Interest in geocoins going down?

[+MustangJoni]

Man!! I've got to pay closer attention!!

 

Let me start my saying I'm not a coin noob. My first personal coin came out in 2005, as did our first event coin. Since then, I have made 5 personal and 19 event coins.

 

Yes, I think interest in coins has fallen way off in general. Trading seems to be down, the two coin listing sites have lost members, and the dam things cost a lot to make, even without the now nearly mandatory tracking numbers.

 

This last year, I have been stuck with lots of left-over event coins. At the last event we hosted, I had a couple of cacher tell me in so many words that if a coin wasn't trackable, then it wasn't worth their time (!). So, they didn't by one of my (as always) non-trackable event coins. OK, that's their choice. But it got me to thinking about this whole thing.

 

I have never been real big on buying coins. The majority of the coins I have were traded for. Several were gifts, and maybe 5% were bought.

 

Now, I might do 5-6 trades a year. Why so few, when in the past, I would do that many in a week?

 

I think it's the trackability issue. When that came in, there was a ripple of excitement, but things pretty much continued. Then, along came unique icons, and the floodgates opened!!

 

Suddenly, coins were falling out of trees, they were all trackable, and had the UI. If you made and/or sold a coin that wasn't trackable, you were one of the unclean. When we did the Hazards of Caching series a few years ago, I actually had one of the folks that have already posted in this thread e-mail me and call me a charlatan because I was (gasp!) charging "trackable prices" for an untrackable coin. Didn't matter that I was charging the cost + postage, and not a penny more.

 

Then one day, the connection to geocaching for a coin seemed to become a thing of the past. I'm not gonna name coins here, but I can think of several that I still don't see as geocoins, no matter if they have tracking numbers or not.

 

These days, if someone makes a non-trackable, it'll get lost in the hoo-ha of the latest trackable coins, with the UI, that may or may not actually have something to do with caching, and sells for 12-20 bucks per unit. And people will fall all over themselves to say how great it is, and ask when do they go on sale, and how many metals are there.

 

I know, things change, but that doesn't mean it's for the best, or that I have to like it.

 

Remember my non-trackable event coins? After that event ended, TTUMS and I talked about actually going over to the Dark Side, and making the coins for our next event trackable. The more I think about it though, the more likely it is I may bag that idea, and possibly stop making coins for our events. They're not worth the modern collector's time, and I'm getting tired of having half of them left after the event.

 

One of my favorite coins is one of your event coins. I was able to trade for your Spring Fling, and I don't know what year it is, but the one with the tulips. It is just awesome! I also have your 2007 personal coin, and I just love it. Coins like that are why I started collecting coins!

 

I don't need a tracking number, but I love personal and event coins.

[avroair]

I get the feeling that my post was taken in a negative light.. If that is the case, that is not what was intended

 

No offense taken.

 

I think it's the trackability issue. When that came in, there was a ripple of excitement, but things pretty much continued. Then, along came unique icons, and the floodgates opened!!

 

Suddenly, coins were falling out of trees, they were all trackable, and had the UI. If you made and/or sold a coin that wasn't trackable, you were one of the unclean.

 

You're unclean regardless. I hear what you are saying. My main thrust for coins was event coins used to support paying for events... I have recently rethought that and will be going back to that mantra.

[GregsonVaux]

I hope that it is not against protocol to revive an old thread. I don't know since I am new to posting on this forum. Did anyone mention Pogs or Beany Babies? Ever since I started buying on ebay, my assumption has been that at some point interest will wane and prices for old coins will plummet. New coins can only drop as low as the base price to produce and ship them.

 

Gregson

[haysonics]

It is not against protocol to revive an old thread as far as I am aware. Beany Babies have been mentioned in regards to the abundance of new versions that appeared when they became "collectable". As the market became awash with them the price headed south as you would expect. The prices for older geocoins ( pre 2006 ) began dropping when more intricate designs + geocoins with transulcent colours started appearing and may be at a low point so now is a good time to buy those if that's what you like. The exception is the first ever geocoins which continue to command a high price for obvious reasons. Tastes change so there is always a chance we could see a resurgence in price for older coins. If geocoins appear in a Hollywood blockbuster the market would move up in a big way, at least for a period. It's hard to say what the future has install for geocoins but i would say its positive because many geocoins were/are made in small numbers. Compare that to Star Wars trading cards which were made in massive amounts. You can pickup a pristine set for $20 today.

[GregsonVaux]

It is so difficult to predict price trends. In this case, we can assume that the supply of old coins will stay relatively constant since many will not be reminted and few will be destroyed, so the question is, what will happen to demand? My point about beany babies and pogs is that the fad passed and people lost interest.

 

I think it is possible that geocoins will simply go out of fashion and people will not be interested in paying high prices for them. However, there is one very important point: coins are extremely durable. If taken care of, the metal in the coins will last many hundreds of years. I am less sure about the color, which I believe is a plastic or resin. It may fade, crack, or flake off over time. However, the metal will last and the recent coins have an artistic merit that will also last. Thus, I believe that even if geocoins become unpopular for a time, I expect the prices to go back up in the long run as they become pieces of history.

 

I cannot predict how I will feel about geocoins in five or ten years, but I can imagine buying them at greatly reduced prices some day. Although, I cannot help but think about price, my real motivation is just to have something beautiful that has the potential to last. I like the idea of holding something that people will still enjoy in 500 years.

 

In order for something to last, it must be made of durable materials and it must also have a quality that makes people want to take care of it for many generations. Geocoins fit those criteria and thus I collect them. In truth, I am bothered by the enamels because I know they will degrade. On the other hand, true enamels are made of glass and do have the ability to keep their appearance for centuries. I can imagine that if I am successful at making geocoins, I will produce a few that are colored with glass enamel instead of plastic.

 

Gregson

Edited October 2, 2010 by GregsonVaux

[GregsonVaux]

Something else about geocoins that I think is brilliant is their trackability. People like fine art because it is unique and has a history. Art prints carry little value since they are so common, but an actual work of art is rare and has a story that grows over time. When a work of art is damaged, people in the art community will say, "now it has a history". In attaching tracking numbers to coins, Groundspeak did something astounding. They gave each coin the potential to have a history and story. I believe that this is one of the reasons they have had such success. I think that even though most people have not thought about this, they know it at some level.

 

Of course this assumes that the geocoin database will be maintained over time. Will the data behind the tracking numbers still exist in 100 years? I have no idea, but I do think that it is possible. On each coin that I collect, its mission is "This coin is waiting". I have no intention on ever releasing those coins, but my expectation or hope is that they will still be around in 200 years having adventures. My coins, all of our coins have many days ahead of them. The mission that we give them is just the first of many.

 

By the way, how did I get into geocoins? I was actually interested in tengwar writing and happened to do an image search for the keyword "tengwar". I saw all of these images of cool coins with tengwar on them and did some research. I said to my wife, "have you ever heard of geocoins?" She had and explained them to me. I contacted Scavok and was fortunate enough to be in time for one of his remints. When they came in the mail, I was hooked in by their beauty, but also by their potential to travel between generations.

 

What will the coins be worth? My interest is the coins worth in the time of my great grandchildren.

 

Gregson

[haysonics]

Granted it is difficult to predict price trends but if you consider most geocoins good art then over time those coins' values should rise. I am hesitant to say "will" but personally believe it is a sure thing. I am referring to the limited editions which is what I collect. That LE's are done in the hundreds is small compared to general art market where LE's are usually done in the thousands. The low numbers justified for me going a bit nuts and spending more on them than I first planned. IMO, demand for geocoins can't go much lower than it is now. I think the geocoin market bottomed out a couple of years ago and there has been a slow climb to where it is now, mostly spurned by new collectors coming in. I doubt that geocoins have

ever come into fashion. There was a couple of inflation periods where the numbers of people that actually knew what a geocoin was went from hundreds to thousands and then tens of thousands but the fact that it is still relatively easy to get an LE today tells you they haven't reached fashionabilty per se. Geocoins durability, coupled with the fact that a collection is usually looked after should see geocoins minted today being around when your grandchildren are ready to take over their guardianship.

 

I look forward to seeing your glass enameled geocoin.

[GregsonVaux]

Granted it is difficult to predict price trends but if you consider most geocoins good art then over time those coins' values should rise. I am hesitant to say "will" but personally believe it is a sure thing. I am referring to the limited editions which is what I collect. That LE's are done in the hundreds is small compared to general art market where LE's are usually done in the thousands. The low numbers justified for me going a bit nuts and spending more on them than I first planned. IMO, demand for geocoins can't go much lower than it is now. I think the geocoin market bottomed out a couple of years ago and there has been a slow climb to where it is now, mostly spurned by new collectors coming in. I doubt that geocoins have

ever come into fashion. There was a couple of inflation periods where the numbers of people that actually knew what a geocoin was went from hundreds to thousands and then tens of thousands but the fact that it is still relatively easy to get an LE today tells you they haven't reached fashionabilty per se. Geocoins durability, coupled with the fact that a collection is usually looked after should see geocoins minted today being around when your grandchildren are ready to take over their guardianship.

 

I look forward to seeing your glass enameled geocoin.

 

You make a good point that the numbers of coins in each series are limited which could keep prices up. I am less sure since there are so many other coins on the market. Geocoins have value because of the interest in the hobby. Geocaching might go the way of disco and then those coins would compete with all of the other coins being produced. I recently bought about 20 3" coins (actually medallions) that had been minted in the 1960s. I bought each coin for between $3 and $10. They are all beautiful, but I bought them for about 1/6th of what they had originally cost. It is worth noting that after 40 years, all but one of them looked like new. What sets geocoins apart for me from other coins are their tracking numbers and the artistic merit of some of them.

 

Here is a link that describes real glass enamel. You can see that some of the objects produced have lasted for thousands of years. The plastic and resin coatings probably will not last much longer than 100 years. To me, that distinction is important.

 

http://www.glass-on-metal.com/intro_to_enamel/

 

Funny thing is that when I first discovered geoicoins, I contacted Scavok and mentioned that I would like to see him produce his geocoins with real glass enamel. He was not interested at the time, but I imagine that he might change his mind at a later date.

 

Gregson

[+Team kizb]

I was surprised by the little interest I got with my Lost in the Black Hills Geocoin. I thought by offereing it at a descent price ($7.50) I'd be able to sell quite a few. Nope.

 

Because of soft reservations I'm not going to order the planed 250 and instead go with 100 which will raise the price per coin for myself and others. Can't afford to have 100s of coins sitting around my house for years.

 

So since only about 33 of each finish will be minted does that make them all LEs?

Edited October 3, 2010 by Team kizb

[haysonics]

I was surprised by the little interest I got with my Lost in the Black Hills Geocoin. I thought by offereing it at a descent price ($7.50) I'd be able to sell quite a few. Nope.

 

Because of soft reservations I'm not going to order the planed 250 and instead go with 100 which will raise the price per coin for myself and others. Can't afford to have 100s of coins sitting around my house for years.

 

So since only about 33 of each finish will be minted does that make them all LEs?

Even better; with only 33 of each version you can think of them all as XLEs. Traditionally, an XLE is simply a version done in fewer numbers than the LE but in your situation, minting the same number of each version there is no comparison. But you can look at the number of each and say 33 falls within XLE territory. Van Gogh only made 1 version of each of his paintings but found each very hard to sell. Now each of his works fetch astronomical prices.

Edited October 4, 2010 by haysonics

[GregsonVaux]

I was surprised by the little interest I got with my Lost in the Black Hills Geocoin. I thought by offereing it at a descent price ($7.50) I'd be able to sell quite a few. Nope.

 

Because of soft reservations I'm not going to order the planed 250 and instead go with 100 which will raise the price per coin for myself and others. Can't afford to have 100s of coins sitting around my house for years.

 

So since only about 33 of each finish will be minted does that make them all LEs?

Even better; with only 33 of each version you can think of them all as XLEs. Traditionally, an XLE is simply a version done in fewer numbers than the LE but in your situation, minting the same number of each version there is no comparison. But you can look at the number of each and say 33 falls within XLE territory. Van Goh only made 1 version of each of his paintings but no one wanted them. Now his paintings fetch astronomical prices.

 

I claim no ability to predict what collectibles will fetch in the future, but I would agree that things that are unpopular in their time can be very much in demand later.