels, instead of the trackable geocoins. I have a picture of it and everything, just waiting for the money to come in. I will be able to order it in a few days! I am so excited!

The only question I have is, do people trade for geonickels as well with non-trackables? I have been looking into starting a geocoin collection. I am making the geonickels either way, but I just wanted to ask!

There are many people who trade nickles/chips/tokens. Don't expect to trade a nickle for a coin though. If you're looking for signature items, you may want to also look into pathtags.

1.3k · January 26, 2007

I like non-trackables. They seem like more of a signature item to me.

couldn't have been said any better. I totally agree.

January 29, 2007

I like non-trackables. They seem like more of a signature item to me.

couldn't have been said any better. I totally agree.

Double dittos. We have found untrackable coins, one as a gift in a new cache, and they are our absolute favorites!

Non-trackable coins as swag?

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