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Thread: What Is Up With The Missing G-coins?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Unity, Maine
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cache Maine View Post
    . . .
    Two of your four "examples" are unreasonable. . .
    True . . .

    #1 should be . . . 1) Metal recyclers took said coin and melted it down for recycling

    and

    #2 should be . . . 2) Ferrets took the geocoin . . . always blame the ferrets.

    On the serious side . . . Cachemaine makes a few other valid points . . . especially with new cachers.

    Personally, I've never invested much money into the coins (buying or releasing) . . . I figure if I want something personal floating around in the geo-world I would go the cheaper route and go with a personal TB.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  2. #12
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    Jun 2004
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    Brewer, Maine
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    Quote Originally Posted by aaronpriest View Post
    I didn't bother getting any more geocoins done after our first 100 in 2005. After I saw some of them listed as "extremely rare" and selling for $25+ on eBay that I had originally released as TBs, I got real sick of that crap. It didn't outrage me when someone sold one they'd acquired in a fair trade, though it irritated me that they didn't see enough value in it to keep for their collection. I'm pretty much through with geocoins. The only ones I purchase or trade now are the Maine ones or from someone I know personally, and occasionally I quietly leave one unactivated in a seldom visited or hard to find cache as an award for the next geocacher. But I don't advertise it in the logs so it hopefully won't get stolen. I might consider wooden nickels or tags if they are cheap enough for my next signature item. Geocoins are now like throwing money in the wind unfortunately.
    I still have the coin you gave me way back when at the first Maine Coin event. I really liked the design, and it was the first black nickel coin I'd ever seen. I'm not selling that one

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Bradley, Maine
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    I agree with you Jake, the coins do not seem worth releasing if they turn up missing either under mysterious circumstances, or by honest mistakes. It is discouraging to see something you got excited about and spent money on go *POOF* into the aether of never never land. I understand if someone is new to caching, or you have a gobby bird two year old like mine that will pick up anything not nailed down, but you would have to be the lowest of the low to steal from fellow cachers. I think either the drilled out coin or a simple TB is all I will release for now.

    Where the hell is that thing?

  4. #14

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    We have released a few coins and have actually etched our team name on them and they went missing almost immediately. If someone wants something they won't care what condition it is in. Out of the 7 missing trackables we have sent out, only 2 of them were coins, 5 were TBs. Why would someone want to steal a tb? that baffles us. We have 17 other coins/TBs still out there wandering around. Several of them have over 10,000 logged miles. We have picked up coins and tbs that have traveled many more miles than that. It is odd that some move along and others disappear before they even have a chance.
    We have wondered about coins that get "stolen" What do the folks that steal them for their collections gain? If you show them to anyone and they discover them, they will find out that you are a thief and the coin doesn't belong to you.

    We like to see our TBs travel around but we also know the risk we take in releasing them. We are still willing to take that risk. Probably not so much with the coins but the TBs are a bit different.

    A suggestion for releasing coins:
    Put them in a case /or baggie with a tag explaining exactly what they are and how to track them. This may help the newbies.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    Brewer, Maine
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    Quote Originally Posted by team moxiepup View Post

    A suggestion for releasing coins:
    Put them in a case /or baggie with a tag explaining exactly what they are and how to track them. This may help the newbies.
    I received a very apologetic email today from a new cacher that picked up my Maine geocoin (mission was to stay in the state). They took it down south and didn't realize the mission until too late. It was my fault as there was no tag with a mission on it. I've done the same thing, pick up a cool tb or coin with no mission tag and take it somewhere before reading about it.
    Tags help!

  6. #16
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    Jun 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cache Maine View Post
    I do not have the knowledge to tell you exactly what happens to these coins. I am also aware that they do go missing...the issue I have was with your original post stating that people with big collections steal coins. That's basically saying that myself, Hollora, EmsDanel, kayakerinme and others here steal coins and that is not the case.
    No, I'm not saying that people who have big collections steal coins. I'm saying that people who steal coins >>probably<< have big collections, and that's a big difference. Someone known to us is a coin thief. That's a fact. And as you can see from this thread, I'm not the only one to realize that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cache Maine View Post
    Two of your four "examples" are unreasonable. If you really want to think about what really could happen to a coin, then do it....here's a few to add:

    -new cacher picks up the coin not knowing it's trackable
    -new cacher picks up the coin, don't understand how to log coins/tbs
    -geo kid picks up the coin and geo parents didn't realize
    -coin was logged into the wrong cache
    -coin numbers unreadable, unable to log
    -cacher picks up coin, but doesn't log online, moves along at a later time
    -cache was muggled
    Actually, I was being facetious.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cache Maine View Post
    Geocaching is a sport played in a world that changes every day. No one can promise that things are going to happen as they should.

    On another note, I would be more than happy to contact the person that we saw at Quebec with all the coins and invite him in to discuss his collection further.
    You saw only one person with a collection? I saw a table full of people with collections.

  7. #17
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    Jun 2004
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    Solon, Maine
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    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake View Post

    On the serious side . . . Cachemaine makes a few other valid points . . . especially with new cachers.
    Yes, that points are good, but an experienced cacher is able to "read the signs" and usually be able to tell if a new cacher's ignorance was responsible for the missing coin or that it was stolen.

    For example, the new cacher will usually log in the log book and on gc.com. They might event remark that they picked up the coin. The next cacher remarks that there is no coin in the cache, so you get a good idea of what happened to it.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    Solon, Maine
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cache Maine View Post
    It's unfortunate that people feel this way. Not ALL geocoin collectors are thieves!!!! I am active in the geocoin and pathtag community and can assure you that there are lots and lots of honest people who work hard to establish their collections.

    I don't think it's fair for you or anyone else to assume that just because someone has a big collection, that they stole the coins.
    I'm hitting this comment again to make SEVERAL things VERY clear.

    I've known you for a long time, I know you collect coins, and I am NOT accusing you of being a thief.

    I DO NOT "assume that just because someone has a big collection, that they stole the coins". I do assume that SOME people who have big collections did not come by all of them honestly. Reason for my assumption? Because a GREAT MANY geocoins do disappear. That's a fact. And it's also safe to assume that the purpose of stealing geocoins is to add them to a collection.

  9. #19
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    Aug 2005
    Location
    Maine
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    I have a kayakerinme coin that I picked up several weeks ago that could not be logged as it has not been activated. No way to trace it or track it. Maybe that is the coin in question from Sydney's Apple and maybe it is not. Some folks do place un-activated coins as swag, but that is rare. At any rate, if a coin cannot be tracked or if it is not activated I have always considered it trade-able swag. If the coin I have is yours I would be happy to send it to you, just let me know what the tracking number is.

    On the issue of the comments made, it is very unfortunate that anyone would accuse anyone on a public forum. This is not the first time that comments of an accusatory nature have showed up here. It is unfortunate that some people use this forum is used to express thoughts that have no fact to back them up.

    Now, on the subject of missing coins, unfortunately it is a part of Geocaching. It is also one of the reasons why I have never released a coin. I have a few that are active and make the rounds with me to events, and that's it. A while back I found a coin in my possession that I did not even know I had and promptly got it moving again. Such oversights occur. I got a note from one of the coin owners that they were just pleased it was alive and well and moving again. Oh the stories the coins could tell.
    I'd really rather not cache, but I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion!

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sudonim View Post
    I still have the coin you gave me way back when at the first Maine Coin event. I really liked the design, and it was the first black nickel coin I'd ever seen. I'm not selling that one
    And I still have the challenge coin you gave me!

    I agree with most of the comments made here from all sides. I have a sizeable geocoin collection that was honestly acquired. People I personally know that love collecting and displaying coins respect their own property and thus by nature respect others' property. I doubt any of their collections are by ill-gotten gains. That being said, I have no doubt that some stingy dweeb somewhere has a secret stash of stolen loot hidden in a sock drawer. I don't think they would be the same type of person that shares a beautifully displayed collection at an event for all to enjoy though.

    As I mentioned before, I sometimes leave an unactivated coin as swag for the next cacher, but I won't advertise it in the logs anymore, at least not on the website. I clearly label it in a bag so the next cacher realizes its free for trading, just leave something of similar value for the next cacher. I've come across a few coins and signature items in the past that were not labeled and I was not sure if they were supposed to be TBs or if they were tradeable items, especially if they are not trackable items on GC. If I wasn't sure, I always contacted the owner and asked. Once I found a geocoin with no accompanying paperwork (nor trackable on GC), and after getting in contact with the owner discovered he'd originally intended it to travel from cache to cache but it had lost the baggie it was in along the way. Since I liked the design and he had been looking for one of my geocoins, we decided to do a trade instead and everyone was happy.

    I've also come across a few TBs with no attached documentation, and discovered after I got home that it's mission was something I couldn't help with. (Taking it north when it wanted to go south for instance.) When I discover something like that with an activated geocoin or a TB, I typically print out the mission page and put it in a baggie to make it easier for the next geocacher.

    I think most of the stolen loot and missing TBs/geocoins are from mugglers and not local geocachers who love the sport. I've not lost much on remote or difficult caches, it's mostly rural ones where I see things go missing. But you never know where someone is going to leave your TB, and they never really travel if they sit for months in remote caches. It's a calculated risk like any sport.

    I don't find a cache for the "treasure" anyway. For me, it's a way to explore places I'd never otherwise visit, even if it's right next door to where I always go, and also to look for good photo opportunities. As they say, it's all in the trip, not the destination.

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