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question regarding coins vs. copies


MaknMemories

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we are kinda new to this and therefore are just wanting to know what the proper "ettique" is for geocoins. I have found two that were actual coins and one i moved along, however the next person that found the cache did not state whether there was a coin there or not..another time i found a cache with lots of travel bugs/coins and some were paper copies.. is this something people do to avoid theft? one actually had a note on it about it being a copy due to high theft of coins.

 

just kinda wondering what the view on it was. i have several coins that im trying to move along as well as my first hide with a coin.. ihate to see my coin just get wasted but i wanted to know how many were like me and really just liked finding the actual COIN?

 

discuss

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There is still much debate on whether a paper coin is ok or not. It really is up to you. What I would suggest if you are not going to release the coin itself, invest and make a good copy. These are referred to as proxies. Also make sure you state on the coin page that it is a proxy. There are a lot of people who don't like proxies and won't move them. This helps them before they go to the cache.

 

Unfortunately coin theft is common. I have sent out about 1000 coins and only 300 or so are still traveling. (Keep in mine this is also over a 5 year period) Rule of thumb, never release something you would mind being lost.

 

There is also another school of thought. Many people deface the coin in some way to make it less attractive to theft, but these still go missing too. Most people drill a hole in them and attach a travel/mission sheet of some sort.

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makes sense to me however i guess i just like the feel of the coin in my hand and im sure that others feel the same.. the paper coin (proxie) is understandable however i think ill just put out coins.. i feel bad about losing that money however its the just the principal .. the coins are there for a reason.. to move along and i guess there will always be people who dont respect it.

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I know that I have been kind of wish-washy about which side of the issue that I am on. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to get your coins out there are through either missions (such as the trade and travel mission hosted by Tschakko) or through a cointest (like the one being held by Tsunrisebey). Once you say that you are going to release a coin on the forums, it is much easier to let it go..... mostly because I hate to go back on my word.

 

I believe that the less expensive/rare the coin is, the easier it is to let the coin into the wild. Also, I would never release a gifted coin. Cointest coins are different.... I think that they are fair game to release.

 

I believe that everybody is entitled their opinion on the matter and will do what they want. I have released a couple of coins and intend to release more soon. I have also released some proxies. I guess it just depends on what the coin means to you and why you are releasing it. For example, I would be happy just to see a nicely made proxy of a extremely rare coin. If the owner would like to show it off to others in way of a proxy... more power to them. I would rather see a rare coin in that manner than for the coin to travel through 2 caches only to disappear.

 

Proxies have their own place in caching... and if used correctly, they can only benefit our hobby. A proxie is better than nothing. On most occasions, though, I would still rather have the original in my hands.

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I dislike the paper pictures of geocoins. They just don't feel like a coin do they. I have seen some reproductions made of metal slugs with pictures of both sides of a geocoin that looked pretty good. I have also seen a circular piece of wood with pictures sealed to it that looked nice.

In my opinion if people would move the coins along instead of making them part of their collection there wouldn't be a problem.

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As FireFly said this has been brought up numerous times to similar conclusions.... some like 'em and some don't. That's it. The reasons are just as you posted.... real coins feel better to handle and move while Proxies leave you feeling a little.... ah, ..... dissatisfied. However thefts and losses aren't getting fewer but more numerous. The risk averse make proxies or don't release at all while the one with guts and cash to burn (that pretty much identifies me as one of the chickens) continue to release. All power to the other camp.... may your optimism and goodwill prove to be the better course of action.

 

So..... where does that leave you? Only you can tell.

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I've released 4 coins and 2 or three of them have gone missing. :lol: Recently we had a contest where we we each bought a coin and placed them in a brand new cache. The idea was after a year to see which coin moved the farthest. There must have been about 15 - 20 geocoins in the cache, and a day after the cache was placed the entire cache was muggled.

 

I mean the coins have been activated, why would anyone want 20 of the same geocoin? :anibad:

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I've released 4 coins and 2 or three of them have gone missing. :lol: Recently we had a contest where we we each bought a coin and placed them in a brand new cache. The idea was after a year to see which coin moved the farthest. There must have been about 15 - 20 geocoins in the cache, and a day after the cache was placed the entire cache was muggled.

 

I mean the coins have been activated, why would anyone want 20 of the same geocoin? :anibad:

 

15-20 geocoins in a new cache?

This is why we don't put all of our eggs in one basket.

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can someone suggest a coin that is less collectable
I do not think that it will make a whole lot of difference

 

bigger/shiner/rarer/more popular items may disappear more quickly

defaced items and/or proxies may last a little longer

 

but they are are all at risk of going missing

and they seem to do so on a regular basis

 

geocoins go missing

geocoins with holes drilled in them go missing

proxies go missing

travel bugs go missing

entire geocaches and all of their contents go missing

 

a depressing situation, but all too real and far too common

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I release (most of) my activated geocoins to travel. Some do well and have clocked up thousands of miles, others disappear within the first couple of moves. Once one of my geocoins has been missing for a long time (about a year) I'll re-release a Proxy item in its place. These are not copies of the geocoin, they're something related to it, and I tell the story of the original geocoin in the description of the article. I also make sure that the name is changed to reflect that it's no longer a real geocoin. It becomes, in effect, a TB with a geocoin icon.

 

Cachers can move them or not, as they choose.

 

Hawaii or bust!

 

Poxy Proxy - the Isle of Man Scapecentipede

 

MrsB

Edited by The Blorenges
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If you would be upset if the coin was to be lost/stolen, release a replica/proxy. I recently did this with 2 coins I received as presents, they therefore have sentimental value and I want to keep them. I photographed them on both sides, printed the photos, then laminated them in thick plastic. Each coin has the word "Replica" in its title (I didn't think of using "Proxy"), and the description makes it clear that they are NOT the real coins. But a cacher can still retrieve/discover them to get their icons.

 

This method also has the advantage that if the replica/proxy is ever lost/stolen in the future, I can make another and release it again. Also, a plastic copy isn't going to be mistaken for treasure and picked up as a trophy from the cache, which is what I suspect happens to a lot of coins (especially the ones that don't even look like coins!). I bet there are loads of those little space shuttles/turtles/trucks/penguins/etc hanging on keyrings belonging to cachers with less than 50 finds.

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I am very new to geocaching and am curious and confused about geocoins. I see coin-like objects in caches and don't know if they are geocoins or simply trinkets. I saw 3 identical golden coins in a cache today that had a word on one side and a date on the other side. I didn't know if they were geocoins, someone's "calling card", or simply trinkets. Will geocoins have the word 'geocoin' on them? Are they metal, plastic, wooden, or all of the above? In this same cache there was a larger round green plastic coin (how's that for run-on adjectives?) I didn't know if it was just a novelty toy or a 'geocoin'. Any answers to what IS and is NOT a geocoin for this newbie? Having read some of your previous posts above, I wonder if some geocoins aren't 'stolen' out of simple ignorance to their true identity...the cacher didn't know they had a 'geocoin' that required additional attention. I'd hate to find out I took a trackable not realizing that's what it was.

 

Hope someone can help answer my questions about how to know a true geocoin from a trinket.

 

Kkcardell

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I am very new to geocaching and am curious and confused about geocoins. I see coin-like objects in caches and don't know if they are geocoins or simply trinkets. I saw 3 identical golden coins in a cache today that had a word on one side and a date on the other side. I didn't know if they were geocoins, someone's "calling card", or simply trinkets. Will geocoins have the word 'geocoin' on them? Are they metal, plastic, wooden, or all of the above? In this same cache there was a larger round green plastic coin (how's that for run-on adjectives?) I didn't know if it was just a novelty toy or a 'geocoin'. Any answers to what IS and is NOT a geocoin for this newbie? Having read some of your previous posts above, I wonder if some geocoins aren't 'stolen' out of simple ignorance to their true identity...the cacher didn't know they had a 'geocoin' that required additional attention. I'd hate to find out I took a trackable not realizing that's what it was.

 

Hope someone can help answer my questions about how to know a true geocoin from a trinket.

a real geocoin will have "track on geocaching.com" and a code number on it. sig items and non trackable coins won't.

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a real geocoin will have "track on geocaching.com" and a code number on it. sig items and non trackable coins won't.

 

Look carefully too -- sometimes these words are on the edge of the coin. And sometimes they are not exactly these words but should be similar, mentioning geocaching.com.

 

I do release real live coins - but I am reluctant to release ones with edge tracking because I think these are even more likely to be handled incorrectly.

 

As for what to release - I figure if I can on any day just buy one from one of the pinned vendors, then it is not too rare to release. If I had to do something special to buy it, or trade for it, or receive it as a gift or part of a mission or cointest, then I am not going to send that one out into the cruel world.

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