has enyone found a fake geocoin?

[+xener51]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

[+ChannelFadge]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

 

how could you tell it was a fake and not just an unactivated coin?

[+SHENNY-TLC]

was it a geocoin or maybe a sig item?

[+Qbar]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

 

And I'm not sure if I'm reading this right, but...if you biked home to get a trade item, then returned to the cache and traded for the geocoin, you could have saved your energy. Geo coins and travel bugs are not trade items but are meant to be moved along to another cache in a timely manner. So next time, you will have the extra energy and time to go on to another cache instead

[+xener51]

i feel stupid

[+Qbar]

Ahhh - that wasn't my intent...maybe I should have worded that a bit better.

 

I'm still very new at this - I've got a lot to learn but I knew that snippet of info and I've learned so much from these boards that I was excited to be able to share something to make this life easier.

 

(Besides, if it was swag, not a geocoin, you were right to trade for it.)

Edited October 9, 2009 by Qbar

[+xener51]

Im still pretty new at geocaching i just found my ninthe one today

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Great job on finding those you did! Go out and get some more, but watch out, you just may stumble across a few more "oddities" doing so. It happens. 'Tis a learning curve.

[+mfamilee]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

I'm curious what it was... since it was a 'fake'.

Please do tell!

[Mr.Yuck]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

I'm curious what it was... since it was a 'fake'.

Please do tell!

 

My guess is a signature item. Or there were several Geocoins made before 2005 that were trackable on websites other than Geocaching.com; these coins are somewhat rare these days.

[+xener51]

it was a poker coin that said las vegas on it but i pute it in a nother geocache

[+mfamilee]

Thanks for follow up.

Sounds like regular swag, or possibly a sig item.

 

Hopefully you'll come across your 1st geocoin soon.

[Pi in SC]

Don't want o highjack the OP's thread, but what is the proper etiquette for a GeoCoin? My kids and I went Cache'ing Sunday and of the four finds, there were Geocoins in three... The kids got a real kick out of them as each was very colourful and intricate. But after we discussed at length we decided to leave each behind not knowing what the correct thing to do... BTW - I did review the Geocoin forum but never did see the do's and donts.

 

Thanks!!!

 

Paul

[+steve p]

The correct thing to do is to retrieve it by logging the number on the coin, place it in another cache, and log that you dropped it in the other cache.

 

The most important thing, though, is not to keep it. Geocoins, like travel bugs, belong to someone and are meant to travel from cache to cache.

 

Have fun!

[Pi in SC]

The correct thing to do is to retrieve it by logging the number on the coin, place it in another cache, and log that you dropped it in the other cache.

 

The most important thing, though, is not to keep it. Geocoins, like travel bugs, belong to someone and are meant to travel from cache to cache.

 

Have fun!

 

Thanks Steve - Log where? In the log of the cache it was found or in the log where you dropped it?

[+steve p]

Thanks Steve - Log where? In the log of the cache it was found or in the log where you dropped it?

Sorry! On the main geocaching.com page there is a link for "Trackable Items." On that page there is a box labeled "Enter the Tracking Number of the Item:"

 

In that box type in the 6-character code imprinted on the coin. That will bring up the web page for that coin. Click the link near the top right for "Add a log entry." For "Type of log" select "Retrieve from <name of cache>." Be sure the date you retrieved the coin is selected. Enter again the Travel Bug Tracking #.

 

In the Comments box enter something interesting to add to the coin's log. Then click to Submit the log entry.

 

The coin is now in your "inventory." After you place the coin in another cache and are logging the find on the new cache, you'll see the travel items (coins, travel bugs) in your inventory shown at the bottom of the page. Before submitting the log entry for the new cache, select the items you are dropping into the cache, then click to submit. The coin will be logged into the new cache.

 

On the web pages for travel items it's cool to view the map of where the item has traveled. You can also take pictures of the travel item and post the pics to the travel item's page.

 

It's a lot of fun to move travel bugs and coins. I have a handful of TBs that I own and it's fun to see where they go.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited November 11, 2009 by steve p

[+ThePetersTrio]

Just to add onto Steve P's comments. You don't have to move the coin, you also have the option to just discover it. If you see a coin but leave it in the cache, jot down the tracking number before leaving the cache and then when you are at your computer, instead of logging a retrieval, you can use the drop down menu to the discover option. You get to keep the icon in your stats that way but you don't have the added responsibility to move the coin within a few weeks.

 

It also lets the coin's owner know that their coin is still safely in the cache it is listed in (hopefully).

Edited November 23, 2009 by ThePetersTrio

[+Renegade Knight]

I was looking for a cache and when i found it i saw a coin. I got so exited i biked home very fast. I grabbed something to pute in it. then i took the coin and when got home it was a fake. it was a bummer

 

Not yet. I'm dissapointed that I've only ever found the real coins. I'm looking forward to they day I find a proxy.

[+burtsbodgers]

I have found other coins with tracking numbers, but these require that you create an account with another organisation.

i chose not too, and just moved the coin to the next cache.

I think these are Pathtags or similar, nothing wrong with them but i have enough difficulty following all that happens at GC without getting involved with other organisations.

If someone has taken the time and effort to release these or any other TB or coin, then i think i will be good enough to move them on and increase there circulation of the planet in my own small way

[+steve p]

I have found other coins with tracking numbers, but these require that you create an account with another organisation.

I think these are Pathtags or similar, nothing wrong with them but i have enough difficulty following all that happens at GC without getting involved with other organisations.

I came across my first Pathtag last summer and didn't know what to do with it. I did what I thought was logging it (with the intent to move it on), and then received a nice e-mail from that Pathtag's originator saying that Pathtags are generally for trading and collecting, and aren't travel items. That person said that the tags may be kept by the finder for one's own collection, or may be left if the finder doesn't want it or doesn't collect Pathtags. I guess they're kind of like sig items, maybe.

 

I think if you moved the Pathtag to another cache then no one should find any fault with that. It's still there for a Pathtag collector to find.

Edited November 24, 2009 by steve p

[chasem1991]

I found a coin thing, inside of a cache in my town, i wasn't sure what to do with it, it didnt have a tracking number or anything on it, but it was wood, so i just stuck it back because i didnt know what to do with it.

[Andronicus]

I found a cheap toy fake money coin that my kids traded for. A month or so later I realized that someone had scratched a tracking number onto the back. I then logged it and moved it on. I guess it was likely a replacement for a lost coin. He should have done a better job.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

For the sake of clarity:

A lot of different things can (and are) called "geocoins"......

 

The geocoins typically moved and tracked on geocaching.com will say "Trackable at geocaching.com" on the coin as a part of the design. It will also display an alphanumberic tracking number unique to each and every coin. NOTE: Some of those tracking numbers are on the side edge of the coin (very small).

These coins typically are colorful; different shades (silver, copper, gold, black etc.); quite heavy (dense); may be just metal, laquer covered, enamel (soft or hard); most always they present themselves as a QUALITY item that has been artfully designed and painstakingly created.

 

There are a few "geocoins" that are not trackable (there is no trackable number assigned to it). Usually noted as such when sold. Same quality, but solely for collecting, gift-giving and trading.

 

There are other collectible coins (made by the same manufactures) of military branches/units, public service, fraternal and other organizations. Same quality and usually similar to, but are not geocoins.

 

Some things that can be mistaken for geocoins:

Signature Coins (items): Often consisting of poker chips (or other ceramic disks), wooden "nickles" (home-made or manufactured), hammered or flattened coins either re-embossed or die-pressed to reveal unique designs/logos/names. These items are not trackable through geocaching.com. Some websites support tracking of these items and is usually so noted.

 

Pathtags: Signature coin-like items that are logged onto pathtags.com (though not trackable, as are geocoins). They usually are also of high quality construction quite similar to geocoins, though smaller and thinner in construction. They are signature trade items, relatively cheap to purchase in quantity, meant to be collected and kept by the finder.

 

This is not all-inclusive info (I don't know everything ), but hopefully it can clear things up for some that are confused over just what a geocoin is/is not (what we geocachers think of when referring to geocoins).

[+yblehsspot]

I have a question. I don't know where to put it so I'll put it here.

I found a star trek action figure in a cache and I traded for it. When I got home I noticed that on it's foot there is white painted on the bottom of the foot and 6 numbers on the bottom of the foot. I tried to look it up but I didn't get anything.. Any clue on what it could be??

[+Bear and Ragged]

I have a question. I don't know where to put it so I'll put it here.

I found a star trek action figure in a cache and I traded for it. When I got home I noticed that on it's foot there is white painted on the bottom of the foot and 6 numbers on the bottom of the foot. I tried to look it up but I didn't get anything.. Any clue on what it could be??

Did you try putting the numbers in to the Track part on this page?

http://www.geocaching.com/track/default.aspx

 

If it's not a TB trackable, it might be worth making a note of the numbers, and which figure, in case it's part of the solution to a ? Unknown/Mystery/Puzzle cache...

 

(The numbers may be part of the N/S E/W co-ords)

 

Also, watch out for miss-reading numbers/letters. 1 and i, Ohs and Zero's, 8 and B, 4 and A's, 2 and Z etc.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Bear and Ragged

[+Lovey Pigs]

like any good cacher should do, ALWAYS bite the coin to see that it's real! AARRGH!