Jump to content

Improving swappable stocks


fuzzyant

Recommended Posts

Hi All,

 

So I'm on a little mini mission of improving the stocks of Swappable items in Geocache's Particularly in my home area of Canberra. I find these small items can make Geocaching more fun for kids (and big kids). if I find a cache with none I always like to leave something. if I take something if I can I will leave 2 things. it doesn't take much a bunch of stickers from the reject shop or a pile of erasers or small items only costs a few dollars. I would love any Geocacher's keen on helping with my mission to send me a friend request stating joining the mission. I may at times even send out a few items to help out.

 

fuzzyant

  • Funny 1
  • Helpful 1
Link to comment

I am in.

 

I cache over here in Wollongong and I am a big fan or swaps or drops. I love a bit of cache maintenance and upkeep, and enjoy finding a cache that needs a bit of attention.

 

I have a 5litre (flour) container full of small odds and ends I have collected and I carry with me in the car so I always have some SWAG to trade. I carry spare logs and also a hand towel so I can dry wet caches.

 

#missiontoswag

  • Surprised 1
Link to comment

Agree. And fly onboard.

 

I usually have to geocache with my 3.5 yr old so always find those with swappables. And a good one can make her participation much easier. But at this age it also only takes a couple of...substandard...swags in a row to disincentivise her.

 

Last week I left a pretty cool swag in a cache and took...well..there was nothing to take!

 

Hoping it encourages the finder to ensure they have something decent to swap in future.

 

That said...it can be hard to get geopreschooler to do a fair swap. The other day she left plastic cutlery in exchange for a spinning top! I'll usually chuck something in quicky while her back is turned though. 😉

  • Funny 1
Link to comment

I applaud your attitude and sentiment. Alas, I have stocked ammo cans and 2 litre containers with hundreds of dollars worth of trade items over the years just to watch it all dwindle to a few calling cards and a stick or two. I no longer take or leave anything in geocaches, but any new geocache I hide I still stock. Don't be surprised but do prepared to be disappointed when the geocaches you stock up are emptied and left with nought but a memory in short order.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment

Ahhh swag. Best thing I found was a pathtag. I’d heard of them, I’d been given a couple - then I found one to keep! 

Most caches aren’t swag-size but if I find swag (read: “trinketity stuff”) and I like some bit of trinket - I take it. I have taken a single dice and a pencil from a bundle of ikea pencils. Did I swap? No. Have I donated in the past? Of course. Do I sleep at night? Yes. 

If only everyone understood the concept of “swings and Roundabouts”. I have a bunch of mighty beanz to donate at the moment. Odd little bits of plastic they are - I’m obviously too old to see the appeal of said beanz! 

Link to comment

I'm too old for little toys, and so I never take or leave swaps. Nevertheless, I am gobsmacked by the absolute crap that some cachers leave as 'swaps'. A bread tag? A potato chip? A single sock? A used hair scrunchy? A business card? A used train or bus ticket? A masonry plug? A rubber band? I've encountered all of these, and taken them from the cache and thrown them away. This kind of junk is not appealing to children and is of no value to adults. Why would anyone leave it?

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I have a box of jewellery (plus some other things) I am slowly releasing, but so many caches these days are too tiny. You know when it's a micro it won't fit, but when it's marked as a small it's disappointing to turn up with nice trinkets to find ANOTHER micro. This happens too often?. Then there are the damp caches and the caches in too muggly a place, which I wouldn't want to leave nice jewellery in. Eventually I will off load the box of jewellery I guess. And the dolls furniture. (The later, not in the class of the jewellery trinkets.)

  • Upvote 2
  • Surprised 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Not from your area, but would like to chime in that this isn't only happening there .    :)

Like caughtatwork,  our ammo can hides rarely saw any actual swaps for swag, going back to '05. 

 - But I believe all trading stopped when this hobby became a "treasure hunt".

I filled a 30cal to the brim in May last year.  Only 7 finders later, I noticed it's just-about empty  a week ago.

Even the pencils are taken (along with sharpeners), yet someone will still have the nerve to write "no pen" in a log...

 In Geocaching 101,  the first "rule" is "If you take something from the geocache (or "cache"), leave something of equal or greater value."

That just isn't happening.    Many times you're finding shells, rocks, corks, and business cards just because that's all that's left.

End of rant.   :D

 

Link to comment

Hi everybody!

 

I've only just joined the hobby and to my sensibilities, I agree! To me it seems better to put stuff in rather than take stuff out. I'm in the Top End, there does not seem to be a lot of caches up near where I am, but hopefully I can get out to the big smoke a few times a year. I was having a look at the .au geo cache site and that one seems to mainly list virtual sites rather than physical caches.

Link to comment
On 7/15/2019 at 5:56 PM, DARKSIDEDAN said:

I go to the local salvos store where they let me fill a bag with toys for $10 to put into caches. 

I don't have any grandkids but I take Coles and Woollies giveaways to put in my caches. Otherwise I put pennies in them as I have a couple of thousand to get rid of as well as left over coins from o/s travels

Edited by colleda
Link to comment

How hard / tough are pennies? Technically, they aren't worth anything (okay, they are, but you know what I mean), but have you thought of stamping them or engraving them? Making them a bit more personalised might make them "worth" a bit more, as a sig item. If they're pretty tough and hard to dent then it's probably more effort than it's worth. Just an idea, feel free to ignore me. :) 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Unit473L said:

How hard / tough are pennies? Technically, they aren't worth anything (okay, they are, but you know what I mean), but have you thought of stamping them or engraving them? Making them a bit more personalised might make them "worth" a bit more, as a sig item.

 

These look pretty cool (an idea I found online).  They're metal stamped and the lines are colored.  Drilling and adding a clip ring makes it more like jewelry than just a loose coin.  I also found some pictures of pennies that have a shape, such as a heart, punched through the center.

 

I have a few rolls of "culled" silver coins that are so worn out, you can barely see the coin design.  Polished and stamped, they might make nice swag, for choice caches.

 

penny1.jpg

 

 

Edited by kunarion
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment

In Australia it is a criminal offence to deface current coins or banknotes. Pre decimal, Feb 1966, currency no problem (minting ceased 1964), same with 1c and 2c coins as they were withdrawn from circulation Feb 1992 but can still be tendered for purchases.

 

Defacing, destroying or altering Australian currency coins

It is a criminal offence under the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981 (Cth) to deface or destroy current Australian currency coins. It is also an offence to sell or possess current coins that have been defaced. Defacing a coin includes coating the surface of the money with any sort of material. The penalty for defacing coins, or selling or possessing money that has been defaced, is $5,000 or imprisonment for two years for an individual (or both), and $10,000 for a body corporate. You may also be guilty of the offence of making counterfeit money if you alter a genuine coin.

https://www.ramint.gov.au/two-cents

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
27 minutes ago, colleda said:

In Australia it is a criminal offence to deface current coins or banknotes.

Same in the USA apparently too.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/331

18 U.S. Code § 331. Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or

Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

 

 

 

Link to comment
2 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Same in the USA apparently too.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/331

18 U.S. Code § 331. Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or

Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

 

 

That means it's illegal to make or pass coins that you've changed to look like other coins, or shaved to get a little of the gold or silver off one and still spend it.  The term "fraudulently" is the key.  It's actually pretty clear in the text you posted.  A coin painted or stamped or drilled for art or jewelry isn't "fraudulent", it's jewelry.  This doesn't mean that someone won't freak out when they see one (you will encounter people who insist "it's illegal"), but it's not in fact illegal in the US.

 

Edited by kunarion
Forgot to pull the chain.
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment
27 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

That means it's illegal to make or pass coins that you've changed to look like other coins, or shaved to get a little of the gold or silver off one and still spend it.  The term "fraudulently" is the key.  It's actually pretty clear in the text you posted.  A coin painted or stamped or drilled for art or jewelry isn't "fraudulent", it's jewelry.  This doesn't mean that someone won't freak out when they see one (you will encounter people who insist "it's illegal"), but it's not in fact illegal in the US.

 

I did note the word "fraudulent", but I wouldn't want to have to fight for that meaning if charged.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, kunarion said:

 

That means it's illegal to make or pass coins that you've changed to look like other coins, or shaved to get a little of the gold or silver off one and still spend it.  The term "fraudulently" is the key. 

 

I found this  information interesting:

 

Congress has passed a law banning the mutilation of coins to discourage people from melting down large quantities of coins for their metal value. However Congress debased coinage long ago. Dimes and quarters (and the new copper-manganese dollar) are worth 1/7 of their face value in metal. No one will want to melt those things down. But the law will remain on the books, even though no one is willing to enforce it; unless truckloads of coins are being melted for profit.

 

 

Link to comment
2 hours ago, kunarion said:

That means it's illegal to make or pass coins that you've changed to look like other coins, or shaved to get a little of the gold or silver off one and still spend it.  The term "fraudulently" is the key.  It's actually pretty clear in the text you posted. 

A coin painted or stamped or drilled for art or jewelry isn't "fraudulent", it's jewelry. 

This doesn't mean that someone won't freak out when they see one (you will encounter people who insist "it's illegal"), but it's not in fact illegal in the US.

 

Yep.  We used to put buffalo nickels, and mercury dimes set in jewelry  in quality "kids" caches.  .  :)

We didn't stop because of the occasional person who didn't know it was okay, it was because those dimes were worth a heck-of-a-lot more in junk silver.  :D 

It's also why they still allow pressed penny machines.  

You see,  statute 18 USC Section 331, says it's illegal to mutilate coins with the intent to use them fraudulently (shaving minute bits of gold or silver, for example), but since pressed pennies and other coins are made as souvenirs with no intent to pass them off as currency,  it's okay.  

Link to comment
19 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

Yep.  We used to put buffalo nickels, and mercury dimes set in jewelry  in quality "kids" caches.  .  :)

We didn't stop because of the occasional person who didn't know it was okay, it was because those dimes were worth a heck-of-a-lot more in junk silver.  :D 

 

Yeah.  My swag art target is $1 max, not counting its desirability in coolness.  Once I start using real silver coins (or buffalo nickels), they start above a dollar in value (or "cost") before I even start to make the swag.  I have placed a couple of pressed pennies, which cost 51 cents, which is the penny plus 50 cents to press it.   Which makes something that some people will like.  It's an improvement over a wire nut or whatever junk nobody really hopes for.

  • Helpful 1
Link to comment

I've been in the game since when we had when we had to navigate with maps, and the swaps in the early days were often quite worth having, but now it looks like stuff you might get from the bottom of a cereal box. I guess that's because of the influx of little kids, as opposed to us big kids.

I've been putting one-dollar scratches in caches where they'll fit, for the last few years, and I'd like to see more players do the same.

The maximum, prize for a $1 scratchy is (I think $25,000. Just think what a thrill it'd be to pull that off.

Nobody has ever contacted me, though.
Sigh!

Link to comment
On 12/22/2016 at 10:14 PM, fuzzyant said:

Hi All,

 

So I'm on a little mini mission of improving the stocks of Swappable items in Geocache's Particularly in my home area of Canberra. I find these small items can make Geocaching more fun for kids (and big kids). if I find a cache with none I always like to leave something. if I take something if I can I will leave 2 things. it doesn't take much a bunch of stickers from the reject shop or a pile of erasers or small items only costs a few dollars. I would love any Geocacher's keen on helping with my mission to send me a friend request stating joining the mission. I may at times even send out a few items to help out.

 

fuzzyant

 

Hi Mate

 

Improving the stocks of Swappable items in Geocache's is no easy task but we will get there in the end.

  • Funny 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...