Why do people "steel" the geocoins?

[+AU96Alum]

I meant to spell it "steal". Seriously. most of the geocoins were circulated out there to be tracked. I know some people like to collect them and stuff...but really, when you find them in caches...it is not yours to keep but to pass on. Pass it on like other travel bugs unless the specific goal is to be kept.

 

I have come across numerous caches that "lost" the geocoins. I contact the owner of the coin, owner of the cache, and they all say the same thing..."someone must have kept it".

 

Why does this go on do you think?

Edited June 20, 2008 by tigerboys

[+Renegade Knight]

...Why does this go on do you think?

Must be a survival advantage via the evolutionary process. Stealing and not getting caught gains you baubles to show the babes who will of course immediatly want to breed with you thus reinforcing the genetic imperative.

 

Of course being able to catch and then beating the thief to a living puple gives you another kind of tropy that you can use to score the babes which is why we have another entirly different set of genetic imperatives.

 

Or you can go with. "Because they are cool, they are worth stealing, and becasue they can, as for why". Personally I like the idea of a it being their mating ritual. Then the victory dance would make more sence.

Edited June 20, 2008 by Renegade Knight

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Because it's cheaper than buying your own? I don't think it's intentional nearly as often as we think it is. I just got an email from a person who's been holding one of my coins that dissappeared from an event in January. Just hasn't been out caching in a while. Another of mine is back out traveling after disappearing for almost an entire year. I imagine the stories are as individual as we are and most just unfortunate coincidence or apathy even.

[+AtlantaGal]

There are a lot of reasons. Some actually get taken by mistake by cachers who simply think they're another trade item or don't ever go caching again. Some are legitimately lost/misplaced. Some go missing in stolen caches. And yes, some are stolen.

 

There are malicious cachers that live to steal coins and travel bugs. There are cachers who think that anything in a cache is fair game to take. And there are cachers out there who want the coins, but don't want to buy them.

 

I'm sure there are numerous other reasons too, but this is all I could thik of off the top of my head.

Edited June 20, 2008 by AtlantaGal

[+AtlantaGal]

I thought of one other thing too.

 

A lot of coins simply don't get logged properly. People will pick them up and move them without even logging them. So sometimes they're not even stolen. They just fall of the map for awhile until someone comes along and properly logs it.

[+fairyhoney]

"There are malicious cachers that live to steal coins and travel bugs. There are cachers who think that anything in a cache is fair game to take. And there are cachers out there who want the coins, but don't want to buy them."

 

I have heard of these people. It was rumored of us having one up in my neck of the woods last year. As well as that one that was in the Western Canada section who was also destroying caches.

 

I have often wondered why some would keep the "drilled" ones cuz they definitely can't show them off to others.

 

Both my son and I have had many go missing that were drilled. We are NOT going to let that discourage us from sending others out there ( but that is a different thread, isn't it)

 

Fairyhoney

[+larry739]

Let's give our fellow human beings the benefit of the doubt here. The vast majority of people are honest. There are a great many who are ignorant and don't know what a geocoin is, it just looks cool so they traded for it or a kid grabs it or who knows... Then there are those folks with good intentions who really mean to drop it in a cache and just forget or drop it down the cushion in the front seat or can't go geocaching and just forgot they had it. I have quite a few geocoins in circulation and I see it all. I long ago gave up on worrying about it. I keep putting out new ones and quite frankly I am kind of glad I am not getting all the emails I would get if all my geocoins and travel bugs were being properly logged and passed on to a new cache. It is already over 100 a day. I can't imagine how many I would have if everyone were perfect. Just remember the only perfect person is a perfect stranger and I haven't met that person yet.

 

PS I love the genetic rationalization. Very Darwinian.

Edited June 20, 2008 by larry739

[YemonYime]

Picture this...

 

You're in the middle of the woods. Nobody around. You open this metal box you just found...and there lies a beautiful, shiny, piece of polished gold. Men have killed for less. Civilizations have been built on the premise of gaining more of these. The devil pops up on your shoulder and says "grab it, man, it's treasure", while the angel on the other says "move it to another destination, my son".

 

It takes a person who recognizes the true value of what the item represents to give the devil a solid back-handed smack to his scruffy goatee and tell him to go pound salt up his hoohah.

 

It takes someone with respect, and enthusiasm, and the will to do the right thing...because all the while in the back of their mind they're processing possibilites like:

 

This coin represents the hopes of a child who's watching to see if their coin can make it to the place his Dad took him fishing last summer.

 

... or an older couple's wish to see their coin travel to the place where they first met many, many years ago.

 

... or a person's honest desire to share their "gold" and a tiny, almost insignificant sliver of goodwill with a fellow band of people with a specific and similar passion for this unique sport we partake in.

 

G'head. Grab it, man...and move it on. That's geocaching.

 

PS: If you find someone who doesn't think like that, then tell 'em to go pound salt up their hoohah.

[+GATOULIS]

Well said my friend Yemon Yime!!!

 

I just can not understand the guys who are stealling geocoins, or even TB's! If this happent to their own travellers, how would they react? Or they do not have travellers???

 

Is it because they saw a beautiful coin they do not have? Well... I do not think there is anyone who hasn't found a coin that like it or didn't have it!!! And even things are like that, what to do? steal it??? For God shake! This will make you feel nice? retrieve it from the cache, log it, play with it for a while (not too long!), but email to the owner for that, and then let it travell! I think this is better than stealling!!!

 

Coins and TB's make us feel like children, with all the happyness, and the enthusiasm of it, no matter how old we may be! I didn't know that and felt it when I released my first traveller!

 

Isn't it so great to see your coin going to places that you may not be able to visit in your life? The first coin I ever found, was from a family who lives in Germany! They wanted to come to Rhodes, and their coin came first!!!

 

In the case of TB's, ...I just do not get it! what they are stealling and why? they are stealling the toys that are attached on them??

 

anyway...I even like seeing where the things I am dropping after a trade, are going etc! So...

[+CoinsAndPins]

Here is a repeat of what I wrote back in 2006 about this subject (with a few updates):

 

I love to find coins in caches, and I love putting them in caches. However, some coins will come up missing when put in caches. This should not discourage you from releasing them. At this time I have put about 340 coins into caches. When a coin turns up missing I know the first feelings that come about are you have been robbed or taken advantage of. I think some cachers get very protective of their coins to the point they feel that if one comes up missing then it is definitely stolen instead of thinking about other circumstances that come up in peoples lives. So, let’s look into the possible reasons why they are gone and what can be done to counteract it.

 

A good expectation is a 10% missing rate in the first year or two if you have several coins traveling. Then over time it will increase if you do not keep putting new coins in caches. Some will experience more and some will experience less. I had experienced about an 8% missing rate in my first 1.5 years and now up to about 15%. Several coins that went missing a while back were due to a new cacher. On her first she day went out with cacher friends that were showing her the ropes and she found the coins. She emailed me later and asked how to log them. I explained the process to her and never heard back. She ended up quitting caching after the first week; so the coins are probably sitting in her house somewhere or went in the trash. This kind of thing is expected to happen since some people get really excited about caching on their first day, and then later realize the game is not for them or they just don’t have the time to play.

 

I also had coins come up missing due to kids taking them from caches and keeping them not knowing they are trackable. It is one of those situations where the parents are busy signing the log and handling their caching administration and not paying attention to what items the kids are trading with (normal practice and not really an issue). Luckily a few parents have caught it in time and kept the coins moving. I also had some military people pick up coins with the intention of moving them, but they were sent on a deployment before they could place them; so those will be in limbo for a few months to over a year, and by then they may be lost forever (again, not an issue). This also happens with civilian jobs that move people on short notice.

 

Some people find the coins, want to do something with them, but then life’s circumstances take over that prevent them from getting around to it. It’s not that they want to keep the coin, but sometimes more important things should take priority over moving coins.

 

Other times there are people who loose coins. They may have pulled it from a cache, put it somewhere, and then when trying to log it they can’t find it. They may be too embarrassed to tell the owner.

 

Other coins come up missing due to cache container problems such as:

1. Missing cache. Let’s face it, we have all encountered many caches that are not taken care of by the cache owner. A problem comes up with a cache after your visit and the owner doesn’t even know about the problem for months (depending on how often it is visited by other cachers).

2. Water in the cache. A cache that gets soaked and another cacher or the owner just throws away everything inside without going through the contents. I can’t blame them with how trashed the insides of some caches get when wet.

3. Cache tips over. Sometimes we all get a little clumsy and accidentally tip the container. The contents go everywhere including under leaves, branches, in holes, etc. If it is while opening the cache, then the person probably didn’t know the coin was in it and some of those items may get lost and never seen again, even with a thorough search.

4. And many more scenarios.

 

All those kinds of situations I can understand and have no problem with them. I think only one of my coins has been stolen that I can speculate for sure, but the others are problems due to some kind of caching mistake, unexpected circumstance, or muggle. That is why I don't deface them; While there are a couple of thieves, I feel most cachers will do the right thing and move coins if they know what it is for and have the time. There are over 2 million cachers in the world, so a large percentage of them (especially new ones) will have no idea what geocoins are. You take a risk when putting coins in caches. You have to accept the fact that they will eventually go missing no matter what the reason is. If you laid your wallet or purse in the middle of a sidewalk, I am sure by the 5thor 10th passerby that it will get picked up. At that point what the person does with it is all up to them no matter what note (or mission) you wrote on it.

 

In the last 6 months, a few cachers have found about 7 of my missing coins. Some of them just appeared and one was found in the dirt a few feet from a cache. All hope is not lost when a coin appears to be missing; even if it has been a few years.

 

 

How to compensate:

Put more coins in caches!!! With so many people playing the game, and with so many caches around the entire world, things are bound to happen. Don’t fret over a missing or stolen coin, just put more out. I consider it a numbers game: the more you have traveling, the more that will get around to their goals and not end up missing. Placing 5 coins into the wild could easily all come up missing; place 50 coins out there and the remaining 45 coins could end up traveling to hundreds of caches (90%). Even if you have a 20% loss, you will still have coins traveling. After all, traveling is what trackable geocoins are for.

 

Here is a radical mission for coins that finders will love:

“The finder of this coin may keep this coin.” I just did this a few weeks ago for two of my coins. All I wanted was the icon, and it looks like the finders really appreciated this mission. A win-win situation with no worry about it getting stolen.

[+dctalk007]

This has happened to half my coins i own. so now i just take them to events and get dicoveries that way. I like TB's alot more for placing in caches because 1. they are cheaper. Geocoins on average cost more then $10 and 2. TB's have less intrinsic value. You can't really sell it or trade it very well anyway

[bouquetoffaith]

I have one explanation. I went to Lafayette, IN and found two geocoins and one travel bug. I was so excited to come back to MN to place them. On the Amtrak on my way home, someone took them out of my bag! Go figure....I didn't know muggles rode the train. Amtrak is on the lookout for them, but things are not looking good. I went to log on the caches, but I could not figure out which cache they came from to notify the owner. One was a muscle man action figure travel bug, and one was a "hound" geocoin. Sorry........I am still working on it.