Geocoins???

Anyone know what 'geocoins' are
Thanks.

 

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try these links ...
http://www.usageocoins.com/

http://www.geocoins.ca/

http://geocoins.net/gcforums/

my first blush is that they are coins that have tracking in them?! so that u can use geocaching to track their location.... i am prolly wrong on that tho

 

oh .. i found this on Wikipedia ...
A Geocoin is a token used in geocaching. It can be left behind in geocaches, to be found by others and kept as trophies or traded or re-cached. Geocoins are often minted with the name of their state or country of origin, or with a given geocacher's name or handle. Some geocoins are imprinted with a code that can be entered into a website so that the geocoin can be tracked as it travels from cache to cache

 

That sounds like fun ! How much do they cost ??

 

What a willing buyer will pay a willing seller.

If there are people who collect them other than by finding them in geocaches, they probably congregate on geocaching forums, not numismatic forums. My guess is that it costs more to have new tokens made than they would bring in the resale market (if there is one). That said, if they are actively collected, their price probably ranges from a few cents to >$50 for the rarer ones.

 

Interesting... any special purpose to "geocaching" besides satifying curiosity as to where the geocoins move?

 

not from what i have seen. Some of the original geocache coins seem to seel for very high amounts (one source said on ebay it sold for $2000) but the article on Wikipedia mentioned the 'craze' is past its highpoint. the coins produced now are on a mass scale and are rarely worth what they cost.

 

Geocaching is done by hobbyists using their GPS devices. They put stuff someplace, and publish the latitude and longitude of their "cache", with the highest precision available on their own GPS. Then other people look for the cache, and as I understand it geocaching etiquette requires them to leave something of their own in place of whatever item they take.

To me it's as pointless as the Ham Radio sport of "foxhunting", in which a low power transmitter intermittently emits a signal, and other people using direction finding equipment try to find it. There are probably 10s of thousands of people who disagree with me and engage in those activities, to which I repeat the mantra: "To each his own, I've found my own, and that's not it. "

 

Its not really about the GeoCoin....

From what I have experienced, it an Outdoor Hobby... Like Mountain Biking, Rock Collecting, Metal Detecting, Hiking, etc...


Basically, someone goes out in the woods like in a state park somewhere (can really be anywhere though) finds what they think is a less than obvious hiding spot...

Then they place several items in a container that would shield them from the enviorment...

The Items, can be Stickers, GEOCoins, Gum, camping supplies, anything that might be usefull outdoors, but not really expensive.. Really there are not set rules on it, people can place whatever they want, I'm just listing things I've seen or heard of...

Usally, there is a Notebook and a few Pens in there for people to sign saying they've found it and to provide some feedback about the find/adventure...

The person who places the inital Cache, then looks at their GPS, makes Notes of the waypoints/Cordinants and then posts them on a geo-Caching site and others look up the points, then use their GPS to try and find the stash... Take a little something somethng outta the stash and leave something...

Like I said, Its just and outdoor hobby....

There are several sites, where you can search for caches by Zipcode...

If I put in my Zip, last time I checked (last summer) there are I think 6 cache sites, where I could drive less then 20-30 mintues, then walk about 20+ minutes into the woods and using a GPS, I should be able to locate the stash... Sometimes it takes quite a bit if looking around and under stuff...


I'd like to make some cheapy business cards and put the URL to here and see if I could get a few new coin collecters....

 

Interestingly why would it be called Geocoins instead of Geotokens or such??? They are not legal tender are they?

 

Here's a link that explains what geocaching is; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching .

Aidan.

 

Another bit of American English usage - many people (even including some numismatists who should know better) call any round metallic object with a design or legend on at least one side a "coin".

 

Geocaching is great fun. As pointless as it seems, its a lot of fun. Usually people are out and about, they find a little known spot that they think other people might enjoy. Could be in a park, in a forest, on a walking trail, on a new bike trail, anywhere, if they think other people would enjoy the outdoor area. They take a waterproof box, often an old ammo box, they put some prizes and trinkets, things that other people might think are fun into the box. They also put in a logbook. They hide the box and record the coordinates on their GPS. They go home and upload those coordinates to a website.

Other people get those coordinates, go out with their GPS unit and find the cache box. Once they find the box, they write a note in the log book that they were there, they then trade something they've brought for something in the box. They can then go home, log on to the website and record that they were at the cache.

Like smullen said - this GPS unit can get you within 4 or 5 feet of this little box. Half of the fun is trying to find the box once you are there. People are very resourceful in hiding these. For example - walking through a park you know you are within 5 feet of the cache. You look all over and can't find the box, you can spend hours looking all over, you look up and see a birdhouse bolted to a pole. You go over to inspect it, its not a bird house, but a cache box. They are placed in hollowed out logs, under rocks, in lamp posts, in trees, under water in a stream, in a cave, under a caboose, etc.

In this whole process, these people, (who are probably more inclined to sit in front of the computer playing with gadgets than be outside) have gotten off of their duff, spent some time with the kids, found a new park, a new natural area, or a new historical sight that they probably never new was there. I can't tell you how many new fun areas I have found within a 20 minute drive of my home that I had no idea was there.

There are these caches all over the world. Check out geocaching.com. I'll bet you a George Washington error to a Krispy Kreme that there is a cache withing 10 minutes of your house.

(I'm getting to the coins soon)

So then, somebody had this idea of where their little trinket they traded would end up, so they developed these little 'dog tags' that have a unique code on them. They are called 'travel bugs'. You buy this little dog tag and attatch it to something, to some little trinket thing. Now you go put it in a cache box. The next time somebody comes to the cache they pick it up, go home and log it on the website, then they drop it off at another cache, someone picks it up, records it on the website, drops it off at another cache, and so on. You can follow your travel bug all over the united states or all over the world.

Here is one of mine

Now, it must have been some Geo-mismitist that came up with the idea to put a tracking number on a coin and call it a 'geo coin'. Now you can track where in the united states your coin has gone.

So someone pays for the coin, and leaves it in a box in the woods. They are hoping to track it go across the country. As you can imagine, its pretty bad form to pick up a coin or a bug and keep it.

However,you asked how much a geocoin costs? Just go buy a GPS, sign up on a website, spend a day driving around and hiking in the woods, dig through some bushes, poison ivy, ticks, prickle buhrs, and the coin is yours for the taking.

(that was my soap box rant for something new, its actually lots of fun!!!)

 

Is geocaching only popular in America,or are there geocachers in other countries? I don't think there are any geocachers over here in New Zealand.We New Zealanders wouldn't know how to play geocaching,as we're more familiar with cricket & rugby.

Aidan.

 

Strictly speaking, they're medals, not coins or tokens.

 

Yup - there is 1,210 on the North Island click here

 

If no one in your area is doing it, you could be the 1st to start it...

I thought I gave a decent description of the sport/hobby till I read karrlot's.... Read his a few times then give it a try... Get a few of your friends, relatives and or Co-workers involved... Hang some flyers in a few publics places...

 

I checked this site that Karrlot mentioned http://www.geocaching.com/ and there are like 10 Pages of them within driving distance of my house...

Can anyone recommend a really good GPS for this???

I'd also, like the option of connectiing the GPS to my laptops USB... That works awsome with Microsot's Streets and Trips... I've used it for work trips a few times...

 

I have found 109 geocaches, and I have my own custom made wooden geocoins.

 

Ive minted my own geocoin and have a collection of maybe 30-40 (specializing of course in tallships)
The average price is around $10, for cheep ones its around $4 and some rare ones on ebay go for $200.

smullen, I would recommend a garmin unit, cheap=venture cx, topoftheline=GPSMAP60CSx

Aidan Work, theres approximately 2,800 caches hidden in New Zealand and its very popular in developed country's.