Should I activate my geocoins

[+guen0062]

I finally have bought my first geocoins and I have a rather dumb question. If you are just keeping your geocoins for collecting should you or do you need to get the activation codes for your coin. Or do you only do that if you are planning on using them in geocaches? Thanks a lot...

[+mpilchfamily]

Everyone does it there own way. Many collectors like to activate all there coins. Then take them to events to be discovered. Others keep them unactivated. I only activate ones i intend to send out in the world or use as a millage tracker. For now i only have one activated as a millage tracker. It goes with me as i cache and i have it visit the cache to build up miles and see the the pattern i create as its track criss crosses the map.

[+The Blorenges]

If you want to take them to events to show them to other geocachers so that they can 'discover' them and get the geocoin icons for their profiles you'll have to activate them.

 

If they are purely for your own enjoyment and you're not interested in having them logged then you might as well leave them unactivate.

 

MrsB

[+JackHoe]

I do activate all the coins I'm keeping in my collection, because I like the Icons too. And other cachers can discover them if the like. Sometimes people ask me to take coins to an event so they can discover them. As you activate the coin, it is of less value for selling or trading I think. You can choose what you prefer.

[+LadyBee4T]

I rarely activate mine because you just never know what the future will bring. (Actually I do have an idea. It will be a big bill for the major furnace repair last week ) Unactivated coins are much easier to trade and sell and will sell at a higher price than unactivated ones.

[+Six Little Spookies]

Activating them seems to lower their value for some reason. So if you are collecting them for their "value" then you should probably keep them unactivated. If, as other have said, you want to share them through discovery and such they probably should be activated.

 

I activate all mine. I like the icons and tracking and sharing them is such a big part of geocoins I don't see the point of keeping them unactivated. But it's your decision to make, and I don't think anyone will fault you whichever way you choose to go!

[RedShoesGirl]

I finally have bought my first geocoins and I have a rather dumb question. If you are just keeping your geocoins for collecting should you or do you need to get the activation codes for your coin. Or do you only do that if you are planning on using them in geocaches? Thanks a lot...

 

as one who recently had to start selling their collection i can absolutely attest to the fact that activated coins are less valuable that unactivated coins. doesn't make sense to me because a rare coin is a rare coin and should hold the same value activated or unactivated, but like others have said, you just never know. i have had to sell most of my collection twice, once to repair a dead car and then to replace that dead car. and that is still an ongoing process.

 

so even though you think you would never sell your collection, one really does never know. unless you are really big into events and perhaps sharing coins for discovery at events or you really like the icons, it doesn't really make sense to activate. comes down to that all important personal choice.

[+manu luq]

You can retrieve the activation codes, and activate them when you like, if you like.

[+Droo]

Activate or not is a personal preference.... I've done both so I can't recommend one way or the other. What I do recommend is collect and keep the activation codes - create a database, maybe a card file to start out with and jot down the tracking number, associate activation code and name of the coin maybe what you paid and who/where you bought it from and maybe even when. It may seem like a bunch of hooey right now but 100 coins down the line you'll have wished you had. Another concern is that if you don't pull your activation codes now you're counting on someone else to store them until you're ready and by the time you are they may be gone. Groundspeak has started a page to access activation codes but it's been causing fits for months so that's not reliable either.