Transfer a coin's activation code to another object?

[+wenestvedt]

I have a geocoin that I think is just too nice to send off into the world. (It's a Book of Kells coin by celticgeocacher.) Can I take the activation code on the coin and use it to track something else?

 

Thank you for any guidance -- I only have a couple of geocoins. I looked in the FAQs and couldn't find mention of this; please forgive me if I missed something obvious. :7)

 

- Will

[+BlueDeuce]

Yes, just don't release more than one traveler with the same tracking number.

[+GeocoinGuy]

Your issue here would be that if you released an item (not the coin) with the coins tracking numbers, people will have a false indicator when looking at the geocoin map in their area - which will be depicted by the coins' icon and will be listed on any caching page as a geocoin (named in Groundspeaks' database).

 

My advise would be to purchase a Travel Bug from Groundspeak or authorized retailer and inscribe that number to your item for release. Tracking numbers assigned to Geocoins are just that - assigned to Geocoins.

 

~J

[+Droo]

I have a geocoin that I think is just too nice to send off into the world. (It's a Book of Kells coin by celticgeocacher.) Can I take the activation code on the coin and use it to track something else?

 

Thank you for any guidance -- I only have a couple of geocoins. I looked in the FAQs and couldn't find mention of this; please forgive me if I missed something obvious. :7)

 

- Will

What you're referring to is a proxy proxy. That is a fake of a fake and that's likely to stir some hard feelings among those expecting to see the coin when the icon is displayed in a cache.

 

Just make a proxy of your coin. Make sure you include Proxy in the name so it does not mislead cachers into thinking it's the real deal. You'll still get a few hard feelings but you can't satisfy all the people all the time.

[+ST13PILOT]

Your issue here would be that if you released an item (not the coin) with the coins tracking numbers, people will have a false indicator when looking at the geocoin map in their area - which will be depicted by the coins' icon and will be listed on any caching page as a geocoin (named in Groundspeaks' database).

 

My advise would be to purchase a Travel Bug from Groundspeak or authorized retailer and inscribe that number to your item for release. Tracking numbers assigned to Geocoins are just that - assigned to Geocoins.

 

~J

 

I do not totally agree with that. If you want to release something, purchase a TB dog tag, attach it to something and send it out.

 

Tuck your precious (and I mean PRECIOUS) coin into your favorite album and keep it safe at home. As a cacher the only thing I get (besides the fun) when I move a coin or TB is the icon. I would much rather gather TB dog tag icons by moving REAL TB dog tags than coin icons for moving crap with a number printed on it. If you want to share your coin with cachers and coin addicts, pack it up and carry it to an event, there's always someone there who would really enjoy doing touchy feely with your coin. If you've got a coin you want to throw away, post a note on this forum and I'm sure someone will share an address to send it to.

 

Call them what you like, fake, replica, proxy, they all suck no matter how well done they are.

Edited January 23, 2010 by ST13PILOT

[+wenestvedt]

Ah, so the activation code is tied to the specific "model" of coin? And so using it on a different item (assuming the coin never leaves my house) would make people think it was that coin when in fact it's the other item? I do see how that would be confusing.

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will just ignore the numbers on the coins that I don't plan to circulate, and get a TB tag for anything that I want to send into the world. :7)

 

- Will

[+Jackalgirl]

Ah, so the activation code is tied to the specific "model" of coin? And so using it on a different item (assuming the coin never leaves my house) would make people think it was that coin when in fact it's the other item? I do see how that would be confusing.

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will just ignore the numbers on the coins that I don't plan to circulate, and get a TB tag for anything that I want to send into the world. :7)

 

- Will

 

Each trackable item has a unique serial number. The activation codes* may be the same for whole batches of serial numbers, but each separate item has its own unique number.

 

The website (geocaching.com) allows you to create an item page, which is tied to your item and only your item -- and it's via the serial number that this happens. And the database will track your item's location (if your trackable item had the same serial number as another trackable item, geocaching.com would have no way of knowing which is which).

 

This is why it's a big no-no to release multiple items with the same tracking number.

 

Geocoins can (and very often do) have unique icons. You are absolutely correct in that if you were to activate a geocoin's serial number, geocaching.com would create a listing for cache pages, etc, using the geocoin's unique icon (or the generic geocoin icon). If the traveller happened to be something other than a geocoin, people would get confused, and the people who specifically seek out caches that list geocoins in their inventories in order to see a geocoin would probably be upset.

 

That's why it's a better idea to use a travel bug serial number -- you can either write/engrave/embroider/attach the number directly to your item, or just attach the dog tag. It'll show up in a cache's inventory with the Travel Bug icon. Remember, though, that if you write/engrave/etc. a number onto something directly instead of using the dog tag, to not release the dog tag separately (or attached to another item).

 

*Just a little clarification: there are three numbers associated with a trackable item, whether it be a geocoin or a travel bug: 1) the item's own, unique serial number. 2) The item's activation code. 3) The item's public tracking code, aka reference number.

 

The unique serial number, which the site does not show on the item's listing, is what cachers use to prove that they've actually seen/handled your trackable item (because they'd have to actually see the item to find the serial number**). The activation code is what you use when you first activate your item: it's what makes the item "live" in the geocaching.com database of trackable items. And the third number is a public reference number -- people can use that to look up a trackable item, look at its listing & logs, see where it's been, etc...but they can't actually log it as having been found, or move it from cache to cache (because they need the serial number for that).

 

**Because you are supposed to actually see/handle a trackable item in order to move or discover*** it, it is another huge no-no to hand out the serial number to people so that they can virtually log it without having seen it. Groundspeak will lock your item if they find out you've been doing it.

 

***"Discover" is a kind of log that proves that you've actually seen the item without requiring that you actually log it as removed from a cache (or moved to another cache). You'll get the item's icon in your profile's list of trackables. Some people like to "collect" icons in their geocaching.com profile, which is the point of going to, say, an event and "discovering" travel bugs and geocoins at the event.

 

Sorry for the book -- hope this all makes sense!