Activated vs Unactivated Geocoin?

[+FindersGirl]

Hi Everyone,

 

I have several questions about geocoins that I have not found the answer to. I'm fairly new and trying to take on a new aspect of the game as I already mastered travel bugs. Lately I have purchased several trackable geocoins. I am unsure if I will put them in a cache or collect them at this point. I understand if I choose to put them in a cache I have to activate them. However, do people activate the geocoins they collect? I see where people are selling them "activated" and "unactivated". Why is that? Are there pro/cons to activating the geocoins you collect?

 

Thanks!

[+Droo]

A secondary delight in collecting geocoins is the icons that comes along with them. To add to your icons hoard you must activate. Should you sell you lose the icon in the owner's column but add it to the other with it's discovery. BTW, selling an activated geocoin requires an adoption so ownership is transferred in the tracking system.

[+drneal]

if you plan to allow others to discover your coins at geogatherings, you will need to activate your coins. be aware that activating your coin decreases it's sellable value by about 1/2. I took a quick peek, and I have 2945 activated geocoins...more than some, less than others. i have enjoyed showing them at large and small gatherings, giving me the opportunity to meet many geocachers that I would most likely have never had the opportunity to have met otherwise. trading unactivated and activated geocoins has also allowed me to chat with and meet people from all over the world...a common interest in geocoins is how I also met my girlfriend, imoutnabout (girlfriends are almost people too, aren't they?)

 

just trying to give some of the pros and cons of activating your geocoins !

 

ILYK

 

ILYL

[+ElliPirelli]

Most coiners don't have a collection like drneal, (whom I still like to meet and have a look at his coins...), but it depends on what you wish to do with your coins.

 

If you want to share them with others, show them around at events, than activating is necessary.

If you just want to keep them for yourself you don't need to activate them, as they loose value.

Sending trackables out to travel means letting go of them. Don't send anything out, you can't bear to loose. There are some less expensive travel tags and TBs, which are less likely to go missing.

 

Trading is usually done with non activated coins, and you should always let the trading partner know, if a coin is activated. They might not be interested in a trade.

 

I had someone asking for a certain coin, I offered a trade, thinking I could just add the traded coin into my traders box, as I didn't fancy it, but it was activated. So now I can't trade it.

 

 

 

edited for a typo. Again...

Edited February 17, 2014 by ElliPirelli

[+SirDonB]

I am glad to have followed the curious cat into this thread... You all have taught me something. I thought that once you had the coin in hand, you were to activate it. I was unaware of the loss in value from unactivated to activated. As I gather more coins for my horde, I will have to keep this in mind.

 

Is there anyway or anywhere that someone can research the value of a particular coin or set of coins? I have collected many different cards over the years and complete sets were always worth a little more than all but a few cards of that set sold seperatly.

 

Seeing as there are buyers, sellers, and collectors for almost anything, one would logicly conclude that geocoins are no different and that there should be somewhere to find a listing of coins and their average market value, both activated and not.

Edited February 18, 2014 by SirBowen

[+ElliPirelli]

 

Is there anyway or anywhere that someone can research the value of a particular coin or set of coins? I have collected many different cards over the years and complete sets were always worth a little more than all but a few cards of that set sold seperatly.

 

Seeing as there are buyers, sellers, and collectors for almost anything, one would logicly conclude that geocoins are no different and that there should be somewhere to find a listing of coins and their average market value, both activated and not.

I'd start with eBay to do the research.

The value depends on the market, is there someone willing to spend a lot of money or not.

 

Sometimes I get coins through eBay, which I treasure for one reson or other and are willing to pay for.

Sometimes there are coins sold for an obscenely high amount, that I wonder about the sanity of the buyer.

So in the end it's as it always is, you get what the buyer is willing to give. That might be a lot or much less, than you'd hoped for.

 

A friend of mine told me about an facebook auction, where someone offered an activated coin. He bade (bid?) on it the amount he was willing to pay for an activated coin. The seller wrote him an offensive letter, as to what he was thinking about, he should put a serious bid forward, not a joke.

Excuse me, it was an activated coin and my friend offered, what he would give. Obviously the seller expected much more of this coin and put to much value in it.

I don't know, what came of that story, but it told me that some are placing quite high expectations on the value of their collection. But in the end, it's only worth, what someone is willing to give to you.

And for me an activated coin isn't as atractive as an unactivated.

 

Think of the difference between a new and an used car...

[+Gustav129]

To me, activated vs inactivated doesn't matter. Infact, seeing a discovery history and travel logs makes them interesting. I've activated every single coin I get, and I travel with them to share with other geocachers.

 

As for value, I already have a hard time spending more than $15 for ANY geocoin.

Edited March 5, 2014 by gustav129