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"Coins" that are just laminated cards


Happy Bubbles

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I was happy to see that the cache I was planning to find yesterday had a coin. Yay! Something fun to look at, and in a micro no less! But I was disappointed to find the cache and discover that the "coin" was just a piece of paper with a picture of a coin on it. Booooring. I totally would have moved a real coin, but that card didn`t interest me. If people don`t care to make a tiny investment in a real object for their traveler, I`m not going go to invest any effort in moving it to another cache!

 

Am I the only one that thinks like this? What do the rest of you think of these wannabe-coins?

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These are called "Proxies" and are sometimes sent out when the original geocoin gets lost or stolen. Sometimes sent out when the owner doesn't want it to get lost or stolen. Sometimes proxies are very well made. It's kind of like having a TB copy tag, only geocoins don't come with a copy tag, so people make their own Proxy. Some people like them, some people don't and I'm sure if I move this to the geocoin forums, you'll hear more opinions.

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Meh. It's a traveller. If I can help it, I will. I prefer, of course, quality proxies, but I'm not bothered by proxies.

 

It's important to note, however, that some geocoin proxies aren't meant to be proxies. That is, a thief steals the coin and leaves the proxy in its place (so if you hate proxies, don't be too quick to blame the owner).

 

I always highly recommend that if people actually intend to leave proxies, that they mark their coins as proxies clearly in the text (e.g, "this is a proxy"). That way, people who hate proxies and who are looking for caches to find won't have their caching experience ruined by finding a proxy when they were expecting a coin.

 

Likewise, I recommend adding some small text to the coin pages that says "this is an actual geocoin, not a copy or proxy" if people are going to release actual coins. That way, if a thief does try the proxy switch, it's more likely that the next cacher will notice and let the owner know that something's wrong.

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Meh. It's a traveller. If I can help it, I will. I prefer, of course, quality proxies, but I'm not bothered by proxies.

 

It's important to note, however, that some geocoin proxies aren't meant to be proxies. That is, a thief steals the coin and leaves the proxy in its place (so if you hate proxies, don't be too quick to blame the owner).

 

I always highly recommend that if people actually intend to leave proxies, that they mark their coins as proxies clearly in the text (e.g, "this is a proxy"). That way, people who hate proxies and who are looking for caches to find won't have their caching experience ruined by finding a proxy when they were expecting a coin.

 

Likewise, I recommend adding some small text to the coin pages that says "this is an actual geocoin, not a copy or proxy" if people are going to release actual coins. That way, if a thief does try the proxy switch, it's more likely that the next cacher will notice and let the owner know that something's wrong.

 

 

WELL SAID, !!!!!!!!!

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I am one of those cachers who bought $70.00 in coins when I first started. I activated them and placed them in travel bug hotels and other large caches and they got stolen right away. No miles were ever put on them. It was a major disapointment to me to think that people would take the coin and keep it in their private collection. I'm still waiting to see if anybody discovers them so I could track them down.

 

I made copies of my new coins that I made recently. They are high quality copies as well. Nobody should have a problem moving these around because the travel bug is a metal tag. My copies are hard laminate thick as drivers licence to they could last.

 

I would not make a note on the cahce page saying they are a "proxy" or "copy" because no matter if it's a metal tag, coin, or laminate it's still a trackable and needs moving along. If cachers would stop taking coins for their personal collections then I would be open to sneding out the real deal more often.

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I would not make a note on the cahce page saying they are a "proxy" or "copy" because no matter if it's a metal tag, coin, or laminate it's still a trackable and needs moving along. If cachers would stop taking coins for their personal collections then I would be open to sneding out the real deal more often.

 

The problem with this approach is that, in essence, you're trying to force people to play the game the way you think it should be played. A similar approach, from the other side, is people who deliberately take proxy copies out of caches and destroy them.

 

Mind you, I don't think that what you're doing is wrong, per se (although I definitely think that taking proxy copies out of caches and destroying them is very wrong). But I don't think that it would hurt to give someone a heads up, keeping in mind that other players might not like proxies. I'd move your proxies. But other people wouldn't, and would be very vocal about how ticked off they were to find your proxy when they expected to be handling a coin. If you don't care about this, of course, then proceed. Just be warned, 'cause it's a surprisingly emotional topic.

 

Not identifying them as proxies won't deter coin thieves -- thieves don't care. No thief is going to think "I should really stop stealing or there won't be any coins left for anyone to enjoy". Barring the ignorant thieves (the ones who don't realize the coin isn't swag), they just find something they like and take it. And I'm willing to bet that any thief who went to a cache to specifically steal your coin would probably destroy the proxy out of spite.*

 

BTW, travel bugs get stolen all the time, too. There's a whole thread devoted to making one's TB unattractive to thieves. It's less of a problem, I think**, than coins, because coins are collectable.***

 

*I have no data to back up this assertion.

 

**I have no data to back up this assertion, either.

 

***Some people do actually deface or drill holes in their coins so as to 1) attach a travel buddy-style tag and 2) make the coin less attractive to thieves and less sale-able on places like eBay.

 

For what it's worth.

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I send out proxies because if they get stolen... I can always make another one.... but, honestly, who would steal a proxy? I make mine by taking a high quality photo of the coin, then laminating it, then epoxying both sides to a washer, then sealing the copy in a round coin display holder. I know that it isn't the same as the real thing, but it is pretty close in appearance, shape, and weight. Maybe if coins didn't come up missing within the first week, I would send the real thing out. I don't know. I was a coin collector first.

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I send out proxies because if they get stolen... I can always make another one.... but, honestly, who would steal a proxy? I make mine by taking a high quality photo of the coin, then laminating it, then epoxying both sides to a washer, then sealing the copy in a round coin display holder. I know that it isn't the same as the real thing, but it is pretty close in appearance, shape, and weight. Maybe if coins didn't come up missing within the first week, I would send the real thing out. I don't know. I was a coin collector first.

 

Yours are an example of what I mean by "quality proxies", ones I'd be delighted to move along (not, mind you, that I'm unhappy to be able to help any traveler). It would be cool to find one of your proxies!

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We have many coins traveling aroud the world and when one goes missing and that we are sure that it's gone forever, we make a nice proxy and send it on its way. We always write it down on the coin's page so people will know about it.

 

Once we were at an event and we were making discovers on the travelers that were on a table. A friend of ours picked up a proxy and told me ¨That's cheap¨ To what I replied ¨It's mine¨. First, she was very embarassed but I started laughing and she did too :) I explained to her that the coin was in a muggled cache and that we replaced it and just dropped it in this event.

 

Don't judge too fast :o We should always help a traveler, no matter what it looks like :laughing:

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We have many coins traveling aroud the world and when one goes missing and that we are sure that it's gone forever, we make a nice proxy and send it on its way. We always write it down on the coin's page so people will know about it.

 

Once we were at an event and we were making discovers on the travelers that were on a table. A friend of ours picked up a proxy and told me ¨That's cheap¨ To what I replied ¨It's mine¨. First, she was very embarassed but I started laughing and she did too :D I explained to her that the coin was in a muggled cache and that we replaced it and just dropped it in this event.

 

Don't judge too fast :D We should always help a traveler, no matter what it looks like :D

 

I like my icon list to be of real geocins I have actually seen in hand, and exclude those seen only in a photo/by proxy. Even if I were, in a moment of sympathetic weakness, tempted to move a proxy to a better cache location, there is not a way to do so without getting that unwanted icon. At least none I can figure out short of messing up the history by later deleting my logs.

 

Don't judge too fast bounced back :D

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The simple solution for you is to move the trackable, notify the trackables' owner, let them know that you moved it to such and such cache (GCXXXXX), have THEM retrieve their own proxy, and drop it in the cache where you placed it as a "Write Note" log, with a bug drop, just as if you were placing a TB or Coin into an event cache.

 

~J

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The simple solution for you is to move the trackable, notify the trackables' owner, let them know that you moved it to such and such cache (GCXXXXX), have THEM retrieve their own proxy, and drop it in the cache where you placed it as a "Write Note" log, with a bug drop, just as if you were placing a TB or Coin into an event cache.

 

~J

 

That would work. Maybe I'll try that sometime and see how it goes.

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I find them to be lame. Not worth the paper they are photocopied on.

 

Basically you reduce a high quality metal coin to a photocopy piece of paper - might just as well pass around the tracking id on a slip of paper.

 

Not all proxies are created equal- and not all proxies are laminated paper.

 

But, most that I've seen are really poor copies. Usually I post a note mentioning that the coin has disappeared, and been replace by a cheap copy. :D

I like StarBrand's proposal: Just put the tracking number on a slip of paper. Cheaper for cheap people.

Yes. I've had a number of geocoins disappear. They made their journey. Some did well. Some did not. They are gone.

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I was happy to see that the cache I was planning to find yesterday had a coin. Yay! Something fun to look at, and in a micro no less! But I was disappointed to find the cache and discover that the "coin" was just a piece of paper with a picture of a coin on it. Booooring. I totally would have moved a real coin, but that card didn`t interest me. If people don`t care to make a tiny investment in a real object for their traveler, I`m not going go to invest any effort in moving it to another cache!

 

Am I the only one that thinks like this? What do the rest of you think of these wannabe-coins?

 

Unfortunately, too many real coins get lost or stolen when they're released to geocaches.

 

If you're not interested in logging/moving these, that's fine, but understand that there is a good reason behind this and the insults are unnecessary.

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As a matter of fact I made a copy of 3 more coins today. They are my Earthcache Master coins. They will be released as soon as the snow melts and I head out caching again....I might even make a cache dedicated to copied geocoins. I'll call it "The Proxy Cache" Only copies of geocoins can reside in this TB Hotel.

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Ultimately, as I see it, everything is a proxy. Specifically, coins and TBs are a proxy for the owner, regardless of condition, to see the world. Whatever the story is behind whether it is or isn't a real coin, the owner hopes that it will go far and be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

 

I have put out most of the coins I have bought so far (and they sadly haven't done much traveling yet); several coins, like the Pocket Decoder or the Astrolabe that I got as Xmas gifts are simply too fragile, in my opinion, to survive out in the wild. So I have these beautiful coins that I want to share with the world, but I don't go to a lot of events where they could be discovered, so in this case I think a paper copy is about as good as it's going to get (especially for the coins with moving parts).

 

I will still buy coins on occasion (thinking about getting some of those Salmon Cachekinz) and will send out them out, but regardless of paper or metal, I'd like to see something that represents me, in some capacity, be enjoyed by others, and hopefully all over the planet.

Edited by tachoknight
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It's important to note, however, that some geocoin proxies aren't meant to be proxies. That is, a thief steals the coin and leaves the proxy in its place (so if you hate proxies, don't be too quick to blame the owner).

 

That has happened to me more than once. But I don't even bother releasing coins into caches now, since they are almost certainly guaranteed to get stolen. It's a shame there are so many thiefs out there... the problem isn't limited to a very tiny minority, it is actually epidemic and happens far too often.

 

I avoid proxies, cause they can get lost quickly in the shuffle.

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If people don`t care to make a tiny investment in a real object for their traveler, I`m not going go to invest any effort in moving it to another cache!

 

Am I the only one that thinks like this? What do the rest of you think of these wannabe-coins?

 

Pretty strong words for someone who hasn't invested ANY money in any coins or TB's....

 

Personally I've lost quite a few coins to coin thieves and a few from muggled caches. I have released a couple of proxy cards but so far only for the coins that were in caches that had been muggled with no way for the coin to come back into the game. I have found and moved a number of proxy cards and have no problem with them whatsoever. I move them along because they are travelers with a mission; regardless if they are a shiny chunk of metal, a flat TB tag attached to something else or a laminated proxy card....

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Meh. It's a traveller. If I can help it, I will. I prefer, of course, quality proxies, but I'm not bothered by proxies.

 

It's important to note, however, that some geocoin proxies aren't meant to be proxies. That is, a thief steals the coin and leaves the proxy in its place (so if you hate proxies, don't be too quick to blame the owner).

 

I always highly recommend that if people actually intend to leave proxies, that they mark their coins as proxies clearly in the text (e.g, "this is a proxy"). That way, people who hate proxies and who are looking for caches to find won't have their caching experience ruined by finding a proxy when they were expecting a coin.

 

Likewise, I recommend adding some small text to the coin pages that says "this is an actual geocoin, not a copy or proxy" if people are going to release actual coins. That way, if a thief does try the proxy switch, it's more likely that the next cacher will notice and let the owner know that something's wrong.

 

 

WELL SAID, !!!!!!!!!

 

Well said indeed! I did produce a proxy once for a coin going missing and didn't want it to end it's journey like that. I had written to the last geocacher who had it in hand, he made his search on his part and 6-8 months later it was back home. That proxy is still getting mileage until it comes back to me or I get my hands onto itand rerelease the real coin.

If the journey of the proxy and the reason it is a proxy is well explained, I don't know why people are afraid of moving it along.

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Coins" that are just laminated cards, Lame!...What do the rest of you think of these wannabe-coins?

 

The coin is alive and well. The tracking number though has been placed into service separate from the coin.

 

It would be a courtesy to call the tracking "Proxy" or some such thing so you have a clue that the coin itself isn't being used to track travels under the tracking number.

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Is there any way this can become a pinned topic? This same subject comes up over and over, and I personally, am a little tired of hearing people complain about it -- especially those who haven't bothered to invest any time or money or effort into creating or releasing their own trackables.

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I don't think that I would have any problem sending out a tb because I have no real connection with dog tags. The only difference with coins is that I was a coin collector before I got into caching. It just seems against my nature to send a coin out just to become part of a thief's collection. Therefore, I send out a quality proxy. I see no problem with that. If the proxy is stolen, then I can create another one.... and still keep the original.

 

I have ordered some tb dog tags... so I will start sending out the "real deal" type of tb soon, but until then the community will just have to enjoy copies of my coins.

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I think that it is a great idea to do that. Why have some donkey come steal your real coin. I get tired of sending the real thing out just to have it stolen.

 

It's a hard world for travel bugs, at what point did people figure it would be any better for coins?

 

When they had too many of their hard earned money "geocoins" come up missing. But I second that on travel bugs, but I thought this thread was about geocoins, maybe I read it wrong. ;)

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I am new to geocaching (6 months) and this is the first time I have learned about proxies.

 

I have bought a little more than forty geocoins so far, half of them is out travelling the rest will go out this spring.

 

I'm sorry to say that one of my coins have already gone missing. This thread has givien me the thought of replacing it with a proxy.

 

But only sending out proxies? No I don't think I will do that. Even if it's a well made proxy it can't compete with the real geocoin. How fun is it to turn a piece of paper around and look at it? To sit and hold the real geocoin and turn it around, look at it with light coming from different directions and admire the colours, reflections and shadows is a much greater experience. As the owner of the coin I send out the coin so other people can see it and hopefully like it and be happy to see it's beauty. And I must say that it gives me great satisfaction to read the logs where a cacher writes that it's a very nice coin or that it's one of the most beautiful coin they have seen.

 

Of course I don't want my coins get stolen but if they have given joy to some geocachers on it's way I think it is well spent money.

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I don't think that I would have any problem sending out a tb because I have no real connection with dog tags. The only difference with coins is that I was a coin collector before I got into caching. It just seems against my nature to send a coin out just to become part of a thief's collection. Therefore, I send out a quality proxy. I see no problem with that. If the proxy is stolen, then I can create another one.... and still keep the original.

 

I have ordered some tb dog tags... so I will start sending out the "real deal" type of tb soon, but until then the community will just have to enjoy copies of my coins.

This is the reason I created The Proxy Geocoin.

 

You don't have to be attached to this coin, for it is about the same price as a TB Dog Tag, yet you don't have to attach another item you paid for to it - but you can, for I have put a die cut hole in the coin for that very thing!

 

~J

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I don't think that I would have any problem sending out a tb because I have no real connection with dog tags. The only difference with coins is that I was a coin collector before I got into caching. It just seems against my nature to send a coin out just to become part of a thief's collection. Therefore, I send out a quality proxy. I see no problem with that. If the proxy is stolen, then I can create another one.... and still keep the original.

 

I have ordered some tb dog tags... so I will start sending out the "real deal" type of tb soon, but until then the community will just have to enjoy copies of my coins.

This is the reason I created The Proxy Geocoin.

 

You don't have to be attached to this coin, for it is about the same price as a TB Dog Tag, yet you don't have to attach another item you paid for to it - but you can, for I have put a die cut hole in the coin for that very thing!

 

~J

 

I saw the thread on that. They do look rather compelling. I might buy one or two of them in the near future. Great Idea!

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I am new to geocaching (6 months) and this is the first time I have learned about proxies.

 

I have bought a little more than forty geocoins so far, half of them is out travelling the rest will go out this spring.

 

I'm sorry to say that one of my coins have already gone missing. This thread has givien me the thought of replacing it with a proxy.

 

But only sending out proxies? No I don't think I will do that. Even if it's a well made proxy it can't compete with the real geocoin. How fun is it to turn a piece of paper around and look at it? To sit and hold the real geocoin and turn it around, look at it with light coming from different directions and admire the colours, reflections and shadows is a much greater experience. As the owner of the coin I send out the coin so other people can see it and hopefully like it and be happy to see it's beauty. And I must say that it gives me great satisfaction to read the logs where a cacher writes that it's a very nice coin or that it's one of the most beautiful coin they have seen.

 

Of course I don't want my coins get stolen but if they have given joy to some geocachers on it's way I think it is well spent money.

 

Thank you, nils-Olov, for releasing real geocoins into caches. If another cacher hadn't sent out their Dark Side of the Cache, Wykenwizard, Star Geezer, Compass Rose, Magic, Geosquid, to name just a few, I would not have had the great thrill to find them in a cache. Seeing them at events is nice, but time doesn't allow the study each coin's details as can be done if they are with me for longer while moving them.

 

It seems sometimes that the connection between newer geocachers discovering coins in caches and later becoming the enthusiasts that pay money to purchase coins doesn't get the credit it deserves. Sadly, you will likely see and hear a lot of "Foolish you!" comments for releasing. I just wanted to drop an appreciative thank you. Happy caching! :)

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I photograph both sides of every coin that I own / discover / move. I have no qualms about releasing actual coins into caches. My "collection" is a collection of digital photos. Now, if one of my coins goes missing or is stolen, I can produce a "proxy" from my photos. This has not happened to me yet, but if/when it does, I have no problem with releasing a replacement proxy coin.

 

I have only ran across one proxy coin in a cache. It was a coin for the Allegheny GeoTrail. This, to me, is entirely understandable. The owner received it as an award for his accomplishment and probably wanted to keep the original. If you're not familiar with the GeoTrails, you get a passport and stamp off caches that are designated to be part of the "trail". The Allegheny GeoTrail includes ten counties. If you find a certain number of coins in a county, you get a GeoCoin featuring the GeoTrail logo and artwork related to that county. They are very nice. If you complete all ten counties, you get a bonus coin. The county in which I live is implementing its own geotrail (Armstrong GeoTrail) this summer. We will also have our own geocoin as a "prize" upon completion. I can see if you receive a special commemorative geocoin or an award geocoin, that you might not want to release the original, but rather hold on to it for its sentimental value.

 

Sure, it's nice to hold the actual coin, but it's not the end of the world if it's only a laminated photo.

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***Some people do actually deface or drill holes in their coins so as to 1) attach a travel buddy-style tag and 2) make the coin less attractive to thieves and less sale-able on places like eBay.

 

I did that on the last coin I released. For good measure, I also spray-painted it pink and baby blue on one side. It wasn't something I wanted to do to a coin, believe me, but I did it as a test. Will that keep it from being stolen? If not, it will be the last actual coin I release. I may turn to the dark side and start putting out proxies.

 

My question is what would you rather have: a proxy or a coin that is drilled/painted/scratched/defaced? I know the answer is the actual coin, undamaged, unmarred...but with thievery so rampant, I'm not going to release another pristine coin just to see it snatched in the first week of its traveling.

 

Edited for a stray apostrophe '...come back here!

Edited by Bassanio
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***Some people do actually deface or drill holes in their coins so as to 1) attach a travel buddy-style tag and 2) make the coin less attractive to thieves and less sale-able on places like eBay.

 

I did that on the last coin I released. For good measure, I also spray-painted it pink and baby blue on one side. It wasn't something I wanted to do to a coin, believe me, but I did it as a test. Will that keep it from being stolen? If not, it will be the last actual coin I release. I may turn to the dark side and start putting out proxies.

 

My question is what would you rather have: a proxy or a coin that is drilled/painted/scratched/defaced? I know the answer is the actual coin, undamaged, unmarred...but with thievery so rampant, I'm not going to release another pristine coin just to see it snatched in the first week of its traveling.

 

Edited for a stray apostrophe '...come back here!

The coice between a destroyed coin or no coin at all? I think I prefer no coin at all. To drill holes and paint them is vandalism for me.

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***Some people do actually deface or drill holes in their coins so as to 1) attach a travel buddy-style tag and 2) make the coin less attractive to thieves and less sale-able on places like eBay.

 

I did that on the last coin I released. For good measure, I also spray-painted it pink and baby blue on one side. It wasn't something I wanted to do to a coin, believe me, but I did it as a test. Will that keep it from being stolen? If not, it will be the last actual coin I release. I may turn to the dark side and start putting out proxies.

 

My question is what would you rather have: a proxy or a coin that is drilled/painted/scratched/defaced? I know the answer is the actual coin, undamaged, unmarred...but with thievery so rampant, I'm not going to release another pristine coin just to see it snatched in the first week of its traveling.

 

Edited for a stray apostrophe '...come back here!

 

For me, finding a drilled coin doesn't lessen the thrill at all. Scratched would be ok; the coin is still viewable almost as designed and the elements can still be seen. Painted, I have trouble imagining. Probably would depend upon the coin and the importance of the painted side to the overall design and the amount of importance the under-color was to the coin. Do you have a photo to show what you did? Painting would probably lessen the enjoyment of seeing the geocoin a lot. Finding a proxy is worth zilch. By my rating system. <_<

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Do you have a photo to show what you did? Painting would probably lessen the enjoyment of seeing the geocoin a lot

 

Here's the original back of the coin:

4cbfa45a-10d1-46db-8d67-d047c1c69bea.jpg

 

Here it is painted:

 

aefe7e31-0dcd-4810-aa0c-6d83307ee459.jpg

 

I didn't drill most of the holes all the way through because I didn't want to mess with the artwork on the front of the coin:

 

5515c049-2062-4fd1-9429-483d290008b7.jpg

 

I really disliked doing it but if it keeps the coin traveling, it's a good trade-off.

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I am wondering... that is more sad to find... a proxy or a destroyed for ever coin, so it will not get stollen??? <_<

 

both are bad!

 

Just imagine the coin you like the most! you see that it is in a cache near to you.... you go and you find that it is a proxy..... you are sad! Ok...

Now imagine that you find the coin but it is full of holes, painted, damaged... so it will not get stollen.... isn't that to cry for???

 

Can you imagine a destroyed Moun10bike geocoin???? I would feel better to find a proxy than to find a destroyed one!!!

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Do you have a photo to show what you did? Painting would probably lessen the enjoyment of seeing the geocoin a lot

 

Here's the original back of the coin:

4cbfa45a-10d1-46db-8d67-d047c1c69bea.jpg

 

Here it is painted:

 

aefe7e31-0dcd-4810-aa0c-6d83307ee459.jpg

 

I didn't drill most of the holes all the way through because I didn't want to mess with the artwork on the front of the coin:

 

5515c049-2062-4fd1-9429-483d290008b7.jpg

 

I really disliked doing it but if it keeps the coin traveling, it's a good trade-off.

 

Oh my. <_< While I understand why you did it, it must have taken quite some inner strength and determination to actually deface such a beautiful coin. The back was beautiful and I would have loved to study it. Finding your coin would make me sad, but more because I realize that it is the thefts that have caused the owners that release goecoins into the wild to resort to such measures. Still, seeing half of a real geocoin is more enjoyable than finding thirty photo proxy coins. I can view photos of geocoins on the internet anytime; getting to see the real coin is special every time.

 

Maybe people that have had the opportunity to see many thousands of collection coins can afford to feel differently. I haven't gotten the chance to see anywhere near that many, so I still appreciate every coin with a higher level of enthusiasm.

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Do you have a photo to show what you did? Painting would probably lessen the enjoyment of seeing the geocoin a lot

 

Here's the original back of the coin:

4cbfa45a-10d1-46db-8d67-d047c1c69bea.jpg

 

Here it is painted:

 

aefe7e31-0dcd-4810-aa0c-6d83307ee459.jpg

 

I didn't drill most of the holes all the way through because I didn't want to mess with the artwork on the front of the coin:

 

5515c049-2062-4fd1-9429-483d290008b7.jpg

 

I really disliked doing it but if it keeps the coin traveling, it's a good trade-off.

 

Oh my. :( While I understand why you did it, it must have taken quite some inner strength and determination to actually deface such a beautiful coin. The back was beautiful and I would have loved to study it. Finding your coin would make me sad, but more because I realize that it is the thefts that have caused the owners that release goecoins into the wild to resort to such measures. Still, seeing half of a real geocoin is more enjoyable than finding thirty photo proxy coins. I can view photos of geocoins on the internet anytime; getting to see the real coin is special every time.

 

Maybe people that have had the opportunity to see many thousands of collection coins can afford to feel differently. I haven't gotten the chance to see anywhere near that many, so I still appreciate every coin with a higher level of enthusiasm.

 

I kind of like the paint job... lol! It looks like cotton candy... mmmm candy!

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I really dislike the paint idea, because I can't appreciate the original beauty of the coins. I am better with the drilling which doesn't destroy them entirely and I can still appreciate them.

 

I would definitely prefer to find a drilled/defaced coin over a proxy (and of course some proxies are better than others) ... but I will discover/move any of them ... real, defaced, or proxies. BTW, I send out coins in their natural state, no defacing at all. I accept the risk.

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This whole thing has me going in circles.

 

I found a "500 Finds" coin in my very first cache and I was so excited! Then I learned that I didn't get to keep it. Ratz. It was fun to carry it around for awhile though and admire it and pretend it was mine before passing it on.

 

Then I signed up on the forums and started reading about geocoins going missing all the time. I kinda couldn't figure out what the point was of the coins were. I mean they're so beautiful that of course you want to admire and treasure them, but they're trackable so you're supposed to release them and never see them again. That seems like buying a new Porsche to donate to a crash derby to me, but to each their own I guess.

 

Then I read about making a proxy. Not as cool for the finder as finding a real coin, but a double bonus for the owner because they get to have their little piece of art AND have the goodness of a trackable.

 

I bought probably $80 worth of geocoins and set about making proxies. I scanned in the coins and made laminated cards with a TB-style writeup. Then I put a grommet in the card and attached an interesting key chain. It started to feel a bit like attaching a TB dog tag to a random object tho.... but then I thought maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to view the coin and the TB number separately. You get to keep the coin and get to use the TB# to make a trackable.

 

Then I read this thread.

I like my icon list to be of real geocins I have actually seen in hand, and exclude those seen only in a photo/by proxy. Even if I were, in a moment of sympathetic weakness, tempted to move a proxy to a better cache location, there is not a way to do so without getting that unwanted icon. At least none I can figure out short of messing up the history by later deleting my logs.

Wait, people care that much what their inventory icon list looks like? Really?

 

I always highly recommend that if people actually intend to leave proxies, that they mark their coins as proxies clearly in the text (e.g, "this is a proxy"). That way, people who hate proxies and who are looking for caches to find won't have their caching experience ruined by finding a proxy when they were expecting a coin.

With as often as the cache inventory list is wrong, I'm surprised that people choose caches to find based on the TB inventory.

 

So now I'm just at a loss. I have these lovely coins that I really like and I'm not inclined to release them to be stolen and become part of someone else's collection. I'd release the proxies, but it's such a heated topic, I don't want to have someone "post a note mentioning that the coin has disappeared, and been replace by a cheap copy."

 

*sigh*

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The view of a non-collector of geocoins...

 

The geocoins I've bought (with very few exceptions) have been for for releasing into the wild or placing into a cache as a permanent resident coin for discovery only. I like to see geocoins out in the wild, in caches.

 

Some do better than others. I've had one (only one) disappear from the first cache that it was dropped into. I've had another micro geocoin that managed to do 17,000 miles before disappearing with a muggled cache.

 

Once I'm sure they're gone, after an appropriate length of time, I have no qualms about releasing them as some form of proxy but I try to do so in an interesting and amusing way whilst making sure that their name clearly indicates that it's no longer a 'real' geocoin.

 

"Hawaii or bust (not a real geocoin)"

 

"G Note to geocachers - this isn't a real geocoin"

 

"Poxy Proxy, the IOM Scapecentipede"

 

MrsB

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This whole thing has me going in circles.

 

<snippers>

Then I read this thread.

I like my icon list to be of real geocins I have actually seen in hand, and exclude those seen only in a photo/by proxy. Even if I were, in a moment of sympathetic weakness, tempted to move a proxy to a better cache location, there is not a way to do so without getting that unwanted icon. At least none I can figure out short of messing up the history by later deleting my logs.

Wait, people care that much what their inventory icon list looks like? Really?

 

<snippers>

 

No, not most. Likely few, in fact. I was only speaking for myself. A peek in my gallery would show that I like to record and remember the coins and TBs that cross my path. I even try to write something about the discovered traveler that caught my eye, rather than just post "Discovered at....". I occasionally use the icon links to check on the travelers' adventures months after we part. There is no similar feeling of connection with proxies; I do not want to sort through those icons.

 

That is one thing I prefer about TBs over the individual icons for geocoins. I can quickly check a page of bugs for new activity. Icons are a much more time consuming individual link. What the list looks like isn't really the issue. Also, it is my preference to have an accurate record of the coins I have seen in hand.

 

I release geocoins into the wild to give back to the community the pleasure they have given me to find coins in caches. No, I will likely never see them again. Instead I hope to see logs and photos from geocachers that enjoyed finding and moving the coin.

 

Would you honestly have felt the same to have found a proxy of the 500 Finds geocoin in that cache? Would a slip of paper have been as fun to carry around and admire for a while before passing it on for another cacher to enjoy?

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Would you honestly have felt the same to have found a proxy of the 500 Finds geocoin in that cache? Would a slip of paper have been as fun to carry around and admire for a while before passing it on for another cacher to enjoy?

 

Nope, I sure wouldn't have. So I totally agree that finding a coin is way cooler than finding a "slip of paper." I do think that if you're going to do the proxy thing, it'd better be more interesting than a slip of paper. I have some traveling coins in my inventory right this minute, actually. I don't normally pick up TBs because the responsibility makes me nervous, but I just can resist the coins. I get it. I was just hoping to have it both ways, which I know you can't.

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Not sure if this is a common practice but I came across two today in NH. I found what I thought to be missing coins and the plastic pouch only. But after looking at the plastic holder in place of the actual coin were scanned color copies.

 

Has anyone else seen this? Is this common?

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