Finding Money in caches

[+_Wolverine]

Sometimes when I visit caches, I see 1 dollar bills, or a few regular quarters in them. Why do cachers feel the need to drop in money? I think it's a bit tacky. But I am not one to complain - when I do see money, I consider it a gift for me to go buy myself a slurpee. Seriously, how is money considered a token of trading objects in the cache? I doubt people would take that dollar bill and use it to trade it for another object in a different cache. Isn't this lazy - dropping in quarters and dollar bills? Now if someone would drop a hundred dollar bill..

[+Lil Devil]

I think what happens is they see some swag in the cache that they want and they don't have anything else to trade, so they leave money.

[+StarBrand]

I've left money and taken money. Especially when/if I don't feel like my drop off swag was as valuable as what I took. It is just another form of trade items. I leave foriegn coins sometimes as well.

[+narcissa]

I don't think it's necessarily tacky, but I worry about unsavoury muggles hearing about money in geocaches and being tempted to seek it out.

[+_Wolverine]

Foreign coins are cool sometimes, I'd agree with that. But 99% of the time I see regular american bills and coins that are not unique enough to swap out to another cache. There are no rules to say what constitute what can be swapped out, but if you want to take something, then take it. No need to drop a dollar bill or 50 cents to make you feel like you've given something in return of value.

[+narcissa]

Foreign coins and bills are pretty cool, and one of very few things we will place or take from a cache.

[+Max and 99]

Foreign coins and bills are pretty cool, and one of very few things we will place or take from a cache.

 

My kids love finding foreign money in caches!

[+StarBrand]

...

but if you want to take something, then take it. No need to drop a dollar bill or 50 cents to make you feel like you've given something in return of value.

I disagree - I always try my best to trade up or trade even.

[+G & C]

There are no rules to say what constitute what can be swapped out, but if you want to take something, then take it.

 

Well, I suppose you're correct. But simply put, folks aren't going to care much for you with that attitude on things. Trade even or trade up is just one of those guidelines that most tend to follow in good faith, to keep the practice of trading swag fun and interesting. Ruin an aspect of geocaching for people, and you likely will not be well received.

[RainbowKat]

2 dollar bills and gold dollar coins are neat.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Foreign coins and bills are pretty cool, and one of very few things we will place or take from a cache.

 

I usually don't trade swag but when I do it usually involves foreign coins. I have a small bag of about 20 Costa Rican coins (colones) from change I acquired there last week. I took one of each denomination and put them into a box of coins from all over the world that I've been collecting for my son and the rest I'll use for swag. I've also got a collection of small denomination bills from foreign countries that I've dropped into caches as well. One of the things I like about using foreign coins as swag is that they're small enough to fit into small containers and I can carry enough for a couple of dozen caches in a small plastic bag.

[+firemanjim903mfd]

I'm going to have to put this one one on my kids shoulder and blame them . If we're out caching and I didn't bring any swag and they find something they want to trade " but we didn't bring any swag " Now when they tag along its the first thing I ask them before we leave home ."Did you get your swag bag ? " So to make a long story shot that why I have put money in caches before .

[+Sky King 36]

I often put very shiny, uncirculated US dollar coins in a cache as the FTF prize... There's something about shiny, metal bling that a paper bill can't capture, kind of a throw back to this being a treasure hunt. But the amounts involved must be trivial for all the reasons others have already discussed. As for buying a slurpee... That's the whole point. I don't have any illusions that if you FTF one of my caches, you'll spend the $1 on a new GPS or invest in renewable energy. I'm pretty much hoping you'll use it to buy a slurpee, on me.

[+mlomeli]

I recently was caching in Israel. Most of them had foreign coins in them. Euros, Dollars, Shekels, Czech, et... I think it's cool to find foreign, but I actually have not come across money in US caches yet. Yes, go buy that slur pee, I say...

Edited March 3, 2011 by mlomeli

[+L0ne.R]

Sometimes when I visit caches, I see 1 dollar bills, or a few regular quarters in them. Why do cachers feel the need to drop in money? I think it's a bit tacky. But I am not one to complain - when I do see money, I consider it a gift for me to go buy myself a slurpee. Seriously, how is money considered a token of trading objects in the cache? I doubt people would take that dollar bill and use it to trade it for another object in a different cache. Isn't this lazy - dropping in quarters and dollar bills? Now if someone would drop a hundred dollar bill..

 

I have left a commemorative quarter. But I never take money (I'm not a coin collector). I consider that regular currency should be left for children. I imagine that they would love to put 50 cents in their piggy bank or use the money for a bit of candy. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, do kids even have piggy banks anymore?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Jeepers... we rather think placing a Jefferson is a somewhat neat FTF prize. You don't see very many, people don't usually treat it as 'money' and keep it as a memento.

 

Now, somebody tells us that it is 'tacky'. Maybe we should switch to Hamiltons, eh?

[+Kameharem]

My kids get very excited when they see money in a cache and it doesn't matter how much or what type it is; money = treasure to them so even if you are just dropping nickles and dimes because that's all you have in your pocket, I imagine you are making some future cacher happy.

[+hzoi]

We once found $25 in an empty pack of smokes that was stuck in the same tree as a cache we found in Mississippi (not in the cache, but on the other side of the trunk). Which was a nice coincidence, as we had just paid right about that amount for lunch shortly before.

 

Foreign coins are always cool to find. When we cached in Germany, I would drop US coins in German caches now and again.

[knowschad]

My thoughts on it are with the OP. Money (as in, Legal Tender) is not a trade item when it comes to caching. We are to trade swag, not purchase it.

[+secondgunman]

Here it's not uncommon for the owner to put a dollar bill on which he/she has written FTF and his/her name in a new cache. When I get FTF on one of those, I take the bill and add it to my collection.

 

On the other side of the coin, I have one cache out now that I put $5 in for the FTF. That one was the fifth and final cache in a series that involved at least 25 miles of driving and, from what I've gathered from most people, a couple hours of work. I thought I'd pay for the gas involved as a little bonus for getting FTF.

[Pup Patrol]

I can see how someone would leave money, in order to fulfill the "trade up or trade even" philosophy.

 

Makes more sense to me than leaving a dirty golf ball or broken golf tee or expired ski-lift tickets.

 

Lots of folks around here leave a loonie or twoonie for a "FTF prize".

[Andronicus]

I live in Canada. For some reason I am not quite sure of, I carry around a US $1 bill in my wallet. I have done it for several years. A few months ago, I found a nice new crisp US $1 bill in a cache, so I traded it out for my old beaten up one. I think technicaly that is an even trade, right?

[+cadtenchy]

in here in UK as a hiker I would carry coins to use a phone box. (still do though I notice most of them don't take money now incase they are burgled...) but as a result, if I saw a couple of 20pence coins or even a £1 coin I would have assumed it was emergency call coin swag.

I guess quarters in the US could be the same?

 

However I agree foreign coins are much more interesting.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Sometimes when I visit caches, I see 1 dollar bills, or a few regular quarters in them. Why do cachers feel the need to drop in money? I think it's a bit tacky. But I am not one to complain - when I do see money, I consider it a gift for me to go buy myself a slurpee. Seriously, how is money considered a token of trading objects in the cache? I doubt people would take that dollar bill and use it to trade it for another object in a different cache. Isn't this lazy - dropping in quarters and dollar bills? Now if someone would drop a hundred dollar bill..

 

I have left a commemorative quarter. But I never take money (I'm not a coin collector). I consider that regular currency should be left for children. I imagine that they would love to put 50 cents in their piggy bank or use the money for a bit of candy. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, do kids even have piggy banks anymore?

Yes, they do.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Here it's not uncommon for the owner to put a dollar bill on which he/she has written FTF and his/her name in a new cache. When I get FTF on one of those, I take the bill and add it to my collection.

 

On the other side of the coin, I have one cache out now that I put $5 in for the FTF. .

 

For the first geocache that I placed I put in a $5 US bill for FTF...and a $5 Canadian bill for second to find.

[+Sky King 36]

Makes more sense to me than leaving a dirty golf ball or broken golf tee or expired ski-lift tickets.

 

Veering off-topic, but waddup wif dat??? Man, some of the crap I have found in caches... Last year I found someone's used boarding passes from an airline flight, with their full names on them.

[Mr.Yuck]

I can see how someone would leave money, in order to fulfill the "trade up or trade even" philosophy.

 

Makes more sense to me than leaving a dirty golf ball or broken golf tee or expired ski-lift tickets.

 

Lots of folks around here leave a loonie or twoonie for a "FTF prize".

 

Putting or trading "WheresGeorge" (or "WheresWilly" for our Canadian friends) in Geocaches used to be somewhat popular. This appears to be a relic from the olden days though, a victim of the micro explosion.

 

Yes, I have on a few occasions left money to fulfill the trade up or trade even philosophy.

 

I once found a $5 Bill in a cache in The Pocono Mountains. And it was not an FTF prize, it was left as a trade item by a newb a few cachers before me. I traded it for another $5 bill of course. If I can believe the logs, someone came along a month or so later, and traded fairly for it with swag.

[+JL_HSTRE]

A few local cachers leave a dollar bill or a few quarters in new caches as FTF prize.

 

I've seen little to no foreign currency in my area, but I'm sure some people really love to trade and collect it.

 

Where's George is another possibility, though I think it usually doubles as a FTF prize.

 

And of course the SWAG rule of "trade up or even". If you want some swag and have no swag on you, leaving money seems reasonable. Though it's also probably not a great idea as I'd think money is more likely than regular swag to be taken rather than traded, either by greed or inexperience.

[+Thrak]

A few local cachers leave a dollar bill or a few quarters in new caches as FTF prize.

 

I've seen little to no foreign currency in my area, but I'm sure some people really love to trade and collect it.

 

Where's George is another possibility, though I think it usually doubles as a FTF prize.

 

And of course the SWAG rule of "trade up or even". If you want some swag and have no swag on you, leaving money seems reasonable. Though it's also probably not a great idea as I'd think money is more likely than regular swag to be taken rather than traded, either by greed or inexperience.

 

I don't have a problem with money left in caches. If you want it then trade for it. If you don't want it then leave it alone. I'd MUCH rather see money left in a cache than the live ammo I've found in a couple of caches!

[+moose61]

I sometimes leave notes of 25 Rubli in a cache as my drop off swag. It is cheaper than regular paper. With the current exchange rate only $0.008 per note...

 

See this picture.

[+roziecakes]

I love finding $2 bills in caches.

[Andronicus]

For the first geocache that I placed I put in a $5 US bill for FTF...and a $5 Canadian bill for second to find.

If you did that now, you would have to switch the order around. $5 CND is worth about $5.10 USD now.

[+briansnat]

Wheresgeorge bills were very popular in this area in the early years of geocaching. I'd find a few caches and have enough cash to buy lunch at the end of the day.

 

I see nothing wrong with money in caches. Collectible or foreign money is way cool. And what's it to me if someone drops in a buck or two.

 

In fact when I went to California some years back I didn't want to carry a swag bag on the plane with me so I registered 50 singles on Wheresgeorge and if saw something I wanted to trade for I'd leave a George or two or three depending on my perceived value of the item.

[Andronicus]

Wheresgeorge bills were very popular in this area in the early years of geocaching. I'd find a few caches and have enough cash to buy lunch at the end of the day.

 

I see nothing wrong with money in caches. Collectible or foreign money is way cool. And what's it to me if someone drops in a buck or two.

 

In fact when I went to California some years back I didn't want to carry a swag bag on the plane with me so I registered 50 singles on Wheresgeorge and if saw something I wanted to trade for I'd leave a George or two or three depending on my perceived value of the item.

I just bumped into $1 bill origami on the "Instructables" website. Some cool money origami would be cool.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Money-Origami/

[+Joe the Mailman]

I like finding Where's George bills in caches. I always do an even swap.

[+briansnat]

Wheresgeorge bills were very popular in this area in the early years of geocaching. I'd find a few caches and have enough cash to buy lunch at the end of the day.

 

I see nothing wrong with money in caches. Collectible or foreign money is way cool. And what's it to me if someone drops in a buck or two.

 

In fact when I went to California some years back I didn't want to carry a swag bag on the plane with me so I registered 50 singles on Wheresgeorge and if saw something I wanted to trade for I'd leave a George or two or three depending on my perceived value of the item.

I just bumped into $1 bill origami on the "Instructables" website. Some cool money origami would be cool.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Money-Origami/

 

I've seen that in caches too. It was pretty neat.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

For the first geocache that I placed I put in a $5 US bill for FTF...and a $5 Canadian bill for second to find.

If you did that now, you would have to switch the order around. $5 CND is worth about $5.10 USD now.

 

I've seen these for sale on a few internet sites. Apparently they're worth about $5 USD

 

[+GeoGeeBee]

For the first geocache that I placed I put in a $5 US bill for FTF...and a $5 Canadian bill for second to find.

If you did that now, you would have to switch the order around. $5 CND is worth about $5.10 USD now.

 

I've seen these for sale on a few internet sites. Apparently they're worth about $5 USD

 

Actually, they are worth just about nothing. But the time and effort it takes for someone to list it on ebay and mail it to you is worth about $5.

[+barra 103]

My kids get very excited when they see money in a cache and it doesn't matter how much or what type it is; money = treasure to them so even if you are just dropping nickles and dimes because that's all you have in your pocket, I imagine you are making some future cacher happy.

I agree, sometimes the treasure is in the eye of the beholder or in this case the cacher. Edited March 3, 2011 by barra 103

[+mithrril]

I don't mind money in caches, especially foreign currency. Neat coins are fun for anyone to collect and I don't think it's tacky to leave money in exchange for swag. If you want a piece of swag but don't have anything to exchange I think it's much better to leave a dollar or some shiny coins instead of just taking it and swapping nothing. I don't look at it as buying the swag. It's not a store or a donation box. You're just trading with money and if someone comes along and is interested in trading for that money, why not? I haven't left money in any of the few caches I've been to so far but I have seen American nickels, dimes, and quarters as well as money from other countries. I like to trade for the foreign coins though I'm not a collector.

[AZcachemeister]

One need only understand the true meaning of 'money' to realize this is a completely acceptable practice.

I don't think I've ever traded cash (other than foreign).

[+GrateBear]

I like to find foreign coins and will drop a US coin in exchange. A neat FTF prize from last year was a 1943 steel penny--in VG condition. And, while not in a cache, two Christmas's ago, on my way to Chicago, I found a $10 bill in a new wallet in the Tumi store in the Minneapolis airport. I asked the salesman if they all came with that prize, and he said for me to just take it as I found it. So I did

[+secondgunman]

two Christmas's ago, on my way to Chicago, I found a $10 bill in a new wallet in the Tumi store in the Minneapolis airport. I asked the salesman if they all came with that prize, and he said for me to just take it as I found it.

 

I have to take us off topic for a moment to ask.......did you check the rest of the wallets?

Edited March 4, 2011 by secondgunman

[+John in Valley Forge]

I like finding Where's George bills in caches. I always do an even swap.

 

I used to put my stamped Georges in caches, but they never got logged. I really figured that cachers would be more likely to log them, but no. I've seen people with them in their cache-souvenir books. I stopped wasting my bills that way.

[+skullsoup432]

two Christmas's ago, on my way to Chicago, I found a $10 bill in a new wallet in the Tumi store in the Minneapolis airport. I asked the salesman if they all came with that prize, and he said for me to just take it as I found it.

 

I have to take us off topic for a moment to ask.......did you check the rest of the wallets?

 

 

Hee Hee.

 

Hey, wouldn't that make a good urban legend? Start a rumour that a group of unknown people from all over the US are going to random Walmarts and placing different denominations in wallets and purses just to see how long it takes to find them.

 

 

I once left my swag bag in the other car, and left a few singles in trade. My girlfriend had found an "adorable" (her word) child's bracelet that she couldn't live with out. The type you would get in a gumball machine, so I didn't feel guilty about leaving cash.

[+power69]

Sometimes when I visit caches, I see 1 dollar bills, or a few regular quarters in them. Why do cachers feel the need to drop in money? I think it's a bit tacky. But I am not one to complain - when I do see money, I consider it a gift for me to go buy myself a slurpee. Seriously, how is money considered a token of trading objects in the cache? I doubt people would take that dollar bill and use it to trade it for another object in a different cache. Isn't this lazy - dropping in quarters and dollar bills? Now if someone would drop a hundred dollar bill..

If i take a trinket worth $5, i'll put in a five spot[i traded even!]

[+power69]

For the first geocache that I placed I put in a $5 US bill for FTF...and a $5 Canadian bill for second to find.

If you did that now, you would have to switch the order around. $5 CND is worth about $5.10 USD now.

 

I've seen these for sale on a few internet sites. Apparently they're worth about $5 USD

 

Actually, they are worth just about nothing. But the time and effort it takes for someone to list it on ebay and mail it to you is worth about $5.

it takes a wheelbarrow full of those to buy a loaf of bread there.

[+GrateBear]

two Christmas's ago, on my way to Chicago, I found a $10 bill in a new wallet in the Tumi store in the Minneapolis airport. I asked the salesman if they all came with that prize, and he said for me to just take it as I found it.

 

I have to take us off topic for a moment to ask.......did you check the rest of the wallets?

Yep, have to admit I did take a quick look in a couple more, but that was it. I considered it a small consolation prize for missing my 9 am connection and not getting on the next flight until 7:30 pm.

[sdarken]

Sometimes when I visit caches, I see 1 dollar bills, or a few regular quarters in them. Why do cachers feel the need to drop in money? I think it's a bit tacky. But I am not one to complain - when I do see money, I consider it a gift for me to go buy myself a slurpee.

 

The person that leaves money as a trade item is being a whole lot less tacky than the person that considers it a gift and takes it without trading. (I'm assuming you're being serious about that.) You've been playing the game a long time so I wonder why you dont consider it a valid trade item just because, once taken, it's not going to be returned to another cache. How often do you think that an item (that's not a TB/GC) is taken from one cache and put in a different cache?

 

When I started caching I would sometimes leave $20 in a cache that I had found as a milestone (eg: #500). I haven't done it for a while now.

 

I recently found that you could buy assortments of foreign banknotes online reasonably cheaply (30 for about $10). I put them in individual ziplock bags to protect them and use them as trade items. It seems like a lot better idea than the plastic dollar-store stuff I was leaving before.

[knowschad]

I can see how someone would leave money, in order to fulfill the "trade up or trade even" philosophy.

 

Makes more sense to me than leaving a dirty golf ball or broken golf tee or expired ski-lift tickets.

 

Lots of folks around here leave a loonie or twoonie for a "FTF prize".

 

That is called "buying", not "trading". I class it right there with the other things you mentioned. Coins (aside from special ones) in a cache are crass.