New to geocoins

[+SeekerOfTheWay]

i received two neat geocoins for my birthday yesterday. A Lotus Compass and a silver hiking one (haven't activated that one yet so not sure of the name).

 

Do i send these out on missions? i activated the Lotus Compass and would like it to go to Tucson to an ashram, then the Hotel Congress then back to FL. Is this a reasonable mission? Will i get the coin back? Or are they for trading only?

 

What does "set collectible preference" mean when i'm editing details?

 

Thanks for any insight.

[+fuzziebear3]

It is a lovely mission, although you might want to break it down. Send it to the first location, after it gets there (if it gets there), you can edit it for the next location, as needed.

 

You probably won't get it back though. The fact is, somewhere along the way, it will make a wrong turn, or end up in the wrong person's pocket, or the cache it is in will disappear, or something. It might or might not make it to any of its goals.

 

If you are not willing to take the risk, then don't send it out. You can keep it and show it to people that you meet. Or, you can make a representation of it (called a proxy) and send that out instead. Then if it goes missing you still have the original and try again (and again, and again). However, not everyone is open-minded about proxies, so they may or may not move well either. (You can search for 'proxy' and read all about that.)

 

If your coin (or its proxy) is going to travel, then the set collectible preference should be set to 'No'.

 

The joy of sending a coin out comes from seeing where they do go, how they get there, notes and pictures that come along the way. Sort of like - I didn't know Germany was on the way to Tucson, but check out that castle! A traveling coin is more about the journey than the destination.

 

As for the specific coin you are mentioning -- it is a lovely coin, I would love to find one in a cache. But unfortunately, I think that one might be too lovely. It is not a proven thing, but I kinda think that the nicer a coin is, the more likely it is to go missing. If you want to send one out, I would look for one that is not very expensive (around 5.00) and fairly common. That way it is easier to part with and to lose.

[+SeekerOfTheWay]

Thanks for the insights. Gives me something to think about. i will for sure edit the mission to simplify it. i think i'll delete the back to FL part because they might be too many steps!

 

It is a pretty coin and i hope i get it back after. i am willing to take the risk and trust it will move along!

 

i will keep the second coin i received for now though.

[+Droo]

If you're interested in more information on geocoins there is the pinned thread at the top of this Forum and on Geocaching.com all you need is click on the Trackables tab and explore the links in the Geocoin section.

 

Given the short life span of traveling coins I would suggest you take a hi-res pic of your lotus coin (front and back), print it on quality paper and attach to a 2in washer and lock the entire thing in a coin capsule and send it on it's way after activating your coin and creating a travel page for it with a description of the mission you intend for it. Be sure to call it "PROXY whatever" in the title as some people get very possessive about seeing an icon to a coin they'd love to see and handle only to find a cheap repro in the cache instead. This way if it goes missing you can make another to resume where the first one left off and never have to lose the gift you were given. Just a thought.

[+keewee]

Here is a feedback post for this collectables issue which is causing so much confusion. Get if fixed by following this link and giving it some votes please:

 

Wording clarification needed re. Collectible / Not collectible trackables.