Geocoin not matching the one in the page

[afishler]

Hello,

 

Guess this is a newbie quesion and apologies if this topic was raised many times before.

 

In my short geocaching history I found 2 geoncoins. One looked exactly as in the tracking page and the code was engraved on the coin.

 

The other coin found was totally different from what I expected to see since the page had a totally different image. The code was hand written on the coin I found on the back in a place that says "tracking #", but this is not engraved.

 

I just saw that the owner loaded to the page a new image representing what I found as "copy"

 

Is is supposed to be like that? Can a coin be placed as a "copy"?

 

Cheers,

Arie

[+Jackalgirl]

Hello,

 

Guess this is a newbie quesion and apologies if this topic was raised many times before.

 

In my short geocaching history I found 2 geoncoins. One looked exactly as in the tracking page and the code was engraved on the coin.

 

The other coin found was totally different from what I expected to see since the page had a totally different image. The code was hand written on the coin I found on the back in a place that says "tracking #", but this is not engraved.

 

I just saw that the owner loaded to the page a new image representing what I found as "copy"

 

Is is supposed to be like that? Can a coin be placed as a "copy"?

 

Cheers,

Arie

 

Howdy --

 

Certainly! This is what is known as a "proxy", and if you do a search on the forum, you'll find about a bazillion (give or take a few) threads about proxies. Some people hate 'em and won't move them (they want to be able to hold the actual coin in their hands) and some people support the idea because geocoin theft is pretty prevalent, especially in urban areas in the US. Some people who make proxies send out flimsy photocopies, and some people put a lot of effort into making a proxy that has some heft, with high-quality photographs. So your mileage may vary.

 

I personally think it's okay. I would hate to release a coin, even a defaced one, and see it get stolen. I also think it's okay to release a proxy/copy if your original was stolen (that's why, in fact, Travel Bugs come with two tags, an original and a "COPY"). I personally prefer, though, that people put some effort into the proxies and make them nice.

 

What I do encourage, however, is that if someone does release a proxy, that they update their page as you've described, noting that it is a COPY or PROXY. That way, people who hate proxies can avoid the coin. Plus, it's handy because sometimes thieves will replace geocoins with cheap copies, and the owner has no way of knowing (until, of course, some proxy-hating cacher finds the copy and complains on the cache page). Which is also why I recommend that people who've released actual coins mark their coins' pages with something like "this is a real coin, it is not a proxy".

 

Hope this helps!

 

Edited to add: so if you find a coin that is nothing like the one that's shown on the page, let the owner know!

Edited July 10, 2010 by Jackalgirl

[+Droo]

Well that is the most unusual proxie I've ever seen. The tracking number is to a Templar but the image is some kind of mystery/decypher type wheel - I'm not familiar with it as a coin. It could be that the Templar was stolen and the owner is using the tracking number for another coin like traveler.... maybe there is something in the description but I don't do German or Dutch (or whatever language it's written in).

The worst thing that has been known to happen is a beautiful coin is replaced by some individual of low moral character with a proxie.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Droo

[afishler]

Thanks for the valuable information. Really cleared the picture for me.

 

I wonder however...if theft becomes a problem...why not eliminate the public indication of the Geocoin existence in the cache?

 

Avoiding the ability to search a coin through seeing it listed on a cache page should help. This way people will not know until going to the cache itself if there is something there....

 

I guess there were tons on discussions on this.