Geocoin activating collection coins or not?

[+T!mberwolf]

I am new to geocaching. I have seen some really nice geocoins on various sites and decided to dip my foot into geocoin collecting. I have purchased 7 or 8 at this point. I don't want to go hog wild, but collect a few geocoins here and there that interest me or have a special meaning to me. I do have a some questions. While I do believe I will keep these coins in MY collection, you never know what decisions will be made down the road. Should I activate these coins on geocaching.com and list them as a collectible or should I keep them unactivated? It sounds like if I do activate them and later decide pass them on to someone else, they can adopt them from me. Not sure what is the best way to handle this. Which leads me to my 2nd question: The coins I purchased came with slip of paper noting point of origin/vendor, i.e. coinsandpins etc., etc. I guess I go to these sites and put in the tracking # and this generates an activation code # to activate coins on geocaching.com, sooooooo.... if I decide not to activate coins while they sit in my collection, do I just go to the various sites for activation codes and keep this code# on a slip of paper with the coin? How long is this activation code good for?

Edited April 3, 2012 by T!mberwolf

[+LadyBee4T]

Welcome to the forums and the addiction that we call geocoins! Yep it can be an addiction so be prepared. LOL

 

I don't know what will become to my collection down the road and right now I am selling some to pay some pretty big unexpected bills. I have found that the coins that are NOT activated bring in more money than the ones that are. Many people share their collections at events and activate them so that others can discover them and have the icons on their profile. I personally don't really care about the icons and only take a few of mine to events. In the end it's really what you want to do. But you can always activate them at any time but once activated they can't be unactivated......

 

Activation codes for a lot of the coins can get found on gc.com. The link is on the same page that you use to log a trackable. A few companies have them on their own site though. I have a lot of the activation codes for my coins on a spreadsheet but not all of them by any means. I pull the codes if I sell the coins for the new owner. I assume there isn't an expiration date for the code

[+Droo]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

[+varnapopcorn]

I have around 10 geocoins/ travelbugs which are all activated. However, I do not hold onto any of these and prefer them to travel around. Unfortunatley around 3 of them are now lost or have been muggled, so letting them move from cache to cache is not the best thing especially if you have paid alot.

 

With my other TB's which are still moving, I enjoy seeing where they are, it's great.

 

Happy caching

[+drneal]

i've activated a couple (2300?) but i enjoy letting my coins be discovered at various events...it give me the opportunity to trade and talk with a lot of people, something i enjoy doing, but don't get the opportunity to do otherwise.

 

ILYK

[+T!mberwolf]

Thanks for all the responses, helpful. With my coins, I don't think I'm interested in taking any of them places/events to be "discovered" by other cachers. I may share them for viewing, but I don't think I'm interested in activating them for the discovered entry/icon (of course I may change my mind; we will see). I have some patches & a key chain I've purchased for this purpose. I'm not sure the icons are a big deal to me. Have to look at more profiles to get a better idea of what these icons are about. I would really love to send some out into the wild and follow their adventures, but after reading posts in forum it seems a fair amount disappear for whatever reason. I think I would be terribly disappointed if a coin I really liked turned up missing, especially after a short run. I do think I will at least send out a couple coins, perhaps even a few, I purchase for that purpose. Test the waters. Right now, with the exception of one underwhelming coin, the ones I have obtained I would like to keep and don't want to part with. I know tastes change and so may mine.

[+drneal]

be sure to cover over the tracking number if you're going to let others view them.

 

there are quite a few icons if you look under the trackables in my profile...old coins and new.

 

welcome to the geocoin forum !

 

ILYK

[+keewee]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

 

Welcome to geocoins and the forums!

 

I can't agree more about Droo's point of creating a spreadsheet of coins and activation codes. I didn't when I started collecting and then a couple of years later I wanted to record that information. Something that would have taken only minutes when I first received the coins, took up top an hour per coin to chase down with some coins 2 years down the track. (Due to vendors no longer existing, or not knowing where a coin had come from in the first place)

 

Now it is a lot easier as Groundspeak list most codes.

 

If you do activate them, do not mark them as Collectable unless you want them to disappear in to someones collection really quickly.

Edited April 3, 2012 by keewee

[+T!mberwolf]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

 

Welcome to geocoins and the forums!

 

I can't agree more about Droo's point of creating a spreadsheet of coins and activation codes. I didn't when I started collecting and then a couple of years later I wanted to record that information. Something that would have taken only minutes when I first received the coins, took up top an hour per coin to chase down with some coins 2 years down the track. (Due to vendors no longer existing, or not knowing where a coin had come from in the first place)

 

Now it is a lot easier as Groundspeak list most codes.

 

If you do activate them, do not mark them as Collectable unless you want them to disappear in to someones collection really quickly.

 

What do you mean, do not mark as a collectible comment and disappearing?

[+T!mberwolf]

be sure to cover over the tracking number if you're going to let others view them.

 

there are quite a few icons if you look under the trackables in my profile...old coins and new.

 

welcome to the geocoin forum !

 

ILYK

 

Thanks! I took a look and now better understand the icons. About the tracking #, I suppose you mean if I show/let others view unactivated coins without hiding the #, someone can take the tracking # and activate/claim it themselves. I am aware of not showing trackable #s in photos because some people will log it, cheat or whatever they want to call it, logging miles the trackable did not actually travel. I'm careful not to show someone else's trackable in a photo without blurring # first.

[+T!mberwolf]

Thanks to all for info. everyone! I definitely will pull the activation code for each coin as I obtain them. I just wasn't sure how long the code would be valid if I pulled each right after coin arrives, but it sounds like it is a permanent # once obtained and not a temp #.

 

So far what I have done for each coin I have collected is to create a word doc containing the sales photo of coin, bio/coin info, specs, vendor, and price, etc. In essence, create a bio sheet on each coin. I was thinking of obtaining the activation code and then writing the # with tracking# on bottom of each sheet. I have created each bio sheet very quickly right when I place the order. Later I attach the sales receipt when the coin arrives. Already on this site, I have purchased coins and recently found the artists who designed them in this forum, so I put their info about coin etc. on the bio sheet too. Kinda cool to find out who designed the coins.

 

Thanks again; I am better informed now.

Edited April 4, 2012 by T!mberwolf

[+keewee]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

 

Welcome to geocoins and the forums!

 

I can't agree more about Droo's point of creating a spreadsheet of coins and activation codes. I didn't when I started collecting and then a couple of years later I wanted to record that information. Something that would have taken only minutes when I first received the coins, took up top an hour per coin to chase down with some coins 2 years down the track. (Due to vendors no longer existing, or not knowing where a coin had come from in the first place)

 

Now it is a lot easier as Groundspeak list most codes.

 

If you do activate them, do not mark them as Collectable unless you want them to disappear in to someones collection really quickly.

 

What do you mean, do not mark as a collectible comment and disappearing?

 

Marking a coin as Collectible (it is one of the options when setting up or editing your coins - Mark this Trackable collectible) tells people who pick it up out of a geocache that they are allowed to take it and keep it in their geocoin collection.

[+T!mberwolf]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

 

Welcome to geocoins and the forums!

 

I can't agree more about Droo's point of creating a spreadsheet of coins and activation codes. I didn't when I started collecting and then a couple of years later I wanted to record that information. Something that would have taken only minutes when I first received the coins, took up top an hour per coin to chase down with some coins 2 years down the track. (Due to vendors no longer existing, or not knowing where a coin had come from in the first place)

 

Now it is a lot easier as Groundspeak list most codes.

 

If you do activate them, do not mark them as Collectable unless you want them to disappear in to someones collection really quickly.

 

What do you mean, do not mark as a collectible comment and disappearing?

 

Marking a coin as Collectible (it is one of the options when setting up or editing your coins - Mark this Trackable collectible) tells people who pick it up out of a geocache that they are allowed to take it and keep it in their geocoin collection.

 

Hmmm... I bet this causes some confusion. Some may mistake what setting that option really means.

[+keewee]

Whether to activate of not is up to you and what you hope to get out of the activation. Do you want a list of icons on your Trackables Owned column, do you want to make your coins available to other cachers you may meet for discovery, would you want to release them into the wild to travel? Those are personal preferences.

 

However I think you should pull and start to keep the activation codes if you choose not to activate. A simple table is easy to generate in any word processing software..... Coin name, tracking number, Activation code, vendour, price and any other pertinent information you may wish to know a few years from now that will most certainly have escaped you by then. I would err on the side of caution as information available online today may not be when you want to seek it out.

 

Welcome to geocoins and the forums!

 

I can't agree more about Droo's point of creating a spreadsheet of coins and activation codes. I didn't when I started collecting and then a couple of years later I wanted to record that information. Something that would have taken only minutes when I first received the coins, took up top an hour per coin to chase down with some coins 2 years down the track. (Due to vendors no longer existing, or not knowing where a coin had come from in the first place)

 

Now it is a lot easier as Groundspeak list most codes.

 

If you do activate them, do not mark them as Collectable unless you want them to disappear in to someones collection really quickly.

 

What do you mean, do not mark as a collectible comment and disappearing?

 

Marking a coin as Collectible (it is one of the options when setting up or editing your coins - Mark this Trackable collectible) tells people who pick it up out of a geocache that they are allowed to take it and keep it in their geocoin collection.

 

Hmmm... I bet this causes some confusion. Some may mistake what setting that option really means.

 

You don't know the half of it! There are a whole heap of threads on this topic.

[+fuzziebear3]

I would like to point one thing out about getting the activation codes.

 

It is fine to do so, and keep it with the coin until eventually someone wants to activate it. But some of the sites that give the activation code will only give it out once. So if you lose it, and then you want it or you sell the coin, it is hard to get it again.

 

So just be sure to keep it securely with the coin