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A little Geocoin history, please..


acadiahiker

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Recently, I read somewhere that the Kilted Cacher geocoin was the first trackable geocoin on GC.com. What were some other very early trackables? And what were the first geocoins with unique icons?

 

A cacher recented posted on another forum that he had completed his quest for the first 10 geocoins (non-trackable).

I'm curious which ones they are.

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I think avroair mentioned to me that one of the USA geocoins was the first trackable coin, I just can't remember what year that was, I wanna say 2003, possible 2004.

 

03' I believe.. correct me if I'm wrong.. I have an 03 USA if that helps.. Pretty sure the Kilted cacher coins came well after that. :laughing:

Edited by 57chevy
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Moun10Bike V1 is the first trackable that I know of. There are a number "early" coins - mostly dating from 2001-2003. The "craze" started slowly actually. I know there are the Oregon 2003 and 2004 coins (some of the first state coins). The geobone was the first "shaped" coin (followed closely by the Georgia Peach). That was early 2005.

 

As for the first 10. It's hard, but there is Moun10Bike, IndyDiver, Dhobby, and there are the square Groundspeak coins - exceedingly rare.

 

A great site for the early coins would be http://www.geocities.com/team_fisur/geocoins/index.html

 

They tried to keep track, but you can see they stopped very early - so we are looking at the first hundred coins or so there.

 

Kilted Cacher actually came out later. It may have been the first trackable "personal" coin with an unique icon.

 

Couple of notes:

 

You used to not be able to get a custom icon unless you were an organization. Personals all had the "cent" icon if they were trackable.

 

You used to have to order 1000+ trackable numbers to get a custom icon - for example, my "Red-Handed" coin in 2005/6 had a minting of 600 coins - not enough for a custom icon at the time.

 

I can't remember the minimum requirement for making a personal trackable. 500 comes to mind, but the coin companies quickly started buying "blocks" of numbers and dividing them up to buyers that wanted only 100, 200, etc.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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Try this to find the first ever trackable geocoin:

 

Go to the trackables page, enter 001, press enter. There you go. It's number 1 of the first trackable geocoin.

 

I am pretty sure that will work for all numbers up to 400.

 

Nope. It will work on Moun10Bikes coins because his are the only ones that use "real" numbers. However the Version 2 coins came out later and the numbers continued from there. So coin 396, for example, came out well after many other coins.

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I think avroair mentioned to me that one of the USA geocoins was the first trackable coin, I just can't remember what year that was, I wanna say 2003, possible 2004.

Ya, sorry, I like to spread misinformation around :laughing: I had to look at that email and I misquoted avroair (don't be mad Mark, lol), he did say after M10B's.

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Oh yeah. Couple more notes:

 

1) Trackable on Geocaching.com - Moun10Bike 1st - straight numbers - not TB-style numbers. His subsequent coins honored this. So his version 2 coins were minted after his version 1's (and after many others), but they continued the numbering scheme. His version 3's have (I believe) the TB-style numbers (mine is at home)

 

2) Trackable with custom icons - only organizations w/1000+ coins (at first). It was a "process" to get this done - so many didn't bother. However, when Groundspeak realized that it was rather "profitable" - the rules and their ability to accommodate more requests at lower numbers increased :laughing: This is when personal trackables with custom icons became possible. I'm not 100% sure when this happened, but I know it was post-red-handed coin (so late 2005). There was no way for my Red-Handed coin to get a custom icon when I minted it - even though I minted 600 of them. In fact, it's one of the first "personal/community" coins to even be trackable. You get the "cent" icon if you find/own one. During this time, all personal trackables started with the letters "PC" - so that's another way to separate the really old trackables - look for any that have "PC" in front of their tracking number - they're the old one.

 

3) Trackable elsewhere - the first generation Canadian coins were trackable at a separate site. Same with the 2005 Alaska coins and, I *think* the 2004 Oregon <- could be wrong on that one.

 

Some folks tried to skirt the trackable via Groundspeak issue by creating their own trackable sites and the Alaska folks were right into this - I think it was a fellow from Alaska that actually wrote a little software to do this that sat externally - I remember trackable ladybugs for some reason. That didn't last long - folks didn't want to visit a dozen different places to track them!

 

Actually - that's one of the reasons that there are still "rules" about selling trackable vs. non-trackable coins here in the forums. Trackables generate revenue for Groundspeak and non-site trackables are actually profiting from Groundspeak without giving back. How this affects non-trackable, nowhere is odd - but I don't set the rules ... I obey.... (see some past heated discussions though :laughing:

 

In the old days there was some real possibility that some external site would become the "geocoin trackable site" and that it would be separate from this site. Groundspeak won the war - I don't think anyone tracks items externally. If they do - they certainly can't advertise the fact here! It would be like seeing a Pepsi advertisement at a Coke convention!

 

Ah..... the old days.....

 

haha.... I remember when I first decided to do a non-coin shaped coin. It was a real "can you do that?" moment. Fortunately, the great folks at Coins and Pins really helped pioneer a lot of the wierdness that came into the coins back then. Now it seems there are little to no limits to what you can do.

 

At some point folks were even suggesting that there would be two categories: Geocoins and Custom Trackables.

 

Fun.

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Okay! Checked my trackables. The Kilted Cacher does not have a custom icon. It is the "cent" icon. This means it is a very early personal trackable - maybe indeed the first!

 

This makes sense. I seem to recall that it didn't end all that well and these coins were all sold-off in a big sale with others.

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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here is the information that I have -

 

in the beginning, the column in the GC.com database for trackable items was numeric

001 through 9,999 were reserved for Moun10Bike geocoins

10,001 through 99,999 were reserved for USA geocoins

100,001 and up were reserved for travel bugs

leaving very little (essentially no) room for expansion

 

there were a number of pleas from various sources for their coins to be trackable

they were rebuffed, and given several excuses (some of them lame)

some responded by establishing their own tracking sites

others chose to forego tracking

 

the Jeep trackables changed all of that

the database column was changed to alphanumeric, and the doors opened for the situation that we see today

 

I believe that German geocoins were the first to be granted an icon

(after M10B and USA geocoins and yellow Jeeps, of course)

second was the first Colorado geocoin

 

the situation with the German coins is a little hazy

the codes all start with "GE", but they were used for several later coins as well, as was the icon

the Colorado coins got new icons with each new version

 

one interesting "transition" story involves the Michigan MIGO geocoins

they asked to have their coin GC.com trackable, and were turned down

they made a bunch of coins, put numbers on them and set up their own site for tracking

shortly after that, GC.com began allowing tracking

the MIGO folks still had a bunch of unsold coins

so, they got tracking numbers for them, had the numbers ground off the remaining coins in their inventory, and had them re-engraved with the tracking numbers

 

these are commonly called MIGO "refurb" coins (as in refurbished)

so, there are two versions of essentially the same coin out there - one GC.com trackable, and the other not`

  • Surprised 1
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this thread started out to be about trackable coins, but there have been a number of posts about the earlier non-trackable coins as well

 

so . . . here is a good place to see what was going on way back then

http://www.geocities.com/team_fisur/geocoins/index.html

 

it is a personal site that originally tried to keep up with all geocoins

(there is also another section devoted to signature items)

I believe that the geocoin part of the site has not been updated in several years

but, it is a fairly complete list of the first couple of years or so of geocoins

I believe that the person who maintained the site listed things in the order that they became aware of them

so, they are in roughly (though probably not exactly) the order in which they were created

the main exception is that they put their own coin first, before M10B

but, hey, it's their site, and a lot of effort went into it, so who can complain

 

note that many of the coins have links

many of these links are defunct now, but some still have interesting information

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Checked - the Moun10Bike V3 still uses the numerical scheme (non TB-style)

 

Moun10Bike V3 uses TB style numbering with Prefix MB. They are also numbered i believe

 

The later M10B coins like v3 and v4 and at least the 2007 Christmas Coinament are numbered, but also have 'regular' tracking numbers.

 

Also, if you go to Moun10Bike's website and visit his geocoin page, you can see the history behind his coins (and in coins in general I guess). You can find it here :blink:

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A cacher recented posted on another forum that he had completed his quest for the first 10 geocoins (non-trackable).

 

 

I'm also curious where I posted this news? I thought I only told a few people that :blink:

 

T'wasn't you.

 

Well ok then. I thought you might have been there when I opened the package containing the elusive #10 (Waypoint15) :sad:

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A cacher recented posted on another forum that he had completed his quest for the first 10 geocoins (non-trackable).

 

 

I'm also curious where I posted this news? I thought I only told a few people that :sad:

 

T'wasn't you.

 

Well ok then. I thought you might have been there when I opened the package containing the elusive #10 (Waypoint15) :)

 

:huh:

 

I was there. There was crying. :blink:

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What are the first 10?

 

I've never been able to really get a strong list of these. The ones that throw me for a loop are the two square ones that "apparently" were released by Groundspeak themselves. I've actually never seen one of those.

 

While I've always been interested in getting the first 10 - I suspect that the after-market value would exceed $500, if not $1000 per coin. That's pretty high, but it reflects the scarcity and desirability for these items.

 

In fact, if presented the opportunity - I'd probably be willing to pay several thousand myself! I know at least a few others that would also be in the running to spend this much.

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Also - a quick caution on the FISUR site. It's really useful, but don't think all the entries are in completely accurate order.

 

The biggest examples are coins where a cacher may have done a poker chip or wooden coin very, very early on and then did a metal a little later (late 2005 for example). Their entire "set" of coins will appear together in an earlier position on the list, but their metal coin may have been later than many of the coins that come after.

 

As an example, I *think* that Pepper's personal coin (metal) came out AFTER the Ray&Rose coin. Pepper appears on column 2, but Ray& Rose appear in column 3.

 

Also, the list does miss a lot of early coins. (well...by percentage...only a few really)

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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What are the first 10?

 

I've never been able to really get a strong list of these. The ones that throw me for a loop are the two square ones that "apparently" were released by Groundspeak themselves. I've actually never seen one of those.

 

While I've always been interested in getting the first 10 - I suspect that the after-market value would exceed $500, if not $1000 per coin. That's pretty high, but it reflects the scarcity and desirability for these items.

 

In fact, if presented the opportunity - I'd probably be willing to pay several thousand myself! I know at least a few others that would also be in the running to spend this much.

 

According to the Fisur site, which is in a somewhat chronological order:

 

Team FISUR

Texas

Canada

Green Man

Joy of Geocaching

waypoint15

DHOBBY1

Indy Diver

Wanderingdragon

Kablooey

 

I know the Team Fisur, waypoint 15, Dhobby1, and IndyDiver are definitely top ten oldest non-trackables, the others are debatable.

 

I also believe Kilted Cacher was the first personal trackable, with f0t0m0m also coming out around that time.

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The FISUR site isn't really accurate for order though. It's a great reference, but really not accurate as it reflects the time the heard about or acquired the coins.

 

For example, my own coin (geobone) came out waaaaay before the ones ahead of me in the list. Mine pre-dates many of the coins in column 3. They just didn't know about it until I told them.

 

That said - I also know the CKayaks would also be much earlier than the list position would indicate - maybe even in the top 20?

 

They also are missing coins. Didn't CavScout have one in the very early days? Also - the infamous square ones aren't even there - and I know these are top 10 - possibly #2 or 3.

 

Kilted Cacher does seem to me to be the first personal trackable. Back when you needed a BIG order to get the numbers. Which is why it isn't that hard to find (plus the big sale, etc).

 

Same with the original Canada coins. They just kept minting them! There must be thousands out there.

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According to the Fisur site, which is in a somewhat chronological order:

 

Team FISUR

Texas

Canada

Green Man

Joy of Geocaching

waypoint15

DHOBBY1

Indy Diver

Wanderingdragon

Kablooey

It's debatable if kablooey's coin should even be on this list, since it is just a production Disney coin which kablooey added his name and serial# to with an engraving machine. It is, however, still highly coveted.

 

--Marky

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...

 

Same with the original Canada coins. They just kept minting them! There must be thousands out there.

 

i sure wish i had kept one of the 10 or so i bought and just dropped here and there. we thought these were just the coolest things! expensive swag to be sure, but still cool.

 

i remember the huge discussions about whether or not i could put a note with mine saying people could keep them instead of making them travelers. heck, the travelers were being stolen as fast as i could drop them, so i just said "keep it if you want it!"

 

rsg

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Some folks tried to skirt the trackable via Groundspeak issue by creating their own trackable sites and the Alaska folks were right into this - I think it was a fellow from Alaska that actually wrote a little software to do this that sat externally - I remember trackable ladybugs for some reason. That didn't last long - folks didn't want to visit a dozen different places to track them!

The 2005 Alaska geocoins came out just as tracking numbers were being made available to the masses. If the coin had come out about three months later, it probably would have been geocaching.com trackable. Instead, the 2005 Alaska geocoins, our personal coin, our trackable glass ladybugs, the first Oregon geocoin, and several other trackable are/were tracked on the site created and maintained by Mr. Snazz.

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I wonder if you folks can help me?

 

I'm collecting info to build a history of UK geocaching and wondered if anyone knows which was the first geocoin to make it across the pond, that would probably be the first in the UK. If anyone knows which cache it went into that would be even more help!

 

Thanks in anticipation, Henry.

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UK Question - I'm not sure which coin was the first to make the trip over, but I do remember the UK coin being a very early one. We were able to get custom engraving on the UK coin - so mine says "Lemon Fresh Dog" on it. This seems to be the first coin *minted* for the UK caching world.

 

First one over? Not sure.

 

On the Kilted Cacher question. His coin does not have a custom icon - so it's not the first personal with a custom icon. It's also not the first trackable personal coin. So that answers the original post :laughing:

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...

 

First one over? Not sure.

 

On the Kilted Cacher question. His coin does not have a custom icon - so it's not the first personal with a custom icon. It's also not the first trackable personal coin. So that answers the original post :laughing:

 

on the trackable site for kilted cacher it says, "My first activated personal geocoin and the first personal geocoin activated on gc.com"

 

the gc site photo shows a kilted man, in colour. but the photo on geocoinscollection.com and some of the photos on cointracking, show an all metal kilted guy. was there more than one version? or is the coloured one a drawing?

 

dff64145-c798-433a-892a-0433045f7063.jpg

 

Dhobby1_trade_140_40333_Front100.jpg

 

rsg

Edited by RedShoesGirl
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It may be the Kilted Cachers 1st coin 1st he activated. In the same way that folks have their "old #1" (the first coin they ever owned, the first one they personally activated).

 

It's certainly not the first trackable personal coin on Geocaching.com - that would be Moun10Bike.

 

It's *possibly* the first PC-trackable when the codes were made available outside of organizations. It's not the first trackable personal coin though.

 

Here's how things used to work.

If you wanted trackable coins - you couldn't even get the numbers from the coin makers! You had to do the following:

 

1) Design coin

2) Show design to Groundspeak and get it approved

3) Pay Groundspeak for a spreadsheet of tracking numbers

4) Send the spreadsheet to the coin maker and have the coins minted with the numbers on them

5) Receive the coins, match EACH number to EACH tracking code (they were ALL different!!)

 

aaaaaaa! It hurts to remember.....it hurts!!!!!

 

Kilted Cacher may have been the first to do this for his personal. I know some organizations that did this during the late summer of 2005, his coin was Sept/Oct 2005, the Red-Handed I did was Oct/Nov 2005 (which was neither a personal or an organization - it was a "community" coin).

 

In fact, it wasn't until summer of 2005 that Groundspeak would sell units of tracking numbers less than 1000 and to individuals. Prior to that - you HAD to by tracking in 1000+ and you HAD to be an organization. A fact that some times caused.....er.... discussions :laughing:

 

Good times....good times.....

Edited by Lemon Fresh Dog
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i am curious about the original indy diver coins, what is the difference between version 1 and version 1.5?

 

rsg

 

His V1 coins were smaller (40mm) vs 44.5mm for the v1.5 . V1 was only made in antique bronze, and numbered from 001 to 100. The v1.5 have multiple finishes and were number with ID XXX, where the XXX is a number. Also, he swtiched to a more GC.com style PMS chart on the backs, since all the first coins to use the gc.com back had a slightly muted "pastel" PMS color style. There was also a small artwork change on the front of the V1.5 where he added the words "Cache On" next to the boy holding the satellite. And the shape of the boy and satellite, and the state of Indiana border is different.

 

TMA

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i am curious about the original indy diver coins, what is the difference between version 1 and version 1.5?

 

rsg

 

His V1 coins were smaller (40mm) vs 44.5mm for the v1.5 . V1 was only made in antique bronze, and numbered from 001 to 100. The v1.5 have multiple finishes and were number with ID XXX, where the XXX is a number. Also, he swtiched to a more GC.com style PMS chart on the backs, since all the first coins to use the gc.com back had a slightly muted "pastel" PMS color style. There was also a small artwork change on the front of the V1.5 where he added the words "Cache On" next to the boy holding the satellite. And the shape of the boy and satellite, and the state of Indiana border is different.

 

TMA

 

thanks pete! i'll add this info to my history file on a few of my coins. i love the older ones.

 

lara

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