Should you activate your geocoin?

[+Anrx4you]

I have a small collection of coins that I have acumulated over the past few months. I have been entertaining the thought of activating them, but I don't exactly want to do something that can't be un-done. I'd like as much input as possible so that I, and others can make a decision on whether activating or not is indeed the best.

 

Reasons to activate:

1) Geocoin (or Travelbug) Manufacturers may go out of business without notice, leaving you without an activation code.

2) Missing coins can be tracked

3) Activated coins can be 'adopted' by others

 

Reasons NOT to activate:

1) They reduce the value of the coin

2) GEOCACHING.COM can go out of business leaving your activated coins...

3) Activated coins are a hassle to trade

 

Are there any other pros/cons in activating?

[+MustangJoni]

I have a small collection of coins that I have acumulated over the past few months. I have been entertaining the thought of activating them, but I don't exactly want to do something that can't be un-done. I'd like as much input as possible so that I, and others can make a decision on whether activating or not is indeed the best.

 

Reasons to activate:

1) Geocoin (or Travelbug) Manufacturers may go out of business without notice, leaving you without an activation code.

2) Missing coins can be tracked

3) Activated coins can be 'adopted' by others

 

Reasons NOT to activate:

1) They reduce the value of the coin

2) GEOCACHING.COM can go out of business leaving your activated coins...

3) Activated coins are a hassle to trade

 

Are there any other pros/cons in activating?

 

Your reason #1 for activating can be a non issue. You can get the activation code now, and put it with the coin, but not activate it.

 

I activate mine, just because I enjoy doing it. No other reason.

[Jake - Team A.I.]

 

Reasons to activate:

1) Geocoin (or Travelbug) Manufacturers may go out of business without notice, leaving you without an activation code.

2) Missing coins can be tracked

3) Activated coins can be 'adopted' by others

 

Reasons NOT to activate:

1) They reduce the value of the coin

2) GEOCACHING.COM can go out of business leaving your activated coins...

3) Activated coins are a hassle to trade

 

Reason 1 for activation could have a simple solution... contact Groundspeak. Since this is an extreme situation, they could provide you with the activation number.

 

Reason 2 for NOT activating doesn't make much sense... if geocaching.com goes out of business where is the coin going to be active?

 

Reason 3 for NOT activating... if people want the coin bad enough, they'll jump through any hoops necessary to get the coin. But really, it the adoption process really that complicated, I don't think so. The majority of the work if placed on the person who owns the coin. If it's that much of a difficulty, why did you offer it up for trade?

 

 

I let my activation of coins slack for a couple of years... and now I'm paying for it. I'm making my collection now be available for discovery. The recent coins aren't much of a problem, but I'm having difficulty getting the activation numbers for quite a few coins. Even the ones that I can find the code retrieval sites, don't want to recognize the tracking numbers as valid. Since this process could end up with me needing activation numbers for over 200 coins, I'm not too sure how I'm going to handle it.

 

I'd much rather deal with adoption of a activated coin, than to hunt down the activation number of a non-activated coin.

[Maine Family]

I have mostly activated coins because I bought them and don't plan on selling them. I am passing them on to my grandson when he gets older. He can share them with his kids. They are nice to look at and a lot of them has a story behind them of why I bought them. Activated coins are mighty hard to sell on ebay but if you lose an unactivated coin, chances are it could end up there. The ones I send out to the wild, some have become missing but when they put the number in, it will always come up as I am the owner. Without the adoption, it won't change the owner.

I also have unactivated coins and that is because I like doing the missions that they have here in the forums so I buy coins for that reason and don't activate them because I am planning on sending them to someone.

If there was a coin I wanted and it was activated I would buy it because an activated coin can only have one owner. It is easy to find out who the owner is and the adoption process takes less than a minute.

[+bluecherry]

Well I activate all of mine. For one because I want people to discover them. Two I do not plan on getting rid of them. and Three if I ever do get rid of them I can just adopt them to a new parent. But that is just how I feel.

[+ArtieD]

I activate all of mine as well. I enjoy letting people discover them and like others have said, what I put in my collection I want.

[CinemaBoxers]

Really the only reason not to activate them is for your ability to trade or sell easily. The pinned thread on coin trading is a great source to find just about any coin (activated or not).

 

But really it comes down to your preference - if you like the coin and want to activate it... then activate it. I don't believe for a second that Groundspeak will be going out of business anytime soon. Then again.. I'm not a stockholder.

 

Bottom line is - it's a personal preference. Activate, don't activate - entirely up to you!

 

Just my thoughts ~

 

~J

[+dardevle]

I like to activate mine. It is fun to show other cachers and let them

 

discover them if they chose to do so. I do not have that many coins

 

yet but I will most likely activate them all. If I end up wit two of the same

 

coins I'll then activate one and keep the other for trade.