Newbie Questions

[+Keystone Sentry]

Hello, I just purchsed some new travel bugs and geocoins. These are my first bugs and coins. I have a few basic questions I hope an experienced person can help me with

 

1.) I purchased some basic Groundspeak Travel Bugs. When I activate the bugs I enter the tracking number on the bug. I am then assigned a Trackable Item #. What is the difference between these two numbers and do I need to keep track of both of them?

 

2.) I purchased some basic Oak Coins Travel Coins. Obviously these coins have a tracking # on them. When I activate them I am asked for the activation code that is supposed to be on the packaging of each coin. I cannot find any tracking # in the packaging. Am I missing something here or do I have to contact Oak Coins to get this #?

 

3.) My Geocoins came with a small plastic holder with a small card inside with info blanks for "Coin Name", Tracking #, etc. Does one fill all of this out and send it with the item?

 

4.) Are trackable item #'s to be kept confidential (See item #1 above) or can one share them on the small card referenced in item #3 above?

 

I apologize for all of the questions but I want to do this correctly!

 

Thank You for Your Help!

[+PengoFamily]

Hopefully I can help you with some of your questions. Hopefully my answers make sense. Feel free to contact me through my profile with any additional questions.

 

Hello, I just purchsed some new travel bugs and geocoins. These are my first bugs and coins. I have a few basic questions I hope an experienced person can help me with

 

1.) I purchased some basic Groundspeak Travel Bugs. When I activate the bugs I enter the tracking number on the bug. I am then assigned a Trackable Item #. What is the difference between these two numbers and do I need to keep track of both of them?The tracking number on the travel bug is to be used when someone finds it and wants to log it. The trackable item # is a reference number...say if you wanted to share your TB page with someone, i.e. for a photo or description of it. You cannot use the trackable item# to log the TB. The tracking number should only be used by people who have actually seen the TB, and are moving it our discovering it at an event.

 

2.) I purchased some basic Oak Coins Travel Coins. Obviously these coins have a tracking # on them. When I activate them I am asked for the activation code that is supposed to be on the packaging of each coin. I cannot find any tracking # in the packaging. Am I missing something here or do I have to contact Oak Coins to get this #? You will have to go to oakcoins' website to get the activation code. Follow the url on the little card insert...on the left hand side of the screen you will see a place for coin activations. Just follow the instructions.

 

3.) My Geocoins came with a small plastic holder with a small card inside with info blanks for "Coin Name", Tracking #, etc. Does one fill all of this out and send it with the item? Not usually. The ones that I have seen 'in the wild' usually have some other piece of paper form the coin owner stating what it's goal is and to not keep it, etc.

 

4.) Are trackable item #'s to be kept confidential (See item #1 above) or can one share them on the small card referenced in item #3 above? Normally you do not include the trackable item # with the coin or TB tag. The tracking number on them is sufficient for someone to log their find.

 

I apologize for all of the questions but I want to do this correctly!

 

Thank You for Your Help!

[+Droo]

Never mind. Already answered.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Droo

[+Keystone Sentry]

Pengofamily - Thank you for your kind assistance!

[+dflye]

If the tracking number on the coin is hard to read due to tiny size or hand-engraving (which can make some coins a real challenge to decipher), you may want to include it on the card to make it easier for finders to log the coin without having to get out a magnifying glass.

 

Oh, and if you release a coin, sometimes they go "missing" for months at a time before being logged again, as not all cachers are aware of how to move a coin and log the activity. Just had a coin logged in Italy a few days ago that I'd released at GeoWoodstock V in Raleigh back in May! dflye's Euro Cache Geocoin Bronze

[+forthferalz]

3.) My Geocoins came with a small plastic holder with a small card inside with info blanks for "Coin Name", Tracking #, etc. Does one fill all of this out and send it with the item?

 

Absolutely! Do take the effort to get your coin ready for the long journey - rewrite the engraved tracking number BIG and have something extra with your coin to protect it from damp like a small ziplock. Plain coins just tossed into a cache are likely to be confused with swag - and old travellers can suffer from corrosion.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

As others have mentioned, it's a good idea to write the tracking number on something that is included with the coin. Loose coins in caches have a way of getting scratched and sometimes this will render the tracking number unreadable. If somebody finds a coin and can't figure out how to track it, odds are it won't be seen again.

 

Good luck to your travelers.