Missing Coins

[+Cushie Butterfield]

We are very new to Geocaching but very excited to find something outdoors, local and loads of fun. We have visited a couple of caches where coins are supposed to be only to find that there are no coins in the cache. We bought one to put in our first cache and have found one and left it in another cache.

I noticed on some logs that people sign their coin in and out of a cache when they find it but we wanted to watch ours travel to new places. Do they go missing often? Are they stolen or does it take a few days for cachers to update the log? We wrote in our visit log that they were missing but are we supposed to contact the owner to tell them too?

[+The Lavender Hill Mob]

We are very new to Geocaching but very excited to find something outdoors, local and loads of fun. We have visited a couple of caches where coins are supposed to be only to find that there are no coins in the cache. We bought one to put in our first cache and have found one and left it in another cache.

I noticed on some logs that people sign their coin in and out of a cache when they find it but we wanted to watch ours travel to new places. Do they go missing often? Are they stolen or does it take a few days for cachers to update the log? We wrote in our visit log that they were missing but are we supposed to contact the owner to tell them too?

Welcome to Geocaching.

 

My experience is that some caches show coins which aren't actually there possibly because they've either been stolen or they've been taken before you got there and it's logged late.

 

I've found plenty of TB's but the first coins I've found were last Saturday both in nearby caches ......I'll move on soon.

 

The reason they sign coins in and out is so the cacher can track the mileage that he/she's done, I track my mileage via the Mapsource software by adding waypoints to a route but using a coin is quicker and less hassle. Watching your coin travel is fine as long as it doesn't go missing.....it's the chance you take!

 

Writing in the log that the coin wasn't there is fine........I would leave it up to the cache owner to check and inform the coin owner that it's not there.

 

Good luck

 

TLHM

[+stonefielders]

Our kids bought dad a coin for his birthday. It was stolen within one day of leaving it in its first cache.

We are pretty disappointed by this and will not be getting any more coins, but sticking to TB's which seem to go MIA less often.

It was definitely stolen as the next cacher to visit the cache was only 1 day later we have contacted him by email and he reports that the coin was not present when he visited. It can only be a fellow cacher who has taken this because the cache was undisturbed and no one else would be interested. The person responsible has essentially stolen two small children's pocket money.

[+philmotman]

i also have had my first coin stolen iam very upset at this as it never even moved 1 mile so iam not going to leave any more there is a thief amoung us i hope they get caught.hope you still enjoy geocaching after this bad experiance.

[+Cushie Butterfield]

Such a shame but what goes around comes around, I don't think anyone can enjoy owning something knowing they stole it

I bought a spare as I want to collect coins ( there are some gorgeous ones out there, I have spent a fortune on ebay) so if mine goes missing I do still have one. I have to say I am quite shocked at how many are not there, it is a bit disappointing as a newbie as I and my kids would love to see the coins in real life.

 

I do think it's a great idea to log one in and out to count mileage, definitely a tip I will follow, thanks.

[+macroderma]

I am afraid it is completely unpredictable

 

I have had coins disappear after just one cache - others are still knocking around after 18 months in the wild

 

Other than being stolen some people think they are swaps - to make sure they don't think that I recommend attaching a mission tag

 

On my coins I usually drill a hole and attach a laminated mission tag with a cable tie

 

They seem to survive pretty well

 

Edit: spooling errars

Edited November 3, 2007 by macroderma

[+philmotman]

i also have had my first coin stolen iam very upset at this as it never even moved 1 mile so iam not going to leave any more there is a thief amoung us i hope they get caught.hope you still enjoy geocaching after this bad experiance.

i have recently been informed that my coin was misplaced in the boot of someones car and was found due to them having a puncture so it wasent stolen after all it should be on its way by now (hopefully)

[+Sue and Bernie]

We've "lost" 3 out of 4 coins and one of two TBs released, most have simply just vanished with subsequent cache visitors reporting the item is not located in the cache as stated on the webpage.

 

One of our missing coins is shown in the possession of "Eerie Glow", a German team who appear to have abruptly ceased caching.

 

We have several more coins still and a couple of TBs too but have lost enthusiasm for this aspect of geo-caching. We'll see how our last active TB and coin get on...

[+Happy Humphrey]

I have to say I am quite shocked at how many are not there, it is a bit disappointing as a newbie as I and my kids would love to see the coins in real life.

My experience is that they are usually in the cache. However, if you go to a cache specifically to log a geocoin, it's worth checking the web page just before you set out, and reading recent logs in case someone took the coin and forgot to retrieve it from the cache page. I notice that only one of your recent cache finds is still showing as having a geocoin in it - perhaps the other has now been retrieved?

 

We've "lost" 3 out of 4 coins and one of two TBs released, most have simply just vanished with subsequent cache visitors reporting the item is not located in the cache as stated on the webpage.

Out of my 89 coins and travel bugs, I'd estimate that 80-90% are still travelling (including the few in my possession). About half the remainder have just disappeared. 4 out of 6 being stolen is very unlucky: several of mine have travelled over 10000 miles (2 are over 20000). Some have been travelling for more than two years.

Edited November 4, 2007 by Happy Humphrey

[+Cushie Butterfield]

My experience is that they are usually in the cache. However, if you go to a cache specifically to log a geocoin, it's worth checking the web page just before you set out, and reading recent logs in case someone took the coin and forgot to retrieve it from the cache page. I notice that only one of your recent cache finds is still showing as having a geocoin in it - perhaps the other has now been retrieved

 

We visited 7 so far, out of those 7, 4 were showing a coin icon, 2 had coins taken (1 not logged out until a few days later, 1 still showing but the log says somebody has taken it so just needs updating on the contents list) 1 was there and we moved it to another cache, 1 has been missing for some time according to the log but still showing. I thought 3 out of 7 missing was high but obviously since logs were updated only 1 is unaccounted for.

[+Team Sieni]

We picked up a coin today owned by US cacher "CachingCoins" who have released an impressive 1190 coins of which less than 5% are missing (detailed stats on their profile).

[+pklong]

Yup, bought a coin and it got stolen from the first cache I put it in.

[The Red Kite]

Our local caching group (Abercachers) has a TB race. Mine was stolen from the first cache it was taken to. Only did 111 miles and now its disasppeared. Can anyone explain why someone would want to steal a TB that is just a dog tag with a label on????

 

I refuse to put my coins out in the wild and prefer to log them myself to gain mileage. They come to events with me so that people can discover them and get the icon if they want to.