I want to hear about some good geocache treasures

[mouthsmasher]

I'm relatively new to geocaching, and I've noticed that pretty much every geocache large enough to hold anything is always filled with coins, poker chips, toy cars, bullet shells, or McDonald's toys. In an effort to make the geocaches I either create or come across more interesting, I want to know what's been found left and before.

 

What's the best thing you've left in a geocache? What's the coolest thing you've taken? Do you always leave something completely different behind or do you leave something relatively the same as a sort of "trademark" or "calling card." Where's the best place to find something to leave behind? What don't you like to find in a geocache??

[Andronicus]

Just bought a bunch of Pez dispensers I plan on leaving in caches that are large enough.

 

The best thing I found was a Evil Micros pin. I pinned it to my geocaching backpack, but it recently fell off

[+GeoLobo]

I try to leave a signature item in every cache that i can fit one in. I have dropped personal geocoins, geo-tokens, and geo-cards.

 

My latest personal signature geo-cards are:

 

2009 GeoLobo / Bluegirl Blue Line Geocachers (ammo can background)

 

http://www.bluelinegeocachers.org/images/b...radingcards.jpg

 

2008 GeoLobo (topo background)

 

http://www.bluelinegeocachers.org/images/g..._both_Sides.jpg

 

2008 Bluegirl (topo background)

 

http://www.bluelinegeocachers.org/images/b..._both_Sides.jpg

 

I don't usually take anything

[+Casting Crowns]

Usually, the "higher dollar" amount swag has been gift cards. They've varied in amounts of $10 to as much as $100. So far, the coolest thing I have found in a cache has been a Pathtag. I love them because they're just as unique and creative as a geocoin but you get to keep them. You can google pathtag and find out more info if you're interested.

 

I also leave sig items such as the bottle caps and shrinky dinks (use the ink jet one's they're sooooo much better!). I have found cash but nothing to write home about. Usually less than $5.

[+Snoogans]

What's the best thing you've left in a geocache?

 

Gosh, in 6 years it's hard to say. Gift cards, NEW dollar store swag, semi-precious stones, fossils, etc. I'm big on shiney rocks and fossils. Once I left a chunk of Citrine worth about $35 in a cache I particularly liked. I don't think the person who got it had any idea how much it was worth unless they showed it to someone who knows gemstones.

 

Lately it has been my smashed coins:

 

 

What's the coolest thing you've taken?

 

Sig items mostly. I collect 'em.

 

Also, a bolo tie worth over $100 because of the rare type of jasper stone it contains. A $25 Best Buy gift card.

 

Do you always leave something completely different behind or do you leave something relatively the same as a sort of "trademark" or "calling card."

 

I used to leave red tiger's eye and smiley mazes that I signed as a sig item and when those ran out I switched to these and they fetch a decent price on ebay I hear:

 

 

Where's the best place to find something to leave behind?

 

Dollar Stores, Wally-World, Toys R Us, find Snoogans at an event (GW7 hint, hint) and get some of his coins...

 

What don't you like to find in a geocache??

 

Used tissue, snack wrappers, expired coupons, Starbucks coffee container lids, multiple copies of the same exact religious tract, etc.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Snoogans

[mikenewell]

Wow Snoogans .. those are amazing I'd love to find some of those types of sig items. Awesome.

[+Snoogans]

Wow Snoogans .. those are amazing I'd love to find some of those types of sig items. Awesome.

 

Thanks.

I'll be leaving them in several states caching on the way to and from GW7. Sorry, we won't be going to N.S.

[+PJ-FredX-Tuck]

Lately the prepackaged individual Off! Insect repellent wipes have been popular. ;-)

[+Knight2000]

I'm relatively new to geocaching, and I've noticed that pretty much every geocache large enough to hold anything is always filled with coins, poker chips, toy cars, bullet shells, or McDonald's toys. In an effort to make the geocaches I either create or come across more interesting, I want to know what's been found left and before.

 

What's the best thing you've left in a geocache? What's the coolest thing you've taken? Do you always leave something completely different behind or do you leave something relatively the same as a sort of "trademark" or "calling card." Where's the best place to find something to leave behind? What don't you like to find in a geocache??

Hmm, you have described what we leave sometimes. Who are you leaving things for? I think of the children. I think children would like to find foreign coins, buffalo nickels, hot wheels, spent cartridge cases, and McToys. (Among other things.) We also leave custom poker chips that we had made as a sig item.

 

I really think kids find that kind of swag interesting.

 

The "best" thing is completely subjective. I don't trade often. I have traded for a compass key chain and a Hot Wheel's medal from the 60's.

[+Coyote's Girl]

If I'm with my son, he usually takes a car or some other toy. If I'm alone I won't take anything uless it really tickles my fancy. We leave nice polished stones or seashells, I've left earrings that I make. I'm going to start making charms with swarovski crystals in the geocaching colors.

[mouthsmasher]

I'm relatively new to geocaching, and I've noticed that pretty much every geocache large enough to hold anything is always filled with coins, poker chips, toy cars, bullet shells, or McDonald's toys. In an effort to make the geocaches I either create or come across more interesting, I want to know what's been found left and before.

Hmm, you have described what we leave sometimes. Who are you leaving things for? I think of the children. I think children would like to find foreign coins, buffalo nickels, hot wheels, spent cartridge cases, and McToys. (Among other things.) We also leave custom poker chips that we had made as a sig item.

 

I really think kids find that kind of swag interesting.

 

The "best" thing is completely subjective. I don't trade often. I have traded for a compass key chain and a Hot Wheel's medal from the 60's.

 

Yeah, I suppose everything is pretty subjective as to what's good and what's not. I guess there's nothing wrong with the coins, cars, and McD's toys. Sometimes some of those sorts of things I've found to be quite interesting, but for the most part, repetitive. I guess I don't really mind that stuff, except when it's very worn out and used, to the point of being almost broken. In the end what interests me the most is the unexpected and unusual.

 

I haven't taken into consideration that people leave things specifically geared for people of different ages or interests, but it all makes sense.

[+KandDGregory]

I'm relatively new to geocaching, and I've noticed that pretty much every geocache large enough to hold anything is always filled with coins, poker chips, toy cars, bullet shells, or McDonald's toys. In an effort to make the geocaches I either create or come across more interesting, I want to know what's been found left and before.

 

What's the best thing you've left in a geocache? What's the coolest thing you've taken? Do you always leave something completely different behind or do you leave something relatively the same as a sort of "trademark" or "calling card." Where's the best place to find something to leave behind? What don't you like to find in a geocache??

Boy, this topic comes up every week, doesn't it?

[+hitech squirrel]

Boy, this topic comes up every week, doesn't it?

 

/Snark

[+atmospherium]

Boy, this topic comes up every week, doesn't it?

 

Rejoice and be not dismayed. It just means that more newcomers are joining every week.

 

In my short caching career I've taken nothing except a calculator (and that was only because I did need one). Most of the swag seems pretty grungy from sitting in the cache for months or years. Batteries and crayons are a couple of the interesting items I've seen.

 

I'm a musician, so if there is room enough in the cache I will leave one of my CDs. But mostly I just sign the log. I often don't even look through the swag. This may change with time.

Edited May 16, 2009 by atmospherium

[+Knight2000]

We have left some things for adults. The thing is if an adult wants something they will just go and buy it. It's not like that with kids. For adults we have left lip balm, plastic baggies with rubber bands, paper clips and binder clips, plastic bag with replacement log book (for caching bag), and carabiners. One of our new caches has an umbrella in it.

 

I would like to leave duct tape wallets but I just haven't made any recently and they take so much time to make. I think that maybe an adult might trade for that. They are kind of neat. (You can always make it out of plain 'ol grey too.)

 

[+Chrysalides]

Boy, this topic comes up every week, doesn't it?

 

Rejoice and be not dismayed. It just means that more newcomers are joining every week.

I gotta remember this reply!

 

I like to leave inexpensive lapel pins. But most of the time I TNLN.

[+roziecakes]

Oh my gosh! I would LOVE to find a duct-tape wallet, those are just way too cool.

Well, I would have to say the coolest thing I've ever gotten was a pretty nice knife. I traded an equally nice screwdriver set with case for it.

 

We didn't trade swag for a long time, but have recently gotten back into it. I we like to leave things that folks would find useful while they are out caching; bungee cords, screwdriver sets, waterbottle holders, caribbeaners, etc.

 

-Rozie

[+flask]

most awesome thing i ever found in a cache? $100 bill.

 

favorites in general?

 

in order:

 

excitingly chunky and/or well-designed personal sig items.

sig poker chips/ nickles

sig cards, laminated

 

and wayyy down at the bottom: sig cards, unlaminated. i only take these out of a desire to be thorough with my collection.

 

i leave cds and dvds of my work (i'm a musician/storyteller) or my photos, or i make little shrink plastic portraits of my church (pretty and historic) or other nice buildings. i'm starting a new series of tokens that are miniatures of trail markers.

 

i also have a nice collection of spare trinkets to leave: nice jewelry, polished stones, dice, blah, blah.

[+VirginiaGator]

The best finds include a gift card for Barnes & Noble. There was a cache that was missing and the owner replaced it. When he replaced it, he added the gift card for the first finder of the replaced cache! Nice surprise! Also, anything military related...patches, coins, ribbons, pins, etc.

 

From time to time I've left an unactivated geocoin in caches. And a signature pencil. I really need to get the geocaching pins out there. They've been in a box for a while.

[+Castle Mischief]

My favorite to both leave and find is the carabiner. Good old trusty carabiner.

 

Things I will always pick up: unactivated geocoins and travel bugs, dice, and unopened packs of playing cards.

 

Things I have recently left behind: small dinosaur button/pins, smiley face push lights, smiley face bouncey balls, smiley face magnetic stickers, *unopened* MacToys, and work related swag from our business partners (blinky balls with corporate logos, stress balls, pins, pens, stickers, and patches.)

[+team5150]

One of my favorite things to leave is Johnson & Johnson first aid kits that we get at Wally World for 97 cents. They are just the right size to put in your geo - pack, pocket or stick in your glove box. They come in handy if you cache with kids, because it seems like someone is always getting a boo-boo (including dad!). People seem to like them quite a bit.

[+wimseyguy]

I'm not into the swag much, but will occasionally drop some items into a cache that deserves it. Logo items I grab at trade shows, small lizards and dinos I get at work, odd foreign coins, the occasional $2 bill, and recently a 5000 peso note (worthless as currency).

 

Best thing I ever found was zircon encrusted tweezers. They get a lot of use pulling nano logs.

Edited May 18, 2009 by wimseyguy

[+Gryffyth]

I leave small (3/4") bronze grizzly bear charms as a sort of signature item.

 

-Gryffyth

[+geodarts]

When my daughter was younger, I always carried items that we could trade, but these days I just generally sign the log. Sometimes I will leave a baseball card or something else that I might have with me.

 

Most caches tend to degrade in their contents rather quickly. When I started out, I used to try to restock my caches periodically, but now only do that for a couple of themed caches. A pirate cache has cost me about $200 in good quality items from various pirate supply stores -- but the first cacher who visited got into the pirate mode and took all the pieces of eight. Then a non-cacher replaced all the contents with dirt. Its now in a more secure location and seems to be doing well.

 

The most unusual item I have left in the cache is an IQUE M3, with an sd wi-fi card and maps. The cache with the most unusual items that I remember was one near a beach in Hawaii that was filled with things people had left behind -- from a watch on down.

[+Team Veverca]

I mostly take TB's or GC's out and leave a nice toy for kids or as a souvenir. The toys aren't the cheap kinder surprise ones but something in the line of a golf ball (for golfers), wooden turtle,... Whatever comes handy and looks nice but just sits in my house and is of no use to me. But it would still be a shame to throw it away.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

When my daughter was younger, I always carried items that we could trade, but these days I just generally sign the log. Sometimes I will leave a baseball card or something else that I might have with me.

 

I generally just sign the log too. I try to keep a few items in a waist pack because if I find something I think my son might like I can trade for it and bring it home. Then I can show him the cool stuff I found in a geocache and maybe getting him more interested in coming with me next time.

 

A couple of years ago I was talking to my next door neighbor as he was cleaning up a bicycle that he bought for his girlfriend at a garage sale. It was a cool old Schwinn and even had a basket in front. He said, "all it needs now is bell". A couple of days later I hiked about 3/4 of a mile up a steep hill to a cache and what did I find in it? A bike bell.

 

Most of the swag I have to trade isn't that cool although I'm acquiring a pretty good collection fo foreign coins and I found these really cool Chinese souvenir coin that I just ran out of. Mostly I just pick up a lot of dollar store swag that I can trade for yet another hot wheel car for my sons huge collection.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

We have left some things for adults. The thing is if an adult wants something they will just go and buy it. It's not like that with kids. For adults we have left lip balm, plastic baggies with rubber bands, paper clips and binder clips, plastic bag with replacement log book (for caching bag), and carabiners. One of our new caches has an umbrella in it.

 

I would like to leave duct tape wallets but I just haven't made any recently and they take so much time to make. I think that maybe an adult might trade for that. They are kind of neat. (You can always make it out of plain 'ol grey too.)

 

 

Nice looking wallets. I've also seen mini duct tape "wallets" with earth magnets embedded in them used as cache containers. The first time I found one it gave me fits. It was hidden on a guard rail (on a small bridge over a really pretty creek that went under a narrow rural road) and I just didn't expect a container like that.

[Taom]

Just a note to you guys, if you are looking for cheap and unique items for swag, take a look at http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/gift.ideas

They have free delivery worldwide and some of the stuff they sell is AMAZING. You can guarantee that it won't be found anywhere else since it's from Hong Kong lol. I love that site, so yeah just have a look

[+Mar-elendili]

If there's nothing exciting, I tend not to trade, but I guess adults can't really get excited by McToys or the like, and it would be a totally different story if I were caching with kids.

But I do love to leave good swag in caches I hide. That can include silver jewellery (to see what I mean, go check the root site of the page where our geocoins are listed, link in signature) or homemade bookmarks with personal artworks. I tend to place a good mix between adult stuff (jewellery, diary, bottle openers) and child stuff (booklets, toys, marbles)

 

But if I happen to take anything in a cache, I try to trade up. And if I don't have anything of higher value, I leave two things.

[K-9Patrol]

What we take: pathtags and anything police related for me, keychains and jewelery for the girlfriend, toy cars, rubber balls, and McToys for the little one. What we leave: police "give-away" items from work, and lately it's been Bumble Buttons.

[+abbybeth]

I tend to leave the mini containers of playdough .. they're always in my pack, between my ADHD and the child who always needs something to play with ..

 

I usually only take if there's something neat that the child would love, but almost always leave something.

[+The Weasel]

hmmm, I would have to say a couple of pathtags were the coolest things I have found, along with an unactivated coin as a FTF on a 5-5 cache I did.

 

I usually always take something from a cache and leave my signature wooden nickel behind. I have quite the swag collection. I TRY to keep them order and go back and try remember what I cache I got what from. I used to keep an excel spredsheet with this info, but lost it when my PC blew up

[+requiscat]

The best thing we ever got was a Swiss Tech Utili-Key -- that thing comes in uber handy while caching; and the best thing we ever left was a pair of binoculars. Most of the time we just sign the log, though.

[+skeezicks]

I have left a couple of map compasses and a $5 dollar bill once for a DVD trade,since that is all I had that I felt right about...taking the DVD and leaving something of equal value in return..I also left a nice crisp $2 dollar bill as a FTF in one of my own hides.The cooler things I have found would be on two separate occasions,I have grabbed gastroliths ( dino stones).I know they aren't worth much money wise,but I think it is very cool to have something that old and with the history about how they come about and from where they spent some of their time.Those two gastroliths are the only items that I have chosen to keep for myself instead of moving them to another cache.

[+TheLevesqueFamily]

Wow Snoogans .. those are amazing I'd love to find some of those types of sig items. Awesome.

 

Thanks.

I'll be leaving them in several states caching on the way to and from GW7. Sorry, we won't be going to N.S.

 

These are amazing, Snoogans! Where did you get these made?

[RuideAlmeida]

These are amazing, Snoogans! Where did you get these made?

 

Apart from considering the 8 years passed, I would like to remember that it is illegal to destroy or deface coins in several countries...

Edited June 30, 2017 by RuideAlmeida

[+Snoogans]

On June 30, 2017 at 12:43 PM, RuideAlmeida said:

 

Apart from considering the 8 years passed, I would like to remember that it is illegal to destroy or deface coins in several countries...

You are misinformed.

The way most of the laws read and are legally interpreted where coins are considered is that when they are pressed they can no longer be spent as money. To try to do so would be a crime. Pressing coins makes them art and they can be sold, traded or given away as art..

 

Ask yourself why you find coin presses at every major tourist attraction if it were illegal.....?

[+barefootjeff]

15 minutes ago, Snoogans said:

You are misinformed.

The way most of the laws read and are legally interpreted where coins are considered is that when they are pressed they can no longer be spent as money. To try to do so would be a crime. Pressing coins makes them art and they can be sold, traded or given away as art..

 

Ask yourself why you find coin presses at every major tourist attraction if it were illegal.....?

 

Sorry, it's you who is misinformed. Maybe coin presses are the tourist thing in the USA but other countries do have different laws, for example here in Australia:

 

Quote

Extract from Crimes (Currency) Act 1981

16. Defacing or destroying current coins or current paper money

A person shall not, without the consent, in writing, of an authorised person, intentionally deface, disfigure, mutilate or destroy any coin or paper money that is lawfully current in Australia.

Penalty:

1. in the case of a person, not being a body corporate – $5,000 or imprisonment for two years, or both; or
2. in the case of a person, being a body corporate – $10,000.

 

Enjoy your two years in the clink.

Edited July 24, 2019 by barefootjeff

[+colleda]

5 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Sorry, it's you who is misinformed. Maybe coin presses are the tourist thing in the USA but other countries do have different laws, for example here in Australia:

 

 

Enjoy your two years in the clink.

I was about to post the same extract. The government can grant exemptions. I saw this a few years back in Silverton I think it was (where Mad Max was filmed). There was an elderly bloke there who had gained permission to make souvenir coins. He used a very fine, jewller's hacksaw to cut out the backgrounds of coins so all that was left was the rim, monarch's head or 'roo and the writing, kind of like a stencil. The coin was then put on a chain as a pendant. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brilliantly-Carved-Australia-1951-Half-Penny-Gold-Plated-Charm-or-Pendant118D8/362703696517?hash=item5472d33285:g:KCkAAOSwnnpdMNZn

 

 

[+Viajero Perdido]

I'm always thrilled to find one of these in a cache:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=spock+%245

 

You can keep it, or exchange it for a fancy coffee to go.  What's not to love?

 

Apparently it's even legal, though mildly annoying to sensitive people...

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Viajero Perdido

[+Snoogans]

2 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

 

 

Apparently it's even legal, though mildly annoying to sensitive people...

 

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I was going to jail for this, I'd have enough money to take my family out to a nice restaurant and leave a good tip.

 

I've been at this since 2007.

[+Goldenwattle]

5 hours ago, colleda said:

I was about to post the same extract. The government can grant exemptions. I saw this a few years back in Silverton I think it was (where Mad Max was filmed). There was an elderly bloke there who had gained permission to make souvenir coins. He used a very fine, jewller's hacksaw to cut out the backgrounds of coins so all that was left was the rim, monarch's head or 'roo and the writing, kind of like a stencil. The coin was then put on a chain as a pendant. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brilliantly-Carved-Australia-1951-Half-Penny-Gold-Plated-Charm-or-Pendant118D8/362703696517?hash=item5472d33285:g:KCkAAOSwnnpdMNZn

 

 

Wonderfully done coin, but that's old currency. The quote given says," Defacing or destroying current coins or current paper money." That money in the photo hasn't been legal tender for many years. I don't know the exact year when it lost its legal tender status, but decimal currency replaced it in 1966. There would have been an overlap time when both were in use I guess, but I don't know exactly when the day was that pounds, shillings and pence were last accepted in shops.

 

Added: I found, " The government decided to kill off the dual currency period: the dollar ruled supreme from August 1, 1967."

So the overlap period ended the following year. Then the penny in the photograph was no longer legal tender.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/money-exchange-when-australian-swapped-pounds-for-dollars-20160211-gmrm3a.html

Edited July 25, 2019 by Goldenwattle
Spelling, nearly always spelling...and later added information

[+colleda]

I was working in a bank at the time of change over. Retail customers were still taking pre decimal in payment well after 1967 and we were still accepting it at the bank. I'm not sure when shops finally stopped accepting it. People were still able to bring old notes and coins to the bank and change it to $ in the early 70s. That's how I managed to collect some very good notes and a heap of coins. Had one bloke bring in a few hundred pounds of fivers he found when he lifted the carpet in a house he bought (I've got some of them).

I managed to offload quite a few pennies a couple of days ago while gem hunting. When the weather warms up I may go down Canberra way and offload a few more. Last pennies and half pennies were 1964 and I have plenty of them.

[+Goldenwattle]

8 hours ago, colleda said:

I was working in a bank at the time of change over. Retail customers were still taking pre decimal in payment well after 1967 and we were still accepting it at the bank. I'm not sure when shops finally stopped accepting it. People were still able to bring old notes and coins to the bank and change it to $ in the early 70s. That's how I managed to collect some very good notes and a heap of coins. Had one bloke bring in a few hundred pounds of fivers he found when he lifted the carpet in a house he bought (I've got some of them).

I managed to offload quite a few pennies a couple of days ago while gem hunting. When the weather warms up I may go down Canberra way and offload a few more. Last pennies and half pennies were 1964 and I have plenty of them.

My father was manager of a small bank in a village called Nimbin, and the day before the changeover he brought all the decimal coins into the residence, attached to the bank, to show us the new money. I did hear that for a number of years after, people could still exchange old pounds for dollars at the bank, but I didn't know what shops did. I guess if some shops continued to accept pounds, they could take them to the bank to exchange. Looking for coins, one local used to regularly come and buy bags of pennies to check for a 1930 one. We never heard if he found one.

LOL ?, maybe that's what our cat was doing, when he used to sneak into the bank and jump in the piles of coins that were being counted ?. Look for 1930s pennies. The humans ? mightn't have thought so, but the cat thought that was great fun ? .

[+Joe_L]

17 hours ago, Snoogans said:

The way most of the laws read and are legally interpreted where coins are considered is that when they are pressed they can no longer be spent as money.

 

And just to note the USA law - from the US Department of the Treasury Resource Center FAQ webpage:

Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who “fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States.” This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent. 

 

The key word is "fraudulently".  The full text (such that it is) can be found in US Code Title 18 Section 331.

 

[+colleda]

7 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

My father was manager of a small bank in a village called Nimbin, and the day before the changeover he brought all the decimal coins into the residence, attached to the bank, to show us the new money. I did hear that for a number of years after, people could still exchange old pounds for dollars at the bank, but I didn't know what shops did. I guess if some shops continued to accept pounds, they could take them to the bank to exchange. Looking for coins, one local used to regularly come and buy bags of pennies to check for a 1930 one. We never heard if he found one.

LOL ?, maybe that's what our cat was doing, when he used to sneak into the bank and jump in the piles of coins that were being counted ?. Look for 1930s pennies. The humans ? mightn't have thought so, but the cat thought that was great fun ? .

I always checked for the 1930 but never found that little treasure. I did find, and I still have, a 10 pound star note. I'd be rich today if I'd kept all the star notes I came across. Isn't hindsight wonderful - not. Real treasure there and not for leaving in boxes in the bush.