Money in a Geocache

[+Fisher513]

So yesterday I took a a kid geocaching and he kept on saying he wanted to hide a cache with $20 in it for the ftf. That got me thinking, I wondered what was the most money someone ever put in a cache? I mean I only found like 1s and 5s in a cache but what about you what was the most money you've ever found in a cache?

[+AustinMN]

I've only found coins. I've never taken them. My understanding is, if you find cash in a cache, you are not under obligation to trade up.

 

I try to remember to leave $2 bills for FTF. They are sometimes called a "Tom", which is a common for of my real first name.

[+1Husky]

The most I've ever found was a $10 gift certificate to a local ice cream shop. Boy, were those milkshakes good after a long day of caching. $20 seems a little much to leave as an FTF prize unless it's a cache that will take quite a bit of work to get to but if more hiders were that generous I might be more active in going after FTFs.

[+niraD]

I've found (and left) foreign coins in a cache. And occasionally I've found US coins in a cache. Sometimes the US coins have been interesting (e.g., 1944 steel pennies left as personal signature items, or state quarters related to the cache's theme), but usually they look like they're just what someone had on hand.

 

But they've never been worth much money.

[JASTA 11]

We once left a $25 gift card for Bass Pro Shops. Other times a $5.00 card for Dunkin's. Left an Andrew Jackson once as an FTF as a prize on a difficult to get to cache.

 

Have never seen anything more than a few coins in a cache. Then again, it's exceptionally rare for us to be FTF.

[+Uncle Alaska]

I know of one cache where the FTF prize was a thousand dollars. It had a specific timeframe to claim the money (don't think that would fly now-a-days). Someone found it, then showed a picture of their "prize" later. It involved backpacking deep into the Inyo mtns and taking photos of a ghost town.

[+Path Pacer]

I found a $10 Subway card once as a FTF prize. I sometimes leave gold dollar coins. I imagine the kids like that; it looks like real treasure.

[+ArtieD]

I've found (and left) foreign coins in a cache. And occasionally I've found US coins in a cache. Sometimes the US coins have been interesting (e.g., 1944 steel pennies left as personal signature items, or state quarters related to the cache's theme), but usually they look like they're just what someone had on hand.

 

But they've never been worth much money.

 

If you have found those, you have really rare and valuable coins! I am assuming you meant 1943 cents.

[+niraD]

I've found (and left) foreign coins in a cache. And occasionally I've found US coins in a cache. Sometimes the US coins have been interesting (e.g., 1944 steel pennies left as personal signature items, or state quarters related to the cache's theme), but usually they look like they're just what someone had on hand.

 

But they've never been worth much money.

If you have found those, you have really rare and valuable coins! I am assuming you meant 1943 cents.

One source says they're worth about $0.45 in average condition, and another sells a roll of 50 circulated steel pennies for $7.50 ($0.15 each). I am not a coin collector, but that sounds about right for a personal signature item.

[+SwineFlew]

I know there was a $25 Gift Card to a Chinese restaurant. The FTFer hiked a VERY dangerous mountain at NIGHT to get that gift card! Something I wouldn't do at all. I been on the top of that mountain and its extremely hard. There is no trail and pretty easy to get lost up there, especially coming down since you can over shoot the trail on the bottom of the mountain. Some people just have to get that gift card at all cost!!

[+Alkhalikoi]

I had some old coins of my grandfathers - thought I had sorted out the good stuff and using the dregs for trade stuff - fun but mostly worth a buck or two. I had one coin with me and left it in a cache - and went back later and looked it up and realized it was probably worth about 30-40 bucks! Oops. Hope the next fellow realized what he got!

[+-CJ-]

I've found bills and coins many times. Sometimes it was something special, like and old coin or an unusual coin or a coin from some remote place. You can put a Swiss frank into a cache in Russia and it will be a cool trade item. On the other side, sometimes it's obvious that some cacher just had nothing to put in a box but some loose change. If I open a container in my country and see Russian change inside I treat it as rubbish and take it away.

[+birder428]

I've found a $20 as the FTF prize twice. The first time I used it to take my son to lunch across the street from the cache. A few days later I found another of the CO's caches with a $20, but left it for the STF.

[+cerberus1]

I've found a $20 as the FTF prize twice. The first time I used it to take my son to lunch across the street from the cache. A few days later I found another of the CO's caches with a $20, but left it for the STF.

Checked to see if we're in the same area.

 

A new couple, I guess hearing of FTF "prizes", left twenty-dollar bills in not only all their longer hike/bike hides, but even a simple (and only) C&D at parking.

After finding (and keeping) one, I emailed the CO and said that if they were going to be regulars, I'll quit my job and use the bike trail ATM until I collect my retirements.

- Now they leave gift cards to DD or similar.

[+L0ne.R]

Last year I heard about the Hidden Cash Twitter game.

 

Hidden cash Twitter hunt mystery comes to Vancouver

 

I think the idea has fizzled out though.

[TahoeJoe]

When I first started caching, at least in our area, quite a few of the new caches would have cash in them for whoever was the FTF.

[+Jackie and Bob]

I know of one cache where the FTF prize was a thousand dollars. It had a specific timeframe to claim the money (don't think that would fly now-a-days). Someone found it, then showed a picture of their "prize" later. It involved backpacking deep into the Inyo mtns and taking photos of a ghost town.

 

This is the cache: Operation High Desert

[+NeverSummer]

I remember a couple caches with big prizes.

 

One was a tough puzzle that was also hidden in a remote area. It started with a few hundred dollars for the confirmed FTF...and after a couple days it started to reduce by some factor of whatever. By the time I forgot about it, the prize was $1 or something like that, and still unfound.

 

I've also seen a brand-new GPS offered in a cache, and a $20 bill or two. Personally, the best I've had as FTF was a gift card or two ($20 on one, less on some others), and a $10 bill once. That, and some unactivated coins, back when that was still a novelty.

[+Fisher513]

I remember a couple caches with big prizes.

 

One was a tough puzzle that was also hidden in a remote area. It started with a few hundred dollars for the confirmed FTF...and after a couple days it started to reduce by some factor of whatever. By the time I forgot about it, the prize was $1 or something like that, and still unfound.

 

I've also seen a brand-new GPS offered in a cache, and a $20 bill or two. Personally, the best I've had as FTF was a gift card or two ($20 on one, less on some others), and a $10 bill once. That, and some unactivated coins, back when that was still a novelty.

I was thinking about putting my old eTrex 10 in a cache

but I gave it to a kid I take caching.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I've found (and left) foreign coins in a cache.

 

...

 

But they've never been worth much money.

 

I don't usually do the swag game but I've frequently left foreign coins or small denomination bills in a cache. A 1 Malaysian Ringget coin is only worth about 27 cents in the U.S. but I brought back a bunch of them specifically to use as trade items and suspect that they might be interesting to those that do trade swag.

[+SheepOnTrip]

The most I've found was 10 of the local currency for the FTF - which is 2/3 of the price of a posh and brilliant ice cream cone (small size). And after getting that cache, walking in thorns uphill in an hot humid day, you did needed this...

 

mostly I see bits of foreign money in little coins (or our local money in small coins). Did get once a very old coin from the earlier days of the country, which was very cool.

 

I think finding coins in caches kinda feel like a treasure box. It's nice, specially for kids, or if it's speciall coins (collective/from remote countries/old and so on). And even the little change, from all the Euro cents I've collected I could buy couple of coffees (:

[+Viajero Perdido]

Dropped: Geocoin

Left: Assorted Mexican Peso coins (devalued and worthless)

Took: Zimbabwe $100,000 note (devalued and worthless)

Learned: A lesson about the durability of currencies.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Dropped: Geocoin

Left: Assorted Mexican Peso coins (devalued and worthless)

Took: Zimbabwe $100,000 note (devalued and worthless)

Learned: A lesson about the durability of currencies.

 

$100,000?

 

I've seen a $50,000,000,000 (fifty billion) Zimbabwe note.

[+Viajero Perdido]

I know, pocket lint.

 

If I ever get to southern Africa, I wouldn't mind trying to pick up a bale of the big notes somehow. Maybe if I looked around in the ditches...

[+DE_Cryptoman]

In my formative days, I was a confirmed night-cacher and was a terror on FTFs. I made it a practice to carry fresh $2 bills and left them in caches for STF. Eventually folks used to follow me around. After more FTFs than brains, I realized that I really could not afford to keep that up so it stopped. One cache that I went for offered a "C" note for the FTF. I went for it and found a 100 Ecuadorian Sucre note which at the time was worth $0.004 US. I still carry it in my wallet.

[+Shawnonabike]

So yesterday I took a a kid geocaching and he kept on saying he wanted to hide a cache with $20 in it for the ftf. That got me thinking, I wondered what was the most money someone ever put in a cache? I mean I only found like 1s and 5s in a cache but what about you what was the most money you've ever found in a cache?

 

I don't like the idea of leaving money for FTF. I would rather leave some token that a true geocacher would value, but not thieves.

[+Viajero Perdido]

One local cacher's hides often featured "FTF Half-life by Xxxx". He'd leave $20, sometimes $50 I'd heard, for the first finder, but... Each finder takes only half the prize, and leave the other half for the next person. EG, $20 --> $10 --> $5 and so on.

 

And the rule was, if you don't have change, no prize for you! (When I found the $20, I left two $5 bills so the next person wouldn't have that problem.)

 

Another local cacher left, in one cache, 5 $10 bills, for the first 5 finders. BUT, some of them were real $10 bills, some were home-made ones with his own image. Those were funny; his image is part of the persona. Wish I had a picture of that. Choosing between the two was a toughie...

[+Manville Possum]

So yesterday I took a a kid geocaching and he kept on saying he wanted to hide a cache with $20 in it for the ftf. That got me thinking, I wondered what was the most money someone ever put in a cache? I mean I only found like 1s and 5s in a cache but what about you what was the most money you've ever found in a cache?

 

I don't like the idea of leaving money for FTF. I would rather leave some token that a true geocacher would value, but not thieves.

 

I used to leave unactivated geocoins in some of my really out of the way hides. I think the most I have ever found was a $2 bill, best FTF prize I ever found was a new boonie hat.

[+The Happy Hodag!]

The CO of one of my first finds kept the cache stocked with quarters because there were vending machines nearby. Even other cachers added quarters. Other than that, I've only ever two Where's George dollars in a cache last year.

 

The Happy Hodag!

[+The Penny_Drops]

I have placed a cache named SHOW ME THE MONEY I keep it topped up with any international coins or notes I can collect from friends and family that travel.

See the comments most people have commented favourably. It has been cleaned out a couple of times. I enjoy updating it and it,s only a few $ here & there.

My little signature token to leave in caches that I find is Australian pennies, stopped producing them in 1964. I still have over a 1000 ranging from 1920-1964

People love them and I have tracked my pennies far & wide. Everybody just loves them. obviously so do I

 

Happy Hunting!

[+Viajero Perdido]

I have placed a cache named SHOW ME THE MONEY I keep it topped up with any international coins or notes I can collect from friends and family that travel.

Your local coin shop might be a good source of obscure coins as well. My neighborhood shop has a box of miscellaneous coins on the counter, pick and choose, 25 cents each. Right next to the miscellaneous-stamps box. I go there sometimes when I need to stock up on interesting cache swag.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I have placed a cache named SHOW ME THE MONEY I keep it topped up with any international coins or notes I can collect from friends and family that travel.

Your local coin shop might be a good source of obscure coins as well. My neighborhood shop has a box of miscellaneous coins on the counter, pick and choose, 25 cents each. Right next to the miscellaneous-stamps box. I go there sometimes when I need to stock up on interesting cache swag.

 

There are also lots of web sites where you can order a mix of foreign coins in bulk. For example I've seen a couple of sites which sell coins by the pound (the measure of weight, not the British currency) from around $10-$15 for a pound of coins.

 

I have a pretty fair collection from my travels which not only includes coins from many different countries but some small denomination bills as well. For example, a 1 Yuan bill is worth about 15 cents US, but it might be pretty obscure as swag in a cache.

 

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

One cache I found was obviously known to the local kids. Someone put a note inside: "Leave money!"

[+niraD]

One cache I found was obviously known to the local kids. Someone put a note inside: "Leave money!"

That's much better than some of the things I've seen local kids leave in caches...

[+vw_k]

I can't find it now but I'm sure I once read somewhere that leaving money in caches wasn't encouraged, the reasoning being that if people thought it was common to find money in them then caches would get robbed and trashed more often. Was this an official guideline at some point?

 

I've found the occasional coins in caches, some people place lottery scratchcards in caches as FTF prizes here in the UK, and you never know how much one of those could be worth!

[+noncentric]

I can't find it now but I'm sure I once read somewhere that leaving money in caches wasn't encouraged, the reasoning being that if people thought it was common to find money in them then caches would get robbed and trashed more often.

 

I've had a similar thought whenever I see (even on the GC homepage) geocaching described as a 'treasure hunt'. I think that moniker attracts people that are looking to find financially valuable items. Such folks may sign up for the site, then go out a couple times and quit after realizing there's no money to be made in finding caches.

 

I prefer to describe the hobby as a 'scavenger hunt'. IMO, this description better describes the 'just for fun' or 'just for personal satisfaction' aspect of the hobby. If people are looking for something more serious (like treasure), then they should invest their time in another hobby.

[+hzoi]

Dropped: Geocoin

Left: Assorted Mexican Peso coins (devalued and worthless)

Took: Zimbabwe $100,000 note (devalued and worthless)

Learned: A lesson about the durability of currencies.

 

$100,000?

 

I've seen a $50,000,000,000 (fifty billion) Zimbabwe note.

I've been tempted to buy a stack of Zimbabwean money with lots of zeroes to leave in caches. But apparently they actually have collector's value, at least, according to the prices on ebay.

 

Most I've ever found in a cache was $25. In fact that was actually adjacent to a cache -- on one side f a pine tree was a cache, on the other was an empty pack of smokes with a twenty and a five in it. CITO can really pay off sometimes; it paid for our BBQ lunch.

Edited October 9, 2015 by hzoi

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Dropped: Geocoin

Left: Assorted Mexican Peso coins (devalued and worthless)

Took: Zimbabwe $100,000 note (devalued and worthless)

Learned: A lesson about the durability of currencies.

 

$100,000?

 

I've seen a $50,000,000,000 (fifty billion) Zimbabwe note.

I've been tempted to buy a stack of Zimbabwean money with lots of zeroes to leave in caches. But apparently they actually have collector's value, at least, according to the prices on ebay.

 

A couple of my colleagues were in Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls) last weekend. I didn't realize that the were going across the Zambian/Zimbabwean border or I would have asked them to bring back a few bills.

 

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

I have inherited $61(US) in Brasilian currency from my late geocaching partner, Andy Bear. I guess he didn't bother trading it back after his trip to Brasil eleven years ago. I'll be leaving the notes, with a message, in caches that I really enjoy.

[+K13]

I have inherited $61(US) in Brasilian currency from my late geocaching partner, Andy Bear. I guess he didn't bother trading it back after his trip to Brasil eleven years ago. I'll be leaving the notes, with a message, in caches that I really enjoy.

 

That is an AWESOME tribute to your geocaching partner. What a great item for someone to be fortunate enough to swap. I'm sorry for the way you came to get the $.

[Team Tipper]

I left $20 for the ftf when I first put it out.

[+Goldenwattle]

On 10/9/2015 at 11:01 PM, hzoi said:

Zimbabwean money with lots of zeroes to leave in caches. But apparently they actually have collector's value, at least, according to the prices on ebay

Really! I think I have one somewhere. Sent to me as a joke.

[+IceColdUK]

42 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

On 10/9/2015 at 1:01 PM, hzoi said:

Zimbabwean money with lots of zeroes to leave in caches. But apparently they actually have collector's value, at least, according to the prices on ebay

Really! I think I have one somewhere. Sent to me as a joke

 

Like this one?

 

 

This will be a FTF prize in a themed cache, if I ever get round to placing it...

[+cerberus1]

On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2015 at 12:14 PM, TahoeJoe said:

When I first started caching, at least in our area, quite a few of the new caches would have cash in them for whoever was the FTF.

Yep,    

 - When we started,  it was explained by a few older folks that was the draw to get folks there (few cachers as well as caches).

We stopped giving cash, but left a few older GPSrs, binoculars, leatherman multitools.

Though I stopped playing that side-game, I'm still FTF.  Mostly because the hide's further than a couple hundred feet from parking. 

Haven't seen a FTF prize in some time.     Stats the big thing now, and there hasn't been a need to draw people to caches for a while.

 

 - Instead, the CO's wants to put bedazzled, animated banners with your name splashed in pink , and dancing mice on them...

[+IceColdUK]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

Haven't seen a FTF prize in some time.     Stats the big thing now, and there hasn't been a need to draw people to caches for a while.

 

Maybe it’s a regional thing, or maybe I rush out for the wrong caches(!) but in 10 years and 150+ FTFs, I’ve never got more than a certificate or a toy trophy.

 

 

The only exception was on a puzzle that had been set for my 50th birthday, where I collected my present.  So glad I was first on that one!

 

Edit: Just remembered, I’ve also won a couple of scratchcards - could have been worth £1000s, but alas, no. ☹️

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by IceColdUK
Plus scratchcards!

[+cerberus1]

29 minutes ago, IceColdUK said:

Maybe it’s a regional thing, or maybe I rush out for the wrong caches(!) but in 10 years and 150+ FTFs, I’ve never got more than a certificate or a toy trophy.

 

Edit: Just remembered, I’ve also won a couple of scratchcards - could have been worth £1000s, but alas, no. ☹️

 

The other 2/3rds was the FTF monster, and between cash n cards alone, she'd put gas in her jeep, feed herself (and some gal friend with her too), all  on FTF "prizes".        

It kept her caching at no cost to budget.   Left to me, we wouldn't have had half our "numbers".    

Most of that ended here around '12 or so.    New folks hearing folks at events sometimes have duncan donut or similar cards.

I still see a couple scratch-offs from one with distant hides. Usually not FTF on those either.  I leave 'em there too  (just not that lucky).    

[+colleda]

6 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

 

Like this one?

 

 

This will be a FTF prize in a themed cache, if I ever get round to placing it...

I'm guessing it may have cost more to print than what it's worth.

[+Goldenwattle]

9 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

Like this one?

I don't think it's that big, but I don't know where to find it quickly to check.

[+Goldenwattle]

8 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

The only exception was on a puzzle that had been set for my 50th birthday, where I collected my present.  So glad I was first on that one!

Risky...

[+barefootjeff]

10 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

 

Like this one?

 

 

This will be a FTF prize in a themed cache, if I ever get round to placing it...

 

One of my caches (The Middle Sea Embezzler) has a thousand pounds in Monopoly money stapled into the front of the logbook, as part of the cache's theme, with more Monopoly money in the container as swag although I don't know if any of it's been taken. A couple of others in the same Bushranger series have plastic gold coins in them.