STOLEN COINS

[+EXMAN]

Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

[+Geominionsヅ]

Groundspeak is aware of theft of coins for coin collecting. There is nothing they can do. The best thing to do if you don't want a geocoin stolen is not send any out, or make proxies (copies of your own coin) and send them out instead.

[+EXMAN]

Groundspeak is aware of theft of coins for coin collecting. There is nothing they can do. The best thing to do if you don't want a geocoin stolen is not send any out, or make proxies (copies of your own coin) and send them out instead.

 

MY question was curiously asking if anyone has encountered someone in possession of, or trying to sell a stolen geocoin.

 

And is it kind of like an unwritten rule among you collectors to notify GS with the details.

[+kunarion]

There is nothing they can do.

Yes, it is now too late to do anything. There are a bunch of basic things GS can do, or that they should have, if Trackables were to remain a viable part of Geocaching.

[+kunarion]

MY question was curiously asking if anyone has encountered someone in possession of, or trying to sell a stolen geocoin.

 

And is it kind of like an unwritten rule among you collectors to notify GS with the details.

Do "valuable" Travel Bugs count? Because the theft, possession, and sale of those is fully documented, including notification of GS with the details. Guess if I'll bother to "notify Groundspeak" ever again.

[+EXMAN]

MY question was curiously asking if anyone has encountered someone in possession of, or trying to sell a stolen geocoin.

 

And is it kind of like an unwritten rule among you collectors to notify GS with the details.

Do "valuable" Travel Bugs count? Because the theft, possession, and sale of those is fully documented, including notification of GS with the details. Guess if I'll bother to "notify Groundspeak" ever again.

 

Moose Mob released a proxy of one of his geocoins from VERY early in the game.

I found it very interesting that there were A LOT of cachers 'watching' that coin, and within days of it's release a message came asking for specifics. I'm sure that some of the 'watchers' were part of the 'den of thieves' waiting in the wings for some 'fresh meat' to show it's face.

Edited June 4, 2013 by EXMAN

[+Droo]

Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Has anyone had coins stolen? The answer is yes... anyone who has released coins as travelers has suffered a high percentage of loss through theft, carelessness and muggleage.

 

But on the question of seeing the thieving happen, I'm not sure what that means. What have you seen?

[+Droo]

Moose Mob released a proxy of one of his geocoins from VERY early in the game.

I found it very interesting that there were A LOT of cachers 'watching' that coin, and within days of it's release a message came asking for specifics. I'm sure that some of the 'watchers' were part of the 'den of thieves' waiting in the wings for some 'fresh meat' to show it's face.

Why would a "den of thieves" watch a proxy coin to pounce on to steal? I don't understand that. There are many ways of searching for specific coins and hunting them down cache by cache, if that is what you're after. Why steal a proxy when you trade for or buy on the aftermarket the real deal?

[+EXMAN]

Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Has anyone had coins stolen? The answer is yes... anyone who has released coins as travelers has suffered a high percentage of loss through theft, carelessness and muggleage.

 

But on the question of seeing the thieving happen, I'm not sure what that means. What have you seen?

 

DROO...

 

you have to read the title of the thread.... then my question makes sense.

 

TITLE......STOLEN COINS

...........Do 'stolen' coins sometimes end up in peoples collections ?

 

My question....

...........Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

i'm wondering if this buying and selling of stolen geocoins is acceptable to the typical collector.

or looked down on and only happen behind closed doors.

[+EXMAN]

Moose Mob released a proxy of one of his geocoins from VERY early in the game.

I found it very interesting that there were A LOT of cachers 'watching' that coin, and within days of it's release a message came asking for specifics. I'm sure that some of the 'watchers' were part of the 'den of thieves' waiting in the wings for some 'fresh meat' to show it's face.

Why would a "den of thieves" watch a proxy coin to pounce on to steal? I don't understand that. There are many ways of searching for specific coins and hunting them down cache by cache, if that is what you're after. Why steal a proxy when you trade for or buy on the aftermarket the real deal?

 

I can't remember for certain, but i don't think that this coin was posted as being a proxy.

So the ears of this 'den of thieves' probably perked up pretty quickly when they thought that the 'real deal' was foolishly put back in circulation.

 

I don't collect OR steal geocoins.

I think that anyone that places one into circulation is foolish, but i also am sure that if there were not a market for stolen property, that there would be less theft going on.

Edited June 4, 2013 by EXMAN

[+Droo]

EXMAN EXMAN EXMAN... clearly you did not understand my question.

You said....

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

[/Quote]

And my question to you was what are you supposed to have seen? What specifics are you talking about? Or are you just talking about coin theft in general, in the abstract?

 

Putting assumptions aside what proof do you have that you want to report to Groundspeak? 'Coz there ain't no Geocoin Police.

Even with clear evidence of thievery all the Powers That Be can do is give the person a talking to and maybe ban them from the site. In turn if the thieves are having too much fun downloading cache coordinates and stealing geocoins they just need to renew under a different name and email address.

 

As others have said there is very little one can do except stop releasing coins, stop buying coins, stop collecting coins (the honest way) and eventually stop geocaching altogether. You can't change anyone else's behaviour.

[+scificollector]

 

I don't collect OR steal geocoins.

 

As a geocoin collector, I'm not sure how to take this statement. Its almost like you are saying there is a parallel between collecting and stealing. All my coins are legitimately purchased from geocoin vendors and other collectors. One of the things that I do when I purchase/trade for a coin from another collector is to check the status of the coin(Activated/unactivated) when I receive the coin. If the coin is activated, I then check the ownership of the geocoin. Is the owner the person that I purchased from/traded with? If not, then I check with the owner of record through geocaching.com and see if the coin was sold legimately (and ask for it to be adopted over to my account)or ask what they would like to do if the coin was "stolen" from cache/owner. Out of the hundreds of coins purchased and traded for, I have only had one case of a lost/stolen geocoin come into my possession. I contacted the seller who was unaware of the activated status of the coin as he was selling off a collection he purchased from someone getting out of the game and was told that all the coins were unactivated. The actual coin was a traveller that got mistakenly mixed in with the collection when the cacher decided he didn't want to play anymore. The seller checked through the rest of the geocoin collection he was selling to see if there were any others but that was the only instance of other people's coins mixed in. I then contacted the Owner of record of the geocoin to see what they wanted me to do with the coin and they were just happy that it was found. It was out of circulation for about 2 years and I was able to put it back into a cache for it to continue travelling.

 

I think that anyone that places one into circulation is foolish, but i also am sure that if there were not a market for stolen property, that there would be less theft going on.

 

Different people have different views on whether to release a geocoin into a cache or not. I have quite a large collection of coins and also several travelers that I enjoy seeing rack up the mileage and stories. Is it foolish to release a geocoin? I don't think so. They may disappear for a while but then again they may appear a few years later like the example above and continue their journey. I try to promote geocoins and geocoin collecting by having released coins out in caches for others to discover/move. I also tend to put unactivated coins into my caches as first to find prizes to promote geocoins that way as well. I personally think that most coins are not "stolen" in order to sell off on some "black market". There are too many knowledgeable collectors out there willing to report "hinky" behavior on most major markets that sell things(ebay, forums, etc.) for it to be a widespread practice to steal for resell. I think that most of the "lost/stolen" geocoins are the result of noobs, people not aware of geocoin etiquette, or people just who have quit playing the game.

[+EXMAN]

EXMAN EXMAN EXMAN... clearly you did not understand my question.

You said....

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

[/Quote]

And my question to you was what are you supposed to have seen? What specifics are you talking about? Or are you just talking about coin theft in general, in the abstract?

 

Putting assumptions aside what proof do you have that you want to report to Groundspeak? 'Coz there ain't no Geocoin Police.

Even with clear evidence of thievery all the Powers That Be can do is give the person a talking to and maybe ban them from the site. In turn if the thieves are having too much fun downloading cache coordinates and stealing geocoins they just need to renew under a different name and email address.

 

As others have said there is very little one can do except stop releasing coins, stop buying coins, stop collecting coins (the honest way) and eventually stop geocaching altogether. You can't change anyone else's behaviour.

 

I never said i saw anything (i haven't).

I was asking the the forum members... have you seen anything? and if you did, would you report it?

[+EXMAN]

 

I don't collect OR steal geocoins.

 

As a geocoin collector, I'm not sure how to take this statement. Its almost like you are saying there is a parallel between collecting and stealing. All my coins are legitimately purchased from geocoin vendors and other collectors. One of the things that I do when I purchase/trade for a coin from another collector is to check the status of the coin(Activated/unactivated) when I receive the coin. If the coin is activated, I then check the ownership of the geocoin. Is the owner the person that I purchased from/traded with? If not, then I check with the owner of record through geocaching.com and see if the coin was sold legimately (and ask for it to be adopted over to my account)or ask what they would like to do if the coin was "stolen" from cache/owner. Out of the hundreds of coins purchased and traded for, I have only had one case of a lost/stolen geocoin come into my possession. I contacted the seller who was unaware of the activated status of the coin as he was selling off a collection he purchased from someone getting out of the game and was told that all the coins were unactivated. The actual coin was a traveller that got mistakenly mixed in with the collection when the cacher decided he didn't want to play anymore. The seller checked through the rest of the geocoin collection he was selling to see if there were any others but that was the only instance of other people's coins mixed in. I then contacted the Owner of record of the geocoin to see what they wanted me to do with the coin and they were just happy that it was found. It was out of circulation for about 2 years and I was able to put it back into a cache for it to continue travelling.

 

I think that anyone that places one into circulation is foolish, but i also am sure that if there were not a market for stolen property, that there would be less theft going on.

 

Different people have different views on whether to release a geocoin into a cache or not. I have quite a large collection of coins and also several travelers that I enjoy seeing rack up the mileage and stories. Is it foolish to release a geocoin? I don't think so. They may disappear for a while but then again they may appear a few years later like the example above and continue their journey. I try to promote geocoins and geocoin collecting by having released coins out in caches for others to discover/move. I also tend to put unactivated coins into my caches as first to find prizes to promote geocoins that way as well. I personally think that most coins are not "stolen" in order to sell off on some "black market". There are too many knowledgeable collectors out there willing to report "hinky" behavior on most major markets that sell things(ebay, forums, etc.) for it to be a widespread practice to steal for resell. I think that most of the "lost/stolen" geocoins are the result of noobs, people not aware of geocoin etiquette, or people just who have quit playing the game.

 

the second part of your post was very informative and just the information i was looking for.

 

i wasn't acusing anyone of anything, just asking a question.

only after not receiving an answer did i make the comment about ' if there wasn't a market for stolen goods, then theft would be less common'.

Edited June 4, 2013 by EXMAN

[+Edisto Patto]

I have "lost" more geocoins than I care to admit...I have had to tell cachers that they can't keep the coins they find unless they are unactivated or mystery coins and are meant to be kept by the finder. Even after telling some people they need to move them to another cache---they still do not do so. So what's the solution...not to put the real coin out there unless you don't care if it disappears.

I have worked with the TB's at a number of Mega events and have seen some cachers trade specifically for geocoins and then they never get logged out of the events.POOF they're gone...no means for the owner to check who might have taken them. I refuse to put any more coins or tb's whether they are mine or someone else's into events to be traded and supposedly to be moved on. No matter what you do, there will be some number of people who make their own rules and don't think twice about keeping them. I think the "normal" loss of TBs at Mega events is about 15-20%...mostly coins. I now have a lot of my missing coins travelling again (thank you EXMAN) and it will be interesting to see if the proxies do any better at staying alive then the original coins did. Right now there are 5 of my proxy coins still logged into the GeoWoodstock event...here's hoping that they will eventually be put in another cache...Sorry for the rant but this is a very sore subject with me ..

Edited June 4, 2013 by Edisto Patto

[+ByronForestPreserve]

I get where you're coming from. I've never seen it, but would report it.

 

What I don't understand is what the point of stealing one would be...I honestly don't get it. You couldn't share it at events for people to discover...if you sold it, the person thinking they bought it for their collection would immediately see that it's been activated by someone else, as scificollector related...what--they just sit there and look at it? I bought a few coins that I meant to keep--"This one is way too pretty to send out"--but inevitably I put them in caches rather than have them sit in their container on a shelf...even the ones that I'm "no-really-definitely-keeping" that are in my inventory right now will probably all get dropped off by the end of the summer.

 

...Except that Stargate one that I got autographed at a convention.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

They do, but not always by design. I once saw a drilled coin in a collection at an event and asked about it. The collection belonged to a novice who had bought it and didn't know why it had a hole drilled in it. I explained why they're sometimes defaced and the collector was stunned. A couple emails later... it turned out the coin had been given away (and quite a few like it) to cachers long ago by the original owner and wasn't even activated. So luckily it wasn't stolen, but taking a moment to talk to the collector taught two lessons. For him, what to watch out for when accepting trades or buying coins and for me, not to make assumptions!

[+EXMAN]

I get where you're coming from. I've never seen it, but would report it.

 

What I don't understand is what the point of stealing one would be...I honestly don't get it. You couldn't share it at events for people to discover...if you sold it, the person thinking they bought it for their collection would immediately see that it's been activated by someone else, as scificollector related...what--they just sit there and look at it? I bought a few coins that I meant to keep--"This one is way too pretty to send out"--but inevitably I put them in caches rather than have them sit in their container on a shelf...even the ones that I'm "no-really-definitely-keeping" that are in my inventory right now will probably all get dropped off by the end of the summer.

 

...Except that Stargate one that I got autographed at a convention.

 

what's with the Stargate coin?

who signed it?

[+EXMAN]

They do, but not always by design. I once saw a drilled coin in a collection at an event and asked about it. The collection belonged to a novice who had bought it and didn't know why it had a hole drilled in it. I explained why they're sometimes defaced and the collector was stunned. A couple emails later... it turned out the coin had been given away (and quite a few like it) to cachers long ago by the original owner and wasn't even activated. So luckily it wasn't stolen, but taking a moment to talk to the collector taught two lessons. For him, what to watch out for when accepting trades or buying coins and for me, not to make assumptions!

 

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

[+EXMAN]

I get where you're coming from. I've never seen it, but would report it.

 

What I don't understand is what the point of stealing one would be...I honestly don't get it. You couldn't share it at events for people to discover...if you sold it, the person thinking they bought it for their collection would immediately see that it's been activated by someone else, as scificollector related...what--they just sit there and look at it? I bought a few coins that I meant to keep--"This one is way too pretty to send out"--but inevitably I put them in caches rather than have them sit in their container on a shelf...even the ones that I'm "no-really-definitely-keeping" that are in my inventory right now will probably all get dropped off by the end of the summer.

 

...Except that Stargate one that I got autographed at a convention.

 

what's with the Stargate coin?

who signed it?

 

Also, you're the first person to actually answer my question about whether it was a common practice to buy and sell stolen coins. I feel much better now, as i now DO believe that most collectors wouldn't have anything to do with a stolen coin.

[Hosscatt]

Are the 'pathtag' coins different from geocoins? From what I understand you can collect the pathtag ones, and ive never found a geocoin yet, so will I be able to tell the difference pretty easy? Don't want to accidentally hang on to one.

[+NoNameYet202]

On this topic, I've heard the following story from an event I attended.

 

At said event, there were two people, a person who owned the coin, and the person who had taken it and kept it.

 

The coin's owner politely went up to the collector, and asked if she could release the coin.

 

The Collector said, and I quote "I'm not doing no such thing. I like the coin, and I'm going to keep it!"

 

In my eyes this is clearly theft of property. I know people who subscribe to the theory that a coin released into a cache becomes the collective property of all cachers, but I disagree. I feel that a coin, released or not, still belongs to whoever it says owns it on GC.com. But it's attitudes like this and the general fact that if you release a coin, there is a 90% chance of you never seeing it again that make me keep mine in a book that I take from event to event to share.

[Pup Patrol]

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

 

Where do you get off defacing someone else's property?

 

That's just as bad as stealing them.

 

You make the assumption that defacing a coin is a deterrent, where do you have the proof of that?

 

Unbelievable. You should be reported to Groundspeak, for constantly interfering in what is none of your business.

 

Unless it's YOUR coin or trackable, leave it alone, just move it to another cache, and stop trying to control things you can't control.

 

 

 

B.

[+kunarion]

At said event, there were two people, a person who owned the coin, and the person who had taken it and kept it.

 

The coin's owner politely went up to the collector, and asked if she could release the coin.

 

The Collector said, and I quote "I'm not doing no such thing. I like the coin, and I'm going to keep it!"

Yikes!

 

It kinda puts a damper on an Event when there's an announcement "Two of the coins that were on the "Discover Only" table are missing. Did somebody pick them up?"

 

At one Event, a book of coins was passed around, and arrived back at the Owner with a coin slot vacant.

[+kunarion]

Are the 'pathtag' coins different from geocoins? From what I understand you can collect the pathtag ones, and ive never found a geocoin yet, so will I be able to tell the difference pretty easy? Don't want to accidentally hang on to one.

Pathtags are the size of a nickel, have a hole at one edge, a design on one side, and on the reverse have a "Log this tag at Pathtags.com" with a number. Geocoins are various sizes and shapes, tend to have "track at geocaching.com" or "track at Groundspeak.com", and tend to have a Tracking Number that consists of letters and numbers. That number may be difficult to find on the coin.

 

If you are "collecting" anything from a cache, it's a very good idea to log what you take. Items that are not Official Geocaching Trackables (Geocoins or Travel Bugs) are said to be Swag that you may keep. But if any item says to move it along and NOT keep it, it would be really rotten of people to keep that. I would say that removing value from the game by taking anything out for personal gain, is not what Geocaching is about. But that's just me.

 

Cachers do seem to hang onto Pathtags, and other non-Trackables (OK, and everything else ). If you take anything that is especially valuable to you, add especially valuable items in trade. If an item is "worth a dollar" (the quote that Pathtags are 'worth a dollar' floats around here frequently), then by definition you'd trade it to someone for a dollar on request. Whatever, the idea is to have the nice things in the game by protecting them within the game, or at least replacing them with other nice things.

Edited June 5, 2013 by kunarion

[+Landsharkz]

They do, but not always by design. I once saw a drilled coin in a collection at an event and asked about it. The collection belonged to a novice who had bought it and didn't know why it had a hole drilled in it. I explained why they're sometimes defaced and the collector was stunned. A couple emails later... it turned out the coin had been given away (and quite a few like it) to cachers long ago by the original owner and wasn't even activated. So luckily it wasn't stolen, but taking a moment to talk to the collector taught two lessons. For him, what to watch out for when accepting trades or buying coins and for me, not to make assumptions!

 

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

 

The way you've worded this post makes it sound like you haven't contacted the owner of the trackable to ask if they agree with your way of thinking and if they'd like you to drill their coin to devalue it or deface it. If you have drilled a hole in a coin that you've retrieved from a cache (and that coin wasn't yours) and you didn't specifically ask the coin owner permission, then you are mutilating their traveller NOT providing a 'service'. There's some pretty shady stuff that goes on in the world that people justify by using words like 'service' and 'favour' and in reality its the dead opposite.

 

Make note EXMAN, you're not doing us any favours by drilling the coins we have travelling and I'd like to specifically ask you to respect that if you move a LANDSHARKZ owned trackable, we want our coins to stay in the same condition as when we released them. You can give it a cleaning, freshen up the coin pvc pouch, replace the 'Goals and Mission'... but please keep your power tools away from it.

 

We have hundreds of travellers and it's a risk we're willing to take to add to the enjoyment of the game. If we lose 10%, we're ok with that. We give energy to the 90% that are out there doing their job bring smiles to the people who find them.

 

/Helen (Mrs Landsharkz)

[+Edisto Patto]

Hosscatt...I sent you a PM..

 

I had one newbie cacher post in his log about finding one of my Unknown Soldier coins and that he was going to give it to his father as a keepsake..

I politely wrote and told him that he could not do that or it would be stealing it since the coin belonged to me. I told him where he could purchase one if he really wanted to have one.

Despite sending a number of messages, the coin never was placed in another cache...lesson learned.

I know there are new cachers out there who don't know exactly what to do with coins or other trackables but once they are told...shame on them for not playing by the rules because they know there will not be any penalty for not doing so.

[+kunarion]

Unless it's YOUR coin or trackable, leave it alone, just move it to another cache, and stop trying to control things you can't control.

+1

 

I sent some coins in various ways. One is just the coin, nothing else, "going commando" . It's currently my most lively coin. If someone decided unilaterally to "fix that" by changing anything, putting it on a ziplock, adding printouts or whatever, they might have changed things for the worse. I'd prefer to see it travel as I sent it.

Edited June 5, 2013 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

they know there will not be any penalty for not doing so.

Yes there is. There's always a penalty for making others miserable. That's why it's not advisable to do.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

 

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

 

Please do NOT continue this practice. The coin is not yours and you shouldn't be making that decision based on what *you* think is best for the coin. If the owner wanted it drilled they likely would have drilled it themselves.

 

Coins and TBs are meant to be picked up and moved to another cache. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Thank you.

[+Edisto Patto]

Yes, Karma can be a B--ch :D

[+Eartha]

They do, but not always by design. I once saw a drilled coin in a collection at an event and asked about it. The collection belonged to a novice who had bought it and didn't know why it had a hole drilled in it. I explained why they're sometimes defaced and the collector was stunned. A couple emails later... it turned out the coin had been given away (and quite a few like it) to cachers long ago by the original owner and wasn't even activated. So luckily it wasn't stolen, but taking a moment to talk to the collector taught two lessons. For him, what to watch out for when accepting trades or buying coins and for me, not to make assumptions!

 

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

 

I am calling you a bad man. Please cease and desist the practice of defacing a coin that does not belong to you!!! No one is supposed to make any alterations to any trackable coin or travel bug, and this even includes adding a plastic baggie to it, without the permission of the owner. Do not do this again! And if I were the owner, I would hope that you would be able to replace the coin you damaged. Seriously, don't do it.

[+Landsharkz]

Hosscatt...I sent you a PM..

 

I had one newbie cacher post in his log about finding one of my Unknown Soldier coins and that he was going to give it to his father as a keepsake..

I politely wrote and told him that he could not do that or it would be stealing it since the coin belonged to me. I told him where he could purchase one if he really wanted to have one.

Despite sending a number of messages, the coin never was placed in another cache...lesson learned.

I know there are new cachers out there who don't know exactly what to do with coins or other trackables but once they are told...shame on them for not playing by the rules because they know there will not be any penalty for not doing so.

 

Some companies that sell coins package them with coin cards that help to educate finders (especially newbies) and keep travellers moving.

 

This is what's printed on a coin card accompanying a coin that is on my desk...

 

The company's logo, then the following text:

 

" This geocoin belongs to: _______________ Please keep this coin moving! Track on geocaching.com"

 

If you buy coins from companies that don't have this sort of message on their coin card, consider writing a note and putting it in the PVC pouch with the coin to alert finders that it has an owner and is supposed to keep moving.

[Hosscatt]

Ok thanks everyone. The first pt I found had a note saying it was ok to keep, the second didn't say anything, so I wanted to be sure those were ok. Don't want to hang on to something that is supposed to be moved. Ive done two travelers so far, but have yet to find a geocoin, ill keep my eyes open ^^

[+EXMAN]

I wrote my "BAD MAN" note to see what kind of response i'd get.

it's not what i expected, but still predictable.

 

i don't deface coins.

[+Six Little Spookies]

They do, but not always by design. I once saw a drilled coin in a collection at an event and asked about it. The collection belonged to a novice who had bought it and didn't know why it had a hole drilled in it. I explained why they're sometimes defaced and the collector was stunned. A couple emails later... it turned out the coin had been given away (and quite a few like it) to cachers long ago by the original owner and wasn't even activated. So luckily it wasn't stolen, but taking a moment to talk to the collector taught two lessons. For him, what to watch out for when accepting trades or buying coins and for me, not to make assumptions!

 

Call me a BAD MAN if you'd like, but i've actually drilled a hole in a coin that i retrieved.

 

I'm betting that the coin owner would prefer that their coin would continue to travel rather than being stolen,

so my argument was that i provided the coin owner a service by making their coin less attractive to thieves.

I'm betting that the coin owner was unaware of this practice, or they would have done it themselves.

 

I am calling you a bad man. Please cease and desist the practice of defacing a coin that does not belong to you!!! No one is supposed to make any alterations to any trackable coin or travel bug, and this even includes adding a plastic baggie to it, without the permission of the owner. Do not do this again! And if I were the owner, I would hope that you would be able to replace the coin you damaged. Seriously, don't do it.

 

+1 to Eartha's comment.

 

I have a number of travelers that I send out with the intention of getting them back when their missions are through. (This has actually been successful a few times!)

 

And while I am always glad when they do make it back, I would be very disappointed to find one had been defaced in its travels.

[Pup Patrol]

I wrote my "BAD MAN" note to see what kind of response i'd get.

it's not what i expected, but still predictable.

 

i don't deface coins.

 

That's called "trolling".

 

Not recommended if you want to be taken seriously.

 

What responses did you expect to see when you announce that you defaced another person's coin?

 

My advice still stands...stop trying to control things you can't control.

 

B.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Pup Patrol

[+EXMAN]

Hosscatt...I sent you a PM..

 

I had one newbie cacher post in his log about finding one of my Unknown Soldier coins and that he was going to give it to his father as a keepsake..

I politely wrote and told him that he could not do that or it would be stealing it since the coin belonged to me. I told him where he could purchase one if he really wanted to have one.

Despite sending a number of messages, the coin never was placed in another cache...lesson learned.

I know there are new cachers out there who don't know exactly what to do with coins or other trackables but once they are told...shame on them for not playing by the rules because they know there will not be any penalty for not doing so.

 

Some companies that sell coins package them with coin cards that help to educate finders (especially newbies) and keep travellers moving.

 

This is what's printed on a coin card accompanying a coin that is on my desk...

 

The company's logo, then the following text:

 

" This geocoin belongs to: _______________ Please keep this coin moving! Track on geocaching.com"

 

If you buy coins from companies that don't have this sort of message on their coin card, consider writing a note and putting it in the PVC pouch with the coin to alert finders that it has an owner and is supposed to keep moving.

[+EXMAN]

I wrote my "BAD MAN" note to see what kind of response i'd get.

it's not what i expected, but still predictable.

 

i don't deface coins.

 

That's called "trolling".

 

Not recommended if you want to be taken seriously.

 

What responses did you expect to see when you announce that you defaced another person's coin?

 

My advice still stands...stop trying to control things you can't control.

 

B.

 

sorry ... didn't realize it was wrong ... won't happen again.

Edited June 5, 2013 by EXMAN

[+RedjackRyan]

Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

 

Have I experienced this? Yes I have.

 

 

This is a picture of two "geocoins" that were at a travel bug hotel in Plainfield, IN. It seems many geocoins that pass through it end up like this. One of them used to be my own geocoin, which even had a hole drilled through it for one of those "geocoin-buddy" tags attached by a chain. Obviously it didn't stop the despicable person from stealing it. I would love to see the hotel owners' coin collection.. but since I have no proof of who it is, all I can do is continue to remind people not to leave geocoins at that particular TB hotel. If I see geocoins around the Indy area, I try to move them away so they don't meet the same fate.

[+ByronForestPreserve]

Has anyone ever experienced this?

 

Would you report it to Groundspeak if you saw it happening?

 

Have I experienced this? Yes I have.

 

This is a picture of two "geocoins" that were at a travel bug hotel in Plainfield, IN. It seems many geocoins that pass through it end up like this. One of them used to be my own geocoin, which even had a hole drilled through it for one of those "geocoin-buddy" tags attached by a chain. Obviously it didn't stop the despicable person from stealing it. I would love to see the hotel owners' coin collection.. but since I have no proof of who it is, all I can do is continue to remind people not to leave geocoins at that particular TB hotel. If I see geocoins around the Indy area, I try to move them away so they don't meet the same fate.

 

Whaaaaat??? That's totally crazy. Haven't heard of that practice yet, thank goodness.

[+ByronForestPreserve]

I get where you're coming from. I've never seen it, but would report it.

 

What I don't understand is what the point of stealing one would be...I honestly don't get it. You couldn't share it at events for people to discover...if you sold it, the person thinking they bought it for their collection would immediately see that it's been activated by someone else, as scificollector related...what--they just sit there and look at it? I bought a few coins that I meant to keep--"This one is way too pretty to send out"--but inevitably I put them in caches rather than have them sit in their container on a shelf...even the ones that I'm "no-really-definitely-keeping" that are in my inventory right now will probably all get dropped off by the end of the summer.

 

...Except that Stargate one that I got autographed at a convention.

 

what's with the Stargate coin?

who signed it?

 

I have a couple of the Stargate coins that are blue on one side, and had one signed by Joe Flanigan (John Sheppard on Atlantis). I might have another signed by Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter) this time around. I took my own industrial permanent sharpie, and the signature has held up well.

[+NoNameYet202]

Yikes!

 

It kinda puts a damper on an Event when there's an announcement "Two of the coins that were on the "Discover Only" table are missing. Did somebody pick them up?"

 

At one Event, a book of coins was passed around, and arrived back at the Owner with a coin slot vacant.

 

Kunarion, Surely this wasn't my book, was it? I don't think anything has gone missing from it.

[+ArtieD]

I wrote my "BAD MAN" note to see what kind of response i'd get.

it's not what i expected, but still predictable.

 

i don't deface coins.

 

Nice way to backpedal there.

[+kunarion]

Kunarion, Surely this wasn't my book, was it? I don't think anything has gone missing from it.

It was a story relayed by the book owner, explaining why she keeps a very close eye on her coin book.

Edited June 20, 2013 by kunarion

[Dark Lord Ganondorf]

I really dislike those fools who steal Geocoins and put them in "collections" full of coins.

In my opinion, something isn't a collection unless it's legit, has nothing stolen inside, and was earned honestly.

That way, you shouldn't have geocoin collections with other people's coins inside.