What do the majority do with coins?

[+jeeptp75]

Do you take one when you find it and leave one of your own? Or swap them out? or what? Or just buy some to track? What do the majority of the people do? I havent found any yet but am wondering if I need to get some of my own first before I am aloud to take one if I find it?

[+stickerooni]

Do you take one when you find it and leave one of your own? Or swap them out? or what? Or just buy some to track? What do the majority of the people do? I havent found any yet but am wondering if I need to get some of my own first before I am aloud to take one if I find it?

 

It's always nice to leave something similar when you take something, but it's by no means required. In fact, it's a great way to introduce people to coins -- by leaving one where there isn't one, so that the next cacher can retrieve it.

 

You don't need to buy any (it's addicting, once you buy that first one ). When I started getting interested in coins, I often looked to see what caches in my area had a coin in it, and I would try to get to that cache so that I could retrieve and log the coin.

 

Now I like to release new coins for other cachers to enjoy.

[+chaosmanor]

The Rule of Thumb is, if you find a geocoin or any traveler (Travel Bug, wooden nickel, etc.), you can take it, as long as you move it along to another cache fairly quickly. Two weeks is the goal, but sooner is always appreciated, and a little longer is understandable, for a number of reasons: weather, ability to move it a long way due to an upcoming trip, illness, an event that you want to show it around at, etc. You do NOT need to "trade" for a traveler; trading is for swag, which is stuff that you can keep. If you don't have a TB, that doesn't prevent you from taking a TB that's in a cache. As long as you move it along fairly soon, that's all that matters.

 

I want to stress this; you do NOT need to drop a geocoin in a cache to take out a geocoin. The point of travelers is to travel. The owner of the coin or Bug doesn't want the thing to sit; they want it to move, so take the thing and move it. There are some who feel that trading is the only "legal" thing to do; to be blunt about it, they are wrong, IMHO. Geocoins, wooden nickels, etc. are not swag, so they don't need to be treated as you would treat swag. Grab and move; grab and move; grab and move

 

As for buying them or not, this is a personal decision. Owning geocoins and moving geocoins are really two different things; you do NOT need to own geocoins to move along those owned by others. I sometimes am a little surprised at how people get the idea that they can't take a geocoin out of a cache if they don't have one to put in. This was never an issue when Travel Bugs got started, and those are just as much the personal property of their owners are geocoins are. If you have ever picked up a TB and moved it along, then you did the right thing, and geocoins are no different, in the final analysis.

 

If you buy any geocoins, I would recommend that you do it because you want to have a little fun, and don't mind spending some cash. At $8-$10 each, after shipping, they aren't cheap. We've spent a couple of thousand dollars on them, and we know a few who have spent several times that much. We are not rich; these are just the one thing that we always have in our swag bag. We get a lot of enjoyment out of many of the logs we get on them. We keep one each of many of the ones that we really like. We send out the others because we know that most cachers enjoy seeing them. I can't recommend this basic attitude highly enough. Enjoy!

[+chaosmanor]

... When I started getting interested in coins, I often looked to see what caches in my area had a coin in it, and I would try to get to that cache so that I could retrieve and log the coin...

Yeah!! That's us, too, and the same thing with TBs Some people make a game of it, to try to beat the other geocoin-nuts in the area to new ones that show up in caches; we've been guilty of that now and then

 

One thing I should have mentioned in my earlier post is that sometimes an unactivated geocoin will show up in a cache. We've picked up a couple of these, and we've put out several. These are swag, and MUST be traded for. Sometimes you won't realize it, as there won't be a note, in which case you're OK; make it up later by putting something extra-nice in a cache. But if you know that it is unactivated, you must trade for it. After that, you can activate it and keep it, or send it out as a traveler; it's up to you.

[+GPX Navigators]

Chaosmanor gives excellent advice! This is something that should be pinned as people often have this question, even those in the game a while. Well written and easy for all to understand.

[+jAY miLLS]

I have never heard of or seen a wooden nickel traveler that wasn't attached to a TB. Can you post a picture of a wooden nickel traveler for me to see. The travelers I have seen are either coins or travel bugs that have a tracking number on them. The wooden nickels I have seen are just sig items that people drop in caches but are considered swag as they don't have tracking numbers. Correct me if I am wrong.

[+ventura_kids]

 

I want to stress this; you do NOT need to drop a geocoin in a cache to take out a geocoin. The point of travelers is to travel. The owner of the coin or Bug doesn't want the thing to sit; they want it to move, so take the thing and move it. There are some who feel that trading is the only "legal" thing to do; to be blunt about it, they are wrong, IMHO. Geocoins, wooden nickels, etc. are not swag, so they don't need to be treated as you would treat swag. Grab and move; grab and move; grab and move

 

 

Oh my....

 

I almost agreed with Jim

 

When I take a geocoin out of a cache, I treat it as swag and trade something for it. If I didn't bring any swag along...(because there wasn't any coin listed in the cache), then I leave MONEY.

 

My reasoning is this... there is only so much room in a geocache. I feel the owner of the cache filled it up with the coin. So I am helping to perpetuate the 'good' stuff in the cache.

[+paulandstacey]

I'd be wary of leaving actual money in a cache. And I certainly would never mention in a post that I had left money. If muggles or others not involved start thinking there's cash in them thar caches, it could draw the wrong type of interest. My thoughts, anyway...

[+angevine]

I've tended to stick to travel bugs with caches (probably because one finds a great deal more of them in caches than one does geocoins!), but there are a lot of other things you can do.

 

My husband, Paul "NotThePainter" Cezanne, has a number of terrific coin-logging ideas. He has one you can log if you meet him on the trail; another you can log if you buy him a beer (this in deference to our three-times-yearly geo-event, Bread and Roses, held at an Irish pub!), and the "I'm-as-crazy-as-NotThePainter" coin for those who meet him out on a first-to-find run.

 

He also gives out unactivated geocoins for the FTF on each of his notoriously difficult puzzle caches.

 

I'm actually as we speak purchasing my own first unactivated geocoin: my book, "Open Your Heart with Geocaching," is coming out in May, so at our June Bread & Roses event I'll be happy to share the coin with anyone who buys a copy of the book! (For those of you not attending, you'll also be able to log the coin if you send me proof-of-purchase from your local independent bookseller or whatever online book source you prefer. Yeah, some people will cheat. I'm not naive, just hopeful.)

 

Jeannette (angevine)

Manchester, NH & Provincetown, MA

[+Droo]

 

I want to stress this; you do NOT need to drop a geocoin in a cache to take out a geocoin. The point of travelers is to travel. The owner of the coin or Bug doesn't want the thing to sit; they want it to move, so take the thing and move it. There are some who feel that trading is the only "legal" thing to do; to be blunt about it, they are wrong, IMHO. Geocoins, wooden nickels, etc. are not swag, so they don't need to be treated as you would treat swag. Grab and move; grab and move; grab and move

 

 

Oh my....

 

I almost agreed with Jim

 

When I take a geocoin out of a cache, I treat it as swag and trade something for it. If I didn't bring any swag along...(because there wasn't any coin listed in the cache), then I leave MONEY.

 

My reasoning is this... there is only so much room in a geocache. I feel the owner of the cache filled it up with the coin. So I am helping to perpetuate the 'good' stuff in the cache.

 

While Jim makes a good point, technically, I think I like Steve's perspective better. A cache is enriched by a coin drop. The cache listing stands out because of the coin icon next to it (how many times have you gone after a cache with a coin icon only to find the coin's been gone a while... very disappointing). By taking the coin or TB the cache is left just that little bit poorer so I think some kind of trade would make up for it (not necessarily a $10 item trade but certainly not an insulting one like an old bandaid, a snail shell or clump of dirt).

 

I think it can't be stressed enough that a cache should never be left in worse shape than it was found. To do so is selfish and defeats the entire spirit of the game. "If you take something, leave something"