I'm new to this , when can I keep a geo coin

[+Holmbush Hogs]

I'm new to geo caching and I have found a couple off geo coins & moved them on to new caches, am I allowed to keep any or do I have to keep them circulating ?

They are obviously collectable.

[+Eartha]

You may keep a geocoin if it falls into one of the following categories:

You bought it.

You traded for it with another cacher.

Someone left it in a cache, unactivated, as swag. For this you should trade even, trade up, or don't trade at all when you are exchanging swag with the cache.

You won it at an event.

You won it in a geocoin forum cointest.

Someone gave it to you as a gift.

 

Any activated geocoin, or any trackable item for that matter, that has a page set up, and a mission, should be moved cache to cache. Those are not for keeping. Once in a while, a new geocoin owner will not know about activating it, and will accidentally place it in a cache, and then it's hard to track down. Check previous logs to see who left it. Check the geocoin page for a goal. And don't post the tracking number in public places, use the reference number from the page.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Eartha

[+Eartha]

Also, see the link in my signature for the Groundspeak Knowledge Books.

[+Droo]

Also, see the link in my signature for the Groundspeak Knowledge Books.

Isn't there an easier way to get to the Geocaching Encyclopedia without having to find your signature? I mean there are so many new geocachers with the assumption geocoins are swag, that collections are built from finding coins in caches that it begs the question "why?" Why can't they find the information without having to come to the forums? Why is it so hard to find the Big Books? Just sayin'.

[+keewee]

Also, see the link in my signature for the Groundspeak Knowledge Books.

Isn't there an easier way to get to the Geocaching Encyclopedia without having to find your signature? I mean there are so many new geocachers with the assumption geocoins are swag, that collections are built from finding coins in caches that it begs the question "why?" Why can't they find the information without having to come to the forums? Why is it so hard to find the Big Books? Just sayin'.

 

I totally agree. It seems no one actually reads anything before they start out these days so we should put the information where they can get to it as easily as possible, and make them read it somehow.

 

That is part of the reason why I've started writing my own help documents for geocoins (see here and here, or the links in my forum signature) as a source for newbies to go to get the basic information - as we seem to be answering the same question on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis.

Edited March 27, 2011 by keewee

[+Jackalgirl]

Eartha is, as always, spot on. But I'd like to pass on a word of caution about trading: if you trade a geocoin for another geocoin and either you or your trading partner intend to keep your coin(s), make sure that the geocoins are both UNACTIVATED.

 

In other words, don't buy a coin, trade it for an activated geocoin, and then keep the activated geocoin (and don't trade an activated geocoin you got out of a cache for an unactivated "keeper").

 

If the person who's offering you a coin in trade (or as a gift) isn't sure whether the coin is activated or not, have him/her check by going to www.geocaching.com/track/ and entering in the coin's tracking number there. If it doesn't come back as activated, it should be good.

 

Tho, another word of caution about that: the tracking codes on geocoins are usually really darn small. It's easy to confuse 8 with B, 1 with I, 0 with O, 5 with S, etc. So it's a very good idea, if you're not sure whether a coin is activated or not, to check the tracking number very carefully, especially if it has some of those "problem numbers/letters" in its code.

 

I hope this helps! Welcome to the addiction. > : )

[+Eartha]

Also, see the link in my signature for the Groundspeak Knowledge Books.

Isn't there an easier way to get to the Geocaching Encyclopedia without having to find your signature? I mean there are so many new geocachers with the assumption geocoins are swag, that collections are built from finding coins in caches that it begs the question "why?" Why can't they find the information without having to come to the forums? Why is it so hard to find the Big Books? Just sayin'.

 

Most of the necessary links are all on the www.geocaching.com home page, including the link to the Knowledge Books, which is the bottom of the page. Googling 'Groundspeak Knowledge Books' will also bring it up quickly, of course. From there, visit the Table of Contents.

[+Chokecherry]

When I first started I had no clue what knowledge book even stood for. It was part of the geocaching vernacular and I was looking for something right by hide and seek a cache on the bar that said "instructions/guidelines." Took a lot of digging to find the knowledgebook and then figure out what it meant and to this day I have never gone to it from the front page since I never make it down to the bottom of the page to find those buried links.

[+Ruud4d]

This has gone into a whole other discusion I might like to add my (nicked ) idea. Why don't you send someone an e-mail with the necessary information/links?

Actualy the guys at the Dutch geocaching foundation are working on this. When people register to the fora, they will get an e-mail with a pamflet containing the first needed information about geocaching, including trackables.