Geocoins: Keep em?, or Send them out? Whats your vote?

December 27, 2007

So whats your vote and Opinion. Do you have your own stash of Geocoins? Or do you see a coin more having more value, being out in the field working for you?

Do you consider a coin part of your collection if you realase it with a mission, or only the ones you horde up in a protective container unactivated?

What do you think?

I have coins know and they are great and cool, I don't know what to do with them!!!!!!

Help!!!! Keep em?, or Send them?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2k · December 27, 2007

Most do say trackable on them. :rolleyes:

That being said I have to books full of coins.

December 27, 2007

I personally think that geocoins should only be actuvated and released. Then when (if) they achieve theirr goal and return to you, you can put them in your collection.

2.9k · December 27, 2007

No way I'm letting my precious babies out in that cold, dark, evil world!! They are staying right here with me where I can take them out and ooh and ahh over them!

Naomi :rolleyes:

6.4k · December 27, 2007

I have both. I have an addictive personality. With That being said . . . leads you to your imagination. I also have some activated ones that I haven't released. I just bought me one of those "Lord of the Caches- earth" that I will wear around my neck at events so others can discover it. NO way That baby is leaving my possession :rolleyes: Oh. no I said "discover" But that is a different topic

3.6k · December 27, 2007

I personally think that geocoins should only be actuvated and released. Then when (if) they achieve theirr goal and return to you, you can put them in your collection.

They get stolen long before that!!

As I posted in another thread I'm not in the generous spirit anymore of contributing to the "bottom of the drawer" collection of noobs who can't follow the guidelines of Geocaching or thieves who love the anonymity of Geocaching for all the caches they can pilfer with impunity.

As for what you should do with your coins? That's totally up to you. :rolleyes:

3.5k · December 27, 2007

If you're going to send them out to travel don't be surprised that they disappear. I recommend defacing the coin in some way like drilling holes in it to decrease it attractiveness to would-be coin thieves.

December 28, 2007

I only have a couple coins that I've released to travel... It has been a BLAST traveling vicariously through them. I did drill them and add a travel tag with their mission clearly spelled out. So far, so good.

The remaining are, in my humble opinion, pieces of art. I LOVE collecting art, so the more limited the edition number, the more likely I am to want it in my collection. I collect what I like. I obviously like a LOT of the coins that have been minted.

I HIGHLY recommend collecting some, releasing some, giving some away. Above all, when you come up with that absolutely FANTASTIC idea: go for it! Mint it. It is simply THRILLING holding that sample coin in your hand and basking in the realization that this is YOUR coin.

Minting your own also gives you a far greater appreciation of how much time and energy it takes to produce a geocoin. No one's getting rich making these beautiful collectibles. But many are greatly enriching their lives and the lives of others.

1.1k · December 28, 2007

Send them to me and your problem will be solved!

:rolleyes:

1k · December 28, 2007

I have multiples of both. I have about 950 activated. Over 600 are here in my collection and over 300 are out traveling. Yes, some have been nabbed and never seen again, that's too bad. There are an element of jerks out there however the majority are still roaming around from cache to cache and I love seeing on a daily basis where they go. EUROPE so far has been my sanctuary, over 95% are still moving and I have more than 75 over there. Now unfortunately the ratio drops in the USA to about 70% still alive.

I say grab two of everything you like and release one, but, that's my $7.49 (nothing is for 2 cents anymore).

December 28, 2007

Well I activate and keep most of mine for people to discover. I have sent some out in to the world and some of them got stolen so it has made me a little scared to relase them.

December 28, 2007

Out of the two that I have released both have gone "missing" from the very first cache I placed them in. So I still activate them but I don't release the actual geocoin into the wild anymore. I kinda expect them to turn up missing but not from the first cache they get placed into!

December 28, 2007

I'm in favor of both collecting and releasing....think of the collected coin as being in the zoo, and the released coin as being out in his/her native habitat.

Often coins don't last long in the wild before they are poached, but as others have said, having a defaced or otherwise tagged coin delays the inevitable demise of wild coins.

My ratio of released to kept coins is about 1 in 10 at the moment (something like 100 in the wild), and the vast majority of the wild coins are still traveling around. Then again, I'm a big fan of drilling holes and running wire cable through a coin and attaching a metal tag and mission tag. Let's see a poacher sell THAT coin on eBay!

Now if I could only get my "breeding collected coins in captivity for future release in the wild" project to work!

December 28, 2007

Now if I could only get my "breeding collected coins in captivity for future release in the wild" project to work!

Now THAT would be a sweet deal!

I've released some and kept some (ok, a lot). Some I've bought multiples of so I can release an extra. But I'm leaning toward the drilling-and-tagging route so they'll stay in circulation longer... I hate to lose them but I want others to enjoy finding and moving coins as much as I do.

December 28, 2007

I personally think that geocoins should only be actuvated and released. Then when (if) they achieve theirr goal and return to you, you can put them in your collection.

I like the Idea of a boomerang coin that goes out, achives and then gets put into its collection

December 28, 2007

I personally think that geocoins should only be actuvated and released. Then when (if) they achieve theirr goal and return to you, you can put them in your collection.

With a collection of well over 1000 coins I have no intention or desire to activate or release any of them.

We do release a few extras and still will. It's fun for a while, but it's just like throwing them away.

I like it when a non trackable version is offered for collectors.

1.6k · December 28, 2007

We activate most that we get, although not always right away. I love icons... resistance is futile.

Some we release, some we've let make the rounds to locals that we know will get them safely back to us once they've moved them cache to cache, some we bring to events/out caching for discovery but not releasing, some we show people while we hold onto the coin very tightly and a few will never see the light of day again (my precious...) Many of the coins here that will not see the light of day again are not trackable anyways.

I was blown away when we released a coin a few months back stating that we wanted it to bounce around locally before coming back home for Christmas. While it didn't make it home for Christmas, right about Christmas the current holder contacted us and asked how to best return it to us. They are returning in two days at a event, where I think we will send it back on its merry way until next Christmas.

This, of course, will probably only lead to a false sense of security about releasing coins and all further coins that we release will be stolen, abducted by aliens or eaten by monsters.

2.5k · December 28, 2007

Plain and simple, I paid for it, I keep it.

December 28, 2007

I do both. I love to watch my coins travel, and I love to collect coins. I would hate to have my coins stolen, so I buy coins that are relatively cheap and "not so beautiful" as travellers (like the Cacher Tags (hmm, they don't fit the "not so beautiful" category...), the Travel Slug, the Regions of Germany coins, the Cache Movers etc.).

I wouldn't think for a second about releasing an Earth Turtle or a GW5 Sunburst coin into the wild I do activate them and take them to events so that other cachers can enjoy and discover them. Almost all coins in my collection are activated.

Edited December 28, 2007 by Steinwälzer

December 28, 2007

We buy two of every coin that we get. One gets activated, drilled and tagged and sent out to travel. The other goes into our collection. We have close to 300 coins out traveling and about 50 of those are missing. Since we have started tagging them the losses have dropped drasticly but now we have the problem of people stealing the tag off of the coins and leaving the coin. GRRRR You just can't win.

2.8k · December 28, 2007

I think you should do whatever you want with them. Most I keep in my collection. Some I send out. I don't like keeping track of travelers, so I'll generally drop unactivated ones in caches, and whoever gets it can release it or collect it. I've had about a 50/50 split on ones I've dropped. About half have kept them, and half have sent them out.

4.9k · December 28, 2007

A little mixture of all things

Personals, Mystery coins and special trades are for my personal collection.

Most coins that I leave in caches are unactivated and I leave as swag or just for fun. I found that for me it is much easier to just put an unactivated coin or nontrackable in a cache because I just get mad when it eventually gets stolen or held by someone for months This way I don't have to worry about it and someone gets a nice surprise. I've come across quite a few of my geotags that have been activated by local cachers, that really puts a smile on my face!

I used to log when I would drop a coin in a cache but I noticed that I had a shadow or two, so I stopped doing that and I don't write anything in my log anymore. I just drop them silently or in caches that I have already been too.

I've activated a few for travel and for my coin discovery cache (which was raided and coins stolen-hence now archived ) While I enjoy watching activated coins travel, it much less stressful for me to just give the coins away and let someone else enjoy activating them.

Geocoins haven't quite taken off here like in alot of places so it's still pretty novelty. I attended a meet and greet yesterday and only 1 person there had heard of the Earth Turtle, lol. It would be nice to have at least 1 coin addict here to talk to Give me a couple years and I'll drag a few more Helena cachers into the geocoin addiction with me

Try a little of everything, release some of the generic coins, let em' travel, keep some for your collection, drop some unactivated coins in caches and then read the logs (or write down the tracking number to see if it is eventually activated). No matter what you decided to do, just have fun with them

December 28, 2007

A bit of both for me. I have and will continue to release quite a few. I keep a good number too. Some are kept for sentimental reasons, others because they are too cool (for me) to release.

Overall, I think geoccoins belong in geocaches -but I have no problem with collections either. I'm too lazy to put coins neatly in binders or to cart them around to events. It's cool to see coins that I have only heard about before in someone's collection - but it's cooler to find a coin, any real coin in a cache!

December 28, 2007

I do both. I love to watch my coins travel, and I love to collect coins. I would hate to have my coins stolen, so I buy coins that are relatively cheap and "not so beautiful" as travellers (like the Cacher Tags (hmm, they don't fit the "not so beautiful" category...), the Travel Slug, the Regions of Germany coins, the Cache Movers etc.).

I wouldn't think for a second about releasing an Earth Turtle or a GW5 Sunburst coin into the wild I do activate them and take them to events so that other cachers can enjoy and discover them. Almost all coins in my collection are activated.

I have been thinking about this topic myself the past few days as I have received my first Geocoins as a Christmas gift from my family. There are 5 coins in all and I hate to see them disappear. We have a Coin Bandit in our area and that really torques me off when things like that happen. Especially when the locals know who it is, but that is another story. I really love to find geocoins in caches and would never think of stealing one. This topic is sort of a double edged sword, on one hand if everybody kept their coins instead of releasing them then there would be none to find in caches, but on the other hand the percentage is high that they will be stolen eventually.

I kind of like Steinwalzer's idea of purchasing the cheaper coins to release and taking the more precious coins with you to events. I just might do that myself.

December 28, 2007

To me...

They are no fun if I keep them. If they end up missing, I took that risk when I left it in a cache.

I like to share the coins I get. ( Not so many so far, and still need to release two ).

If someone steals it, I wish a never ending ice cream headache on them, and go on with life... hehe.

May 22, 2008

I am changing my mind about releasing coins into the wild. I have released 44 so far. One was confirmed lost and 31 have just dissappeared from a cache or were grabbed and never released again even after multiple emails to the cacher who grabbed them. Thats a 70% theft rate. Now when buy coins I buy two of each and I keep one unactivated and save another unactivated for a FTF prize. It's really sad to see that many outright stolen. I really enjoyed watching them travel and placing them out there to be found. I know I always enjoyed finding a new geocoin in a cache. It really brightened my caching day.

May 22, 2008

Compared to the folks above, our collection is miniscule lol.......but out of what we do have, some have been released (and hopefully we always will continue to send some out into the wild).

I have to admit though that most will probably never leave the safety of our home lol....I just can't bear to part with the ones that I really, really like. That's not to say that I wasn't keen on the coins that we have sent off on their travels, it's just that certain ones really grab you as soon as you see them......and it's them that I couldn't part with

1.1k · May 22, 2008

I have all but 1 (can't find the code) activated. When I first got coins, I released them. Some I wish I would not have, but they are out there somewhere. I have recently started collecting them too. If I can get more than one of a coin, then the second one will be released. The ones I really like or were hard to get will never leave me, unless I get bored with it all...lol

May 23, 2008

Send them out is my vote. Granted I am new the game and have only a few cheap coins. There is only one reason I would even buy a trackable geocoin, that is to see where it can travel. To me that is its single goal.

What would I do with it otherwise? Let it sit in a book? or on a shelf in my house? Um... No, not happening anytime soon.

If I do want art or decorative items on my shelves to look at, geocoins are way down the list of things I would get for that purpose.

I guess I just don't "get" collectibles in the first place. Whether it is Nascar diecast cars, pokemon cards, or geocoins. Why would I ever buy something just to store or display it?

I get decorations or artwork that makes a room or a house look nicer. I get trophies or awards that people won or display as accomplishments for something they did. I would understanding "collecting" a special coin to remember your 1000th find maybe. But in general I don't really understand collecting things like coins.

2.4k · May 23, 2008

I send coins into the world, i love to read the logs, see other country's, love to see the photo's who cachers make :grin:

:huh: And i love finding geocoins in caches, love to read there mission, love to place them in a other cache and i'm addicted to the icons i get

8.8k · May 23, 2008

A little mixture of all things

Personals, Mystery coins and special trades are for my personal collection.

Most coins that I leave in caches are unactivated and I leave as swag or just for fun. I found that for me it is much easier to just put an unactivated coin or nontrackable in a cache because I just get mad when it eventually gets stolen or held by someone for months This way I don't have to worry about it and someone gets a nice surprise. I've come across quite a few of my geotags that have been activated by local cachers, that really puts a smile on my face!

I used to log when I would drop a coin in a cache but I noticed that I had a shadow or two, so I stopped doing that and I don't write anything in my log anymore. I just drop them silently or in caches that I have already been too.

I've activated a few for travel and for my coin discovery cache (which was raided and coins stolen-hence now archived ) While I enjoy watching activated coins travel, it much less stressful for me to just give the coins away and let someone else enjoy activating them.

Geocoins haven't quite taken off here like in alot of places so it's still pretty novelty. I attended a meet and greet yesterday and only 1 person there had heard of the Earth Turtle, lol. It would be nice to have at least 1 coin addict here to talk to Give me a couple years and I'll drag a few more Helena cachers into the geocoin addiction with me

Try a little of everything, release some of the generic coins, let em' travel, keep some for your collection, drop some unactivated coins in caches and then read the logs (or write down the tracking number to see if it is eventually activated). No matter what you decided to do, just have fun with them

Hey le mita cola Tsun! How are you? :huh:

You are droping unactivated geocoins in caches? WOW! that is so generous!!! BRAVO!!!

I cn imagine that Helena is full of frogs (you have a design with a frog haven't you?), turtles, buffalos and mermaids! I am talking about geocoins!

1.1k · May 24, 2008

Just don't hold your breath eh?

Most coins like most TB's will take 12+ months to achieve their missions.

May 24, 2008

After loosing almost all my activated traveling coins, I prefer to show them off at events and then take them SAFELY home.

1.2k · May 24, 2008

I do both....

With the travelling ones I get lots of positive reports back - especially ones still in New Zealand - "Oh, look another Butterfly Lady coin" - junior cachers especially love them.

I also have a personal collection - about 2/3 rds of my activated coins are held in albums.

I could be paranoid about possible loss, but at my stage of life sharing is so much more fun! (yes, my children are adults, I work weekdays, I have a little disposable income).

Coins are art, but I think there are other things I'd rather be attached to. Like people.

Coins are worth a couple of coffee & cake breaks. Be careful not to overvalue them.

Hold them for now, if you are a newbie - - - look forward to the day you can let go and allow a coin to travel. I suggest setting two or three off for the first journey (different caches) and enjoy. You also get the fun of visiting caches. Consider that release as a growth step. Well done if you have got to this stage - if not, then you have lots to look forward to.....

Another bonus is discovering one of my own coins in a cache a long way from home! What a buzz!

May 25, 2008

So whats your vote and Opinion. Do you have your own stash of Geocoins? Or do you see a coin more having more value, being out in the field working for you?

Do you consider a coin part of your collection if you realase it with a mission, or only the ones you horde up in a protective container unactivated?

What do you think?

I have coins know and they are great and cool, I don't know what to do with them!!!!!!

Help!!!! Keep em?, or Send them?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some favourite ones I would not dare to send out, but some can make a journey...and hurry back!

May 25, 2008

We placed two new caches today. One was a bison tube, so it didn't get a coin. The ammo can cache is filled with toys and has a new, unactivated coin as the FTF prize.

We usually put them out as FTF prizes. We plan to place another cache tomorrow morning that will also have an unactivated coin for someone to find and keep.

We have activated some of the coins in our collection and sent them out to visit. We have one moving around Australia and New Zealand. Others are enjoying Europe.

Last February we dropped one of our personal coins in the Southernmost Cache in the US in Key West with a mission to return to one of our caches near our home. We hope to collect it from the cache and take it to Maine with us in August. We'll probably release it again in Maine.

We've seen some of our prize coins get activated and start traveling, but others have apparently been kept as part of the finder's collection. Either way is fine with us. We put them out for other cachers to enjoy and do with as they please. :blink:

3.4k · May 25, 2008

...

Most coins that I leave in caches are unactivated and I leave as swag or just for fun. I found that for me it is much easier to just put an unactivated coin or nontrackable in a cache because I just get mad when it eventually gets stolen or held by someone for months This way I don't have to worry about it and someone gets a nice surprise.

exactly! i really love dropping an unactivated or special coin in a cache. especially if i am the ftf. today i dropped a tiki 5-5 in a cache that had an "indiana jones" theme name so it was perfect swag!

...

Geocoins haven't quite taken off here like in alot of places so it's still pretty novelty. I attended a meet and greet yesterday and only 1 person there had heard of the Earth Turtle, lol. It would be nice to have at least 1 coin addict here to talk to.

there are hardly any cachers here in barstow, much less coin addicts. it seems that is mostly out of town folks that leave caches in the desert. i hope by leaving coins and talking about them in logs i can generate some more interest.

i don't think i'll be sending out any as travelers, just keep them, trade them or drop them depending on my mood. i have coins that were gifts and special trades that will stay with me and my "tranquilties" that sit in little boxes by my main chair so i can look at them and enjoy them at any time. i don't want such a large collection i don't know what i have or where they are.

lara

Geocoins: Keep em?, or Send them out? Whats your vote?

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