24kt gold plating compass rose

[+BVnLJ]

does anyone know if the 2006 compass rose was made in 24kt gold plating?

thanks

[+scavok]

Yes, the 2006 compass rose had a gold version.

 

obtained at: http://www.tinkan.com/geocaching.htm

[+Crowesfeat30]

Gold, yes. 24 kt gold? I don't think so.

 

CF30

[haysonics]

Good question. It is often sold on ebay with the comment that it has real 24kt gold plating. If Aaron or Yime see this I'd also like to know if the 2006 Nickel has real silver plating and if the 2007 Two Tone has real gold plating. The May 2006 GCC "Pyramid" has real silver plating I believe. From memory they said it was used to achieve a proof like finish and was their most expensive coin to date.

Edited March 24, 2009 by haysonics

[Tooeygeotrashed]

This is the official Compass Rose page. It merely states gold plating here, but I too have seen it referred to as 24K Gold Plating - which is certainly available from some mints, so it would be nice to have a definitive answer to this question.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Good question. It is often sold on ebay with the comment that it has real 24kt gold plating. If Aaron or Yime see this I'd also like to know if the 2006 Nickel has real silver plating and if the 2007 Two Tone has real gold plating. The May 2006 GCC "Pyramid" has real silver plating I believe. From memory they said it was used to achieve a proof like finish and was their most expensive coin to date.

 

I'll have to disagree here. There are soilid silver coins, there's a few solid silver/24k gold Alaska coins. I truly doubt the GCC coin has any real silver to it and I don't remember reading that when I was a member. I could ask though to be sure!

[haysonics]

Plating not solid and you don't have to use much so the cost is low.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating

 

You are right about GCC, I just had another look at their page and they only state "The coin was done using a proofing process and is the most expensive coin we've produced to date." I am just assuming the "proofing process" is silver plating.

 

http://www.geocoinclub.com/gallery.php#2006

 

It certainly tarnishes easily. I keep having to polish both 2006 Compass Rose as well as my Elandels. Luckily the Pyramid came in a plastic case (airtight) but some peoples still have a number of scratches.

Edited March 24, 2009 by haysonics

[+BVnLJ]

The link Tooey posted says the RE was silver and the LE was gold. So it seems they were done in a polished gold finish,(plating), but not 24K gold.

[haysonics]

I wish it was that simple but alas. It says polished gold plating but that doesn't necessarily mean any real gold is used (even less than 24k). I am guessing its plated with real 24k gold but its tarnishing.

Edited March 25, 2009 by haysonics

[+Rockin Roddy]

Plating not solid and you don't have to use much so the cost is low.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating

 

You are right about GCC, I just had another look at their page and they only state "The coin was done using a proofing process and is the most expensive coin we've produced to date." I am just assuming the "proofing process" is silver plating.

 

http://www.geocoinclub.com/gallery.php#2006

 

It certainly tarnishes easily. I keep having to polish both 2006 Compass Rose as well as my Elandels. Luckily the Pyramid came in a plastic case (airtight) but some peoples still have a number of scratches.

 

You were right, I missed the word "their" in your comment. Yes, it was their most expensive to amke, until the Fear no Cache coin (I believe...could be wrong though). The most expensive coin made by anyone would be the Alaska coins which are 1 troy .999 silver with 24k gold overlay!

[+CoinsAndPins]

Hello,

 

Yes, all polished gold coins we produce are plated in 24K gold. The 2006 Compass Rose Geocoin was also plated in polished nickel; silver was not used on these coins.

 

Thank you,

Aaron

[haysonics]

Thank you Aaron !!!

[+fox-and-the-hound]

The GCC coin mentioned previously was, from my understanding, made with the same proofing or "double-strike" method used in making U.S. currency. It's a far more expensive process, but the detail level achievable is supposed to be much higher. I think the Alaska coins might be made this way, too, but I don't know that for certain.

 

As for using 24K gold, that should be pretty easy to confirm. If anyone has a gold CR that is tarnishing then there's your answer.

 

I believe a couple of Crakes coins also mention using 24K gold, too.

[Tooeygeotrashed]

Plating not solid and you don't have to use much so the cost is low.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating

 

You are right about GCC, I just had another look at their page and they only state "The coin was done using a proofing process and is the most expensive coin we've produced to date." I am just assuming the "proofing process" is silver plating.

 

http://www.geocoinclub.com/gallery.php#2006

 

It certainly tarnishes easily. I keep having to polish both 2006 Compass Rose as well as my Elandels. Luckily the Pyramid came in a plastic case (airtight) but some peoples still have a number of scratches.

 

You were right, I missed the word "their" in your comment. Yes, it was their most expensive to amke, until the Fear no Cache coin (I believe...could be wrong though). The most expensive coin made by anyone would be the Alaska coins which are 1 troy .999 silver with 24k gold overlay!

 

Actually the most expensive coin produced was an Alaskan coin - but it was in solid gold and I believe only 10 were ever made, they retailed at $1095.00 each.

 

As far as I know - gold does not tarnish, however if the plating is extremely thin, perhaps this has an effect, my 2006 Gold Compass Rose is certainly as bright and shiny as the day I received it, I do not keep it in a coinflip or airtight capsule, it sits in a display box.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

As far as I know - gold does not tarnish, however if the plating is extremely thin, perhaps this has an effect, my 2006 Gold Compass Rose is certainly as bright and shiny as the day I received it, I do not keep it in a coinflip or airtight capsule, it sits in a display box.

 

That was my observation, too. If it's 24k, then it should never, ever tarnish.

[Tooeygeotrashed]

The GCC coin mentioned previously was, from my understanding, made with the same proofing or "double-strike" method used in making U.S. currency. It's a far more expensive process, but the detail level achievable is supposed to be much higher. I think the Alaska coins might be made this way, too, but I don't know that for certain.

 

You are quite correct, the Alaskan coins are double struck. The coins are all proof quality, produced by striking the planchets twice using a pressure of 160-180 tons with dies polished to a mirror finish . The edge of the silver and silver with gold relief coins is stamped "1 OZ .999 FINE SILVER." The edge of the gold coin is not stamped because the metal is too soft and the rest of the coin could be damaged during the stamping process.

[haysonics]

As far as I know - gold does not tarnish, however if the plating is extremely thin, perhaps this has an effect, my 2006 Gold Compass Rose is certainly as bright and shiny as the day I received it, I do not keep it in a coinflip or airtight capsule, it sits in a display box.

 

That was my observation, too. If it's 24k, then it should never, ever tarnish.

 

Thanks, that helps answer another enigma. I have my geocoins in wooden coin boxes with purple trays. They used Royal Purple dye which is made from sea snails and gives off an odour. I thought this might be tarnishing the coins. 24kt shouldn't tarnish under regular conditions so it must be this dye thats doing it.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Plating not solid and you don't have to use much so the cost is low.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating

 

You are right about GCC, I just had another look at their page and they only state "The coin was done using a proofing process and is the most expensive coin we've produced to date." I am just assuming the "proofing process" is silver plating.

 

http://www.geocoinclub.com/gallery.php#2006

 

It certainly tarnishes easily. I keep having to polish both 2006 Compass Rose as well as my Elandels. Luckily the Pyramid came in a plastic case (airtight) but some peoples still have a number of scratches.

 

You were right, I missed the word "their" in your comment. Yes, it was their most expensive to amke, until the Fear no Cache coin (I believe...could be wrong though). The most expensive coin made by anyone would be the Alaska coins which are 1 troy .999 silver with 24k gold overlay!

 

Actually the most expensive coin produced was an Alaskan coin - but it was in solid gold and I believe only 10 were ever made, they retailed at $1095.00 each.

 

As far as I know - gold does not tarnish, however if the plating is extremely thin, perhaps this has an effect, my 2006 Gold Compass Rose is certainly as bright and shiny as the day I received it, I do not keep it in a coinflip or airtight capsule, it sits in a display box.

 

I knew that, I just forgot!

[+forthferalz]

to the guy polishing his gold compass rose haysonics - stop! it's really thin plating!!! get a box or some other sealed coin keeper from a coin dealer - they cost about $1. or i've got some the right size - pm me.

depending on where you keep them condensation and dampcan be a problem - i store mine in a wooden cabinet - wooden toolbox owners swear by them for keeping their tools tarnish free. Possibly what's oxidising on your gold coin is actually not the finish but the grease from fingers or worse junk from the chlorine in the vinyl pouch - you can clean with lens cleaner and then box it.

 

'proof like' usually refers to the amount of pressure used on the strike, they also hit it more than once this uses up time and power and the polishing applied to the die when it is made.

 

the australia geocoins are also plated in 24k I believe this is actually the only option offerred for a gold finish! Silver plating is easily tarnished - i had a few minted for prizes and boxed otherwise the 'silver' is actually nickel.

[haysonics]

Its ironic that expensive coin boxes do this to the coins they are designed to hold ! I don't use the vinyl flips so the coins are exposed to the odour of the Royal Purple dye of the trays. The boxes are really nice so I will make some replacement trays out of foam or something. I don't want to put them all in plastic airtight containers as I like handling them. I hold them by the edges and insist friends do the same or suffer penalty of death

 

I was wondering about proof "like", whether geocoin manufacturers actually did a high pressure/double strike like currency mints do or whether they faked it by using nickel or silver plating.

 

I keep having to remind myself that polished silver is usually nickel. I could have sworn the nickel 06 Compass Rose used silver plating but Aaron says not. You have to use real gold plating to make a polished gold finish that looks real though. Gold is hard to fake. Apparently gold can now be manufactured but its more costly than digging it up.

Edited March 26, 2009 by haysonics

[+The Amigos]

O.K., so keeping the coins in vinyl will discolor them?? I take mine out of the flips they come in, cut a square of foam, then cut an opening in the foam to the shape of the coin, and put my coins in page protector sheets like you would use for baseball cards.

 

Is this bad for my coins?????

[+fox-and-the-hound]

O.K., so keeping the coins in vinyl will discolor them?? I take mine out of the flips they come in, cut a square of foam, then cut an opening in the foam to the shape of the coin, and put my coins in page protector sheets like you would use for baseball cards.

 

Is this bad for my coins?????

 

Actually, you're probably in very good shape doing this. The protective sheets for holding baseball cards are made with a special acid-free compound to avoid discoloring the cards. I don't know how the foam would react to the coin, but polishing the edge of a coin is probably much safer than polishing the faces.

[+The Amigos]

Actually, you're probably in very good shape doing this. The protective sheets for holding baseball cards are made with a special acid-free compound to avoid discoloring the cards. I don't know how the foam would react to the coin, but polishing the edge of a coin is probably much safer than polishing the faces.

 

Oh, O.K.! Thanks for the information! I thought I was going to have to do some scrambling to save my collection!