The more things change...

[+Kealia]

Back from a recent vacation where we roadtripped for 7-states and some un-Godly amount of miles. Found a number of awesome caches (Earthcaches at Mt St Helens, a hike to the top of Multnomah Falls, virtuals in Glacier NP and some more Earthcaches in Yellowstone) and we dropped a number of coins along the way in a handful of traditional caches.

 

We still have some personal coins left and we like to leave them either in the first cache we've found in a new state and/or special caches. On this trip, I really liked a cache that is located near the old West entrance to Glacier NP. It's a beautiful spot with a bridge, big boulders and some history behind it. I toyed with jumping off the bridge, but I digress....

 

I left a personal coin in this cache along with a note explaining what it was. It's not trackable (gasp!) and was meant to be a trader.

 

Here is part of the log after mine:

"Took a coin and left a travel bug."

 

*sigh*

[+dprovan]

"Took a coin and left a travel bug."

It must have been quite some coin to get that much mention. I quit leaving stuff because no one ever mentioned anything, although it sounds like I wasn't leaving stuff as cool as your coin.

[+OshnDoc]

I would have left some nice words for your coin especially finding it in the wild. I found one of your caches a long time back but nothing like your coin in there "just a TB" maybe. Sounds like you had a great trip though.

[+AHGoodwin]

I am new so please don't kill me for being naive but I am not seeing the problem... You said you intended for it to be a trade item and someone took it and left something else (which is a trade). What am I missing?

[+The Leprechauns]

Travel bugs are not trade items, they are moving game pieces that are meant to travel from cache to cache.* A trade item is something that has value and can be traded for an item of like value. A personal geocoin from a veteran like Kealia is a valuable trade item. I would trade something like a Groundspeak trinket only available by visiting their office or meeting a lackey.

 

* The only exception would be an unactivated travel bug, which someone could trade for as an item of value (they can activate it).

 

So, the finder took a valuable coin and left nothing of value, just a moving gamepiece. The next finder is welcome to take the travel bug and leave nothing in its place.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

I've seen that quite a bit over the years and I even take the time to write a little note on the flip to let someone know they've found something different than the usual, but alas very little if any reaction these days. Ah well, the few times you get an explosive reaction make it worthwhile, but it is disappointing to get a "TFTC, took coin" response

[+OshnDoc]

I guess I simply had assumed that leaving something equal in trade, other then moving a travel bug, is, or I guess now was, normal behavior.

One of my old personal coins would have ended up as a trade item in that cache. I have left a quite a few of my coins in the wild and have been contacted afterwards by a few finders about them, but never knew whether something actually was exchanged for them. Several I left were most likely taken without a word.

I personally don't exchange swag in most cases, it is more fun finding the caches, and in a lot of times the swag items left in the cache consist of nearby rocks or other trash. A lot of the newer caches in our area are small containers with sometimes just a ripped piece of notepad paper as a log, not even the instructions any longer. The containers are flimsy and in a lot of cases not even water proof, so the logs are drenched after a couple of months.

It seems that the general approach to caching has changed over the last years making it a more quantity over quality approach to caching. I prefer quality, not only in cache placements, containers but also locations, and for my kids some large containers with proper swag in them as a "reward" for finding them to trade some of their items they had selected as trades for caches that actually had enough space in them to put something in in exchange.

I admit I have done my share of fast park and grab caches but that is all that can be done sometimes with small children, however, it is those caches that have some originality in container selection, hiding spot and location that make this sport still worth playing and will be remembered.

Those caches near dumpsters behind local fast food places are not in my eyes, they are rather revolting.

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I guess I am getting old and am just assuming that the old written and unwritten rules of this sport still are being followed for the love of this game..

[+TriciaG]

[snarkiness ahead; beware]

 

How is one supposed to know it's a special Geocoin? Does it have a note with it saying, "This is the Cadillac of Geocoins; please only exchange with a bar of gold or a pouch of uncut diamonds"? "This is meant to be a trader" means nothing to me.

 

Honestly, it seems there are so many hidden protocols and secret handshakes in Geocaching that one needs a university course to learn it all. Had I not been reading the forums, I would never know (until perhaps taking the Geocoin home and seeing what the website says about it) that a "trader" must mean something like, "This Geocoin is 9 stars out of 10. Only trade with other GC's of like value."

[+OshnDoc]

Well, in general if it looks like something special and not a bottle cap, trade something special or trade up. So if you find a geocoin in a cache, assume that it is special, and if you decide to take it, leave something special. In general these coins cost in today's world around $8-10 to make per each. If you decide to take the non-trackable geocoin leave something of equal value in the cache. If the coin has a tracking number on it, you can check on modern smart phones if it is activated or not. If it is not activated it was left as swag of some $10 value, if activated it is NOT swag. I don't see too many protocols, just simple caching rules and I guess pretty much normal behavior in this. One rule rules them all: Trade even or Trade up.

[snarkiness ahead; beware]

 

How is one supposed to know it's a special Geocoin? Does it have a note with it saying, "This is the Cadillac of Geocoins; please only exchange with a bar of gold or a pouch of uncut diamonds"? "This is meant to be a trader" means nothing to me.

 

Honestly, it seems there are so many hidden protocols and secret handshakes in Geocaching that one needs a university course to learn it all. Had I not been reading the forums, I would never know (until perhaps taking the Geocoin home and seeing what the website says about it) that a "trader" must mean something like, "This Geocoin is 9 stars out of 10. Only trade with other GC's of like value."

[+NOSNOW]

We have left many of our non-trackable personal geocoins in caches, there is a note in the flip with the coin that states this has been left as swag please trade up or trade even. I normally will watch the cache after we have left one. It is very rare that it is even mention. I remember once the next person made a comment the cache was fully stocked and they did not feel the need to add anything to it, so they just took the coin. Sometime I wonder why we do it, but on the occasion that we get a note, it makes it worthwhile.

[+Bartians]

I can't imagine too many cachers, maybe 1 in a 1000, are going to trade up or even with something valued at $10. I imagine most cachers seeing something so beautiful as I'm sure this coin is would not be able to pass on the opportunity to snatch such a find. There's no price sticker on it, so most uniformed won't be aware of the cost. Most people's SWAG bag consists of McDonald's toys or other SWAG from previous caches, none of which will have an equal or greater value than said coin. I'm amazed by cachers that put valuable personal coins/tags in a cache. To me it shows that they have an incredible love of the game and making others feel joy despite rarely getting anything in return. A nice log would certainly help to give the giver some satisfaction.

[+Kealia]

Thanks for the responses and discussions. When we do leave coins in caches - which I still do - I don't really expect to see a log that says "wow, I can't believe I found one of these and I swapped it for some unicorn dust". I guess it's just still a bit of a slap in the face when somebody does call out that they took it without trading equally, or in this case at all.

 

TriciaG - To your point: I don't look at my coins as the Caddy of coins by any means. I know there are some cachers that have been around since I have that would appreciate it, but to most it's likely "just another coin". BUT, it's a non-trackble coin that is left as SWAG. Clearly it's more valuable than an McToy and should be treated accordingly. We leave a note in the flip that says that this is NOT a trackable coin, is worth $5 - $10 and should be traded for accordingly. Even the newest cacher can read that and understand what it is.

 

I've also seen a lot of logs that say things like "I really liked this coin but didn't have anything to trade, but I couldn't resist and took it" (not just on my coins).

 

At the end of the day, I realize that I can't control what happens when I leave coins or send out travelers. It doesn't mean that I don't need to sometimes blow off steam about it, though

 

Most of the time I leave them in caches that take a lot of effort to get to, and I hope that the finders appreciate them for what they are. In other cases, I assume that I'm building up some cosmic karma and that it will come back to me in some fashion down the road.

 

Arne - it was a great trip and I loved every minute of it. We have so many amazing places here in America that I'll never tire of taking road trips to see them and picking up some caches along the way, too!

 

The good news is that I have hundreds of coins left over from previous runs that I still like to leave. I remember the first few times I found coins in caches and I want to provide that joy to others as well. At some point, I'm sure it all works out.

[+TriciaG]

Okay - with a note like that ("This is swag, not a trackable. It's valuable. Please leave something as valuable") even I would understand it.

 

Thanks for not flaming me for my post.