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New 5star Difficulty Coin - Finally!

fox-and-the-hound

By fox-and-the-hound
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fox-and-the-hound

+fox-and-the-hound

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In the summer of 2006 I designed one of my first few geocoins dedicated to 5 Star Terrain rated caches. I wanted to create a complimenting coin for the 5 Star Difficulty rated caches right away, but somehow just never got the chance. I never forgot though and last year began shuffling around ideas in the ol' thought-locker for how to approach the idea again. So much has changed since that early attempt in geocoin design. So much has changed in myself and the way I design, too. It was time to take a challenge in hand :)

 

While perusing some historical art texts last fall I ran across an image that would finally spur the idea into solid forward motion. The Devil himself carved in relief depicting him in repose as the master of strife. As beautiful as the carving was, the word "strife" was what really captured my attention. It comes from the ancient Germanic "estrif" which means to fight or struggle to overcome. The perfect word to describe the brain wracking battle to emerge through an exceptionally tough 5 star Difficulty rated cache with a successful find!

 

I started thinking about the motivation behind both the setting of and the search for the elusive 5 star Difficulty cache. The Devil has many tools to twist the mind and 5 different aspects emerged quickly in my thoughts. 1) Some of us suffer from the Temptation and can only ease the yearning by giving in to the challenge of the hunt. 2) Others succumb to the Pride of pitting ones wits against another to overcome the challenge and record their deeds for all to see. 3) For some Vanity can motivate someone to set a cache to test the mettle of the most fearless hunters. 4) Envy of another cacher's ability to set a truly evil cache can spur even the meekest cacher on a path to create a truly diabolical cache of their own. 5) Finally, Avarice is a powerful tool to compel a cacher to both find and hide every kind of cache from the simplest 1 star to the most heinous 5 star Difficulty cache ever hidden.

 

The devil delights in his tools of strife and the subsequent tears of rage and frustration spilled during the hunt of these elusive caches from failed attempts. I've heard people swear they would never even try one themselves while simultaneously drooling over stories of other's conquering tales of victory. The chance to pay back the Devil his due and spit in his eye as one stands over ground zero holding a 5 star aloft is a dream for many and a reality for the intrepid few. This coin celebrates the strife and trial of attempting to add the 5 Star Difficulty cache to your record of caching victories.

 

The face of this coin depicts bat winged and dragon tailed Lucifer in all his horrible glory with trident in hand looking down on the mortals who dare hold his effigy. His barbed serpentine tail wraps the entire border of the coin before winding back up onto his trident. Armored in scale mail armor, his image is filled in translucent IHEs and surrounded by a blood red pool of soft translucent enamel. That's right, BOTH hard and soft enamels on the same side of the coin!

 

The reverse of the coin displays the cache, the 5 stars of difficulty and his evil minions lording it over each of the 5 sins of strife. Each of the devils covets or hoards his subject of interest in a 5 point ring around the central cache. Also in BOTH soft and hard enamels, the barbs of the Devils tail wrap over the outer edge to border this side as well.

 

FireBothSides.jpg

 

Of course if you're a fan of Dante you know that hell is also frozen over in some places so we couldn't miss the opportunity to also create a "Hell's Frozen Over" version of this geocoin at the same time!

 

FrostBothSides.jpg

 

You can find both coins in shiny metals of Gold or Silver.

1.75" x 3.5mm thick

Dual Hard and Soft Enamels

Fire and Ice versions will be available soon at the geocoinstore website.

 

As always, thanks for the words of support and extremely generous advice from cachers everywhere. Of course a big thanks to the boys at geocoinstore for supporting these projects,too. They simply wouldn't happen without a lot of generosity from everyone. I owe you all my thanks! :)

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fox-and-the-hound

+fox-and-the-hound

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Awesome coin. 5 star rated caches are some of my favorites. I have Qualified for The 50/50 club with 81 D/5s and 55 T/5s. I just need some warmer weather to kayak to the final container. I will be looking to add these to my collection for sure.

 

That's outstanding!!! I've never heard of this, but that's the most insane thing I've heard in a long time - lol. :laughing:

 

I have some pics! It's a little hard to see the soft vs. hard enamels or the subtle metal elevation differences that change the color saturation (some areas have the same trans fill, but with different depths so they look like the shallow vs. deep end of a pool in color sat) but I'm lovin what I see so far. I think this is going to be one of those ones you have to examine in hand to see every little detail. :D

 

Firebothsides-1.jpg

 

icebothsides.jpg

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fox-and-the-hound

+fox-and-the-hound

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Oh, before I forget...

 

Thank you for all the emails, but I'm sorry to say No I don't have any of the terrain coins for sale. These were sold by the store back in '06 and have long since sold out. I hope to design a new 5 Star terrain coin in the near future utilizing what I've learned in the hundreds of completed designs since that early attempt though. :)

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power69

+power69

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Posted

Oh, before I forget...

 

Thank you for all the emails, but I'm sorry to say No I don't have any of the terrain coins for sale. These were sold by the store back in '06 and have long since sold out. I hope to design a new 5 Star terrain coin in the near future utilizing what I've learned in the hundreds of completed designs since that early attempt though. :)

Any chance these will be available on ebay buy it nows?

I think i remember seeing a few GCS horror stories here so i'd prefer a maybe "higher priced but i'm going to get my stuff" option.

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fox-and-the-hound

+fox-and-the-hound

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Oh, before I forget...

 

Thank you for all the emails, but I'm sorry to say No I don't have any of the terrain coins for sale. These were sold by the store back in '06 and have long since sold out. I hope to design a new 5 Star terrain coin in the near future utilizing what I've learned in the hundreds of completed designs since that early attempt though. :)

Any chance these will be available on ebay buy it nows?

I think i remember seeing a few GCS horror stories here so i'd prefer a maybe "higher priced but i'm going to get my stuff" option.

 

I remember a few stories myself, but never from GCS (there were a few from a similarly named company a couple years ago if that's what you're thinking of). Geocoinstore has a particularly good reputation for customer satisfaction which is why I like working with them. I'm not selling any at all, but some people may eventually list them on ebay I suppose.

Edited by fox-and-the-hound
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The Moop Along

+The Moop Along

Posted
Posted

Oh, before I forget...

 

Thank you for all the emails, but I'm sorry to say No I don't have any of the terrain coins for sale. These were sold by the store back in '06 and have long since sold out. I hope to design a new 5 Star terrain coin in the near future utilizing what I've learned in the hundreds of completed designs since that early attempt though. :)

Any chance these will be available on ebay buy it nows?

I think i remember seeing a few GCS horror stories here so i'd prefer a maybe "higher priced but i'm going to get my stuff" option.

 

I remember a few stories myself, but never from GCS (there were a few from a similarly named company a couple years ago if that's what you're thinking of). Geocoinstore has a particularly good reputation for customer satisfaction which is why I like working with them. I'm not selling any at all, but some people may eventually list them on ebay I suppose.

 

Mr -and-the-hound is correct, those horror stories were certainly not us ;) You've never seen a GeocoinStore "oops they stole my money and didn't deliver my coins" thread. Plus, I've had these in hand for about 3 weeks now, just haven't had a chance to list them. I can assure that when I can get Rusty off the couch or out of the bar, orders will be packaged directly. :rolleyes:

 

TMA

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The Moop Along

+The Moop Along

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And here are the links to purchase!

 

Purgatory Version

 

Hell's Frozen Over Version

 

Thanks!

 

TMA

Does this site ship to po boxes, offer usps priority mail and insurance?

 

Yes, we ship to PO boxes. If you want priority mail service and insurance, you can email us at the contact link on the store page. It's not required and we stand behind 100% of our shipments already, but my shipping center can get you a quote on it if you'd rather. If you're in the US, priority mail is no faster or better than first class mail for small light shipments, and just costs more.

 

TMA

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power69

+power69

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Posted

And here are the links to purchase!

 

Purgatory Version

 

Hell's Frozen Over Version

 

Thanks!

 

TMA

Does this site ship to po boxes, offer usps priority mail and insurance?

 

Yes, we ship to PO boxes. If you want priority mail service and insurance, you can email us at the contact link on the store page. It's not required and we stand behind 100% of our shipments already, but my shipping center can get you a quote on it if you'd rather. If you're in the US, priority mail is no faster or better than first class mail for small light shipments, and just costs more.

 

TMA

its not about being fast, its about NOT being smartpost which 1st class aka parcel post is.

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