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Thread: Geocoin history.

  1. #1

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    Default Geocoin history.

    How did the idea of geocoins come about? I wonder who had the idea to mint a special coin and then release. And indeed why coins? Why not diecast cars, rings, buttons.

    What was the first geocoin and when?

    Maybe some kind person could enlighten me.

    I'm in Cornwall next on holiday and shall be releasing our first coin. Hope no muggle nicks it.
    Ho hum!

  2. #2

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    I think I read somewhere that the first coin was minted my Moun10biker, they are unber-rare and highly collectable.

    I think coins were chosen as in the USA they have a long history of minting coins for presents and 'challenge coins' especially in the military. I guess its one possible reason, I'd be interested to see how long before I get corrected.

    Its actually a very interesting question and I hope someone out there has more info.

    Ian
    "I Cache, therefore I am"

  3. #3

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    I received my Rule Britannia 2007 coins today. Fantastic coins, fantastic design but dare I release one!

    Can't wait for the Help For Heros coin. I'll be buying several of those.
    Ho hum!

  4. #4

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    I think you might be right about the Moun10biker coin, but can't be sure...

    This was the first UK geocoin produced:



    Is there a geocoin buff in the house??

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mrs Blorenge View Post
    I think you might be right about the Moun10biker coin, but can't be sure...

    This was the first UK geocoin produced:



    Is there a geocoin buff in the house??
    Ah, Veni Quaesivi Inveni - I proposed that legend, but I never got my free coin for coming up with the winning suggestion, sob... :
    ​​Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)​


  6. #6

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    Great thread, hope it doesn't stop at the first geocoin though, I would enjoy seeing how the geocoin thing developed.....

    In a similar vein, but raised on another thread, I had hoped that the history of UK caching and cachers might have been started. I think it fizzeled out though, but it might provide some entertainment now the nights are drawing in.

    IMO it would be good to have some history of the games development in the UK, I bet it's well documented in the US - must have a look sometime.

    It would be a shame to leave it too long, none of us are getting any younger

    Hopefully stuff like this will really get this forum going

    H

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by L8HNB View Post
    Great thread, hope it doesn't stop at the first geocoin though, I would enjoy seeing how the geocoin thing developed.....

    In a similar vein, but raised on another thread, I had hoped that the history of UK caching and cachers might have been started. I think it fizzeled out though, but it might provide some entertainment now the nights are drawing in.

    IMO it would be good to have some history of the games development in the UK, I bet it's well documented in the US - must have a look sometime.

    It would be a shame to leave it too long, none of us are getting any younger

    Hopefully stuff like this will really get this forum going

    H
    I've started a new thread about the history of caching in the General forum.
    ​​Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)​


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill D (wwh) View Post
    Ah, Veni Quaesivi Inveni - I proposed that legend, but I never got my free coin for coming up with the winning suggestion, sob... :
    Hmmm... OK, having only done Latin for 2 years, then giving it up because I didn't find translating things like "The soldiers are preparing their swords for the battle" very interesting... What does it mean?

    (Don't make me go and Google it, now )

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mrs Blorenge View Post
    Hmmm... OK, having only done Latin for 2 years, then giving it up because I didn't find translating things like "The soldiers are preparing their swords for the battle" very interesting... What does it mean?

    (Don't make me go and Google it, now )
    I believe that its something along the lines of:

    Veni Quaesivi Inveni - I came, I sought, I found
    "I Cache, therefore I am"

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by studlyone View Post
    I believe that its something along the lines of:

    Veni Quaesivi Inveni - I came, I sought, I found
    Spot on!
    ​​Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)​


  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill D (wwh) View Post
    Spot on!
    Yay, its one coin that I would love to add to my collection (bit of a union jack freak here). Its a great geocoin, just a pity its no longer available.
    "I Cache, therefore I am"

  12. #12

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    Yep, the 2005 UK coin was a cracker and only the second coin I bought.
    The first was the EU coin (the blue and silver one) and perhaps for that reason it has become one of my all-time favourites.
    Mind you, I can also blame it for costing me a small fortune since :lol:

    Yep, the Moun10bike coin was the first trackable coin as far as I know and the one that really kicked it all off.
    One question that I would like to know is which was the first publicly "ownable" coin, as the Moun10bikes are pre-activated by the man himself?
    Last edited by The Klever Boys; 18th October 2008 at 07:42 PM.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Klever Boys View Post
    Mind you, I can also blame it for costing me a small fortune since :lol:
    You have got the most extensive coin list on your profile that I've seen within UK. Do you try and get everyone? It must be getting impossible to keep up with them all now, as there are so many appearing.

  14. #14

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    Collectible geocoins come in all shapes and sizes, and can be tracked in the same way as Travel Bugs.

    A geocoin is a special coin created by individuals or groups of geocachers as a kind of signature item or calling card. They travel from geocache to geocache or are shared among friends, picking up stories along the way. Like Travel Bugs, each geocoin is assigned a unique tracking ID which allows interested parties to participate in its adventures online.
    Moun10Bike's geocoins were the very first - the original - geocoins available. Moun10Bike is an exceptional geocacher who has provided much assistance to geocaching.com over the past few years. It is exciting to find one of Moun10Bike’s geocoins out in the wild. Today, the variety of geocoins is impressive! Coming in all shapes and sizes, they are made by other geocachers to commemorate special events or as a signature item to leave in caches. Some people choose to keep collectible geocoins in private collections; this is done with the consent of the coin owners.


    From here

    http://support.groundspeak.com/Suppo...id=282&nav=0,5

    I still have two of those UK coins unactivated in my collection at home.
    "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."

  15. #15

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    The first ownable geo coins were the canadian geo coins

    The first trackable on GC were USA geo coins and i remember that these were quite rare this side of the pond.

    There are lots of trackables out there such as geofish, geocaching army , pathtags and of course the coins and jeeps and diabeties tags.

    Many coins are available by exchange only so the easiest way to get a large collection is to create your own exchange only coin.

    I have a few rare ones in my collection such as the dreamcatchers and morpho butterflies most of my collection comes from the first few years when collecting them was just taking off so its now worth quite a lot more than when i bought them (rather the UK coin club under team maddie bought them)

    Hope that helps !!
    "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."

  16. #16

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    I'm back from holidays and interested in the posts. I see a thread has been set up on the history.

    I released my first coin, the beautiful NortIron 2008 and it's currently sitting in Buttern Hill on Dartmoor. What a great cache that is. We released to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. You never know the coin may out last our marriage!!!!
    Ho hum!

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mrs Blorenge View Post
    You have got the most extensive coin list on your profile that I've seen within UK. Do you try and get everyone? It must be getting impossible to keep up with them all now, as there are so many appearing.
    Yep, the collection is getting pretty large now and the good thing is that although there are many appearing, I can always revert back to my collection of traders to prevent having to pay out for new ones (especially given how the £ is these days). Having said that, it's the European coins that can be more expensive as although we might pay slightly less on postage than our friends across the pond, we get done for an extra 17.5% VAT

    I do a lot of trading (especially to the USA) and I'm lucky to have a wide network of contacts, many of which look out for me, as I do for them.
    Just lately I have managed to snag some very rare coins via big deals (e.g. 2005 Groundspeak Volunteer, Waymarking Bounty and 2008 Garmin Colorado). All good fun

    Russ

  18. #18

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    The latest trackable I have noticed around is the geogem.... whatever next :wacko:
    Happy Caching

    Gazooks

    - Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.

  19. #19

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    The GeoGems are rather attractive. I got a set of 4 from USA a couple of months back. I've only activated one, two of them went to friends, and I have one still sitting here in my unactivated geocoins box.

    I also got this geocoin from Map@Syst in the post this morning. It's owned by the Company but it's starting its travels here in Wales. I don't know how many they're distributing but if anyone else wants one, contact Amy Hays ahays@tamu.edu

    I'd also like to see one of these Eartha geocoins from DeLorme but it will probably be a while before one turns up here in U.K.

    After a quick prowl around this morning I've found the following link all about the very first geocoins, the Moun10Bike geocoin, version 1. (See drop-down for all versions)
    Last edited by Mrs Blorenge; 29th October 2008 at 09:44 AM. Reason: Link to Moun10Bike geocoins added.

  20. #20

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    Very Interesting, thanks Mrs B - I wonder if any made it over here and if and when they did?

    Could be a good candidate for the first geocoin to be logged in the UK. If anyone knows, and could point me to the cache ref. it was logged through, I could include it in my timeline for the history of UK geocaching.

    H

  21. #21

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    Just found this Topic on the GSP Geocoins Discussion Forum: It gives some more interesting background info -

    A little geocoin history, please.

  22. #22

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    Thanks for that Mrs B - I've posted to the thread asking if anyone knows which was the first geocoin to get over here - I'll wait and see....

    H

  23. #23
    forestferret Guest

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    how come so of you have collections of geocoins ??
    i thought you were supposed to pick them up and move them around to another cache site to compleate a mission ??
    or am i just being dumb lol

  24. #24
    careygang Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by forestferret View Post
    how come so of you have collections of geocoins ??
    i thought you were supposed to pick them up and move them around to another cache site to compleate a mission ??
    or am i just being dumb lol
    Yes and No is the answer to your question...

    Pre-Geocoin, 'Coins' are a large part of US uniformed service culture; by that I mean from Military through Police, Fire etc. 'Coins' are minted to commemorate special events, as Unit souvenirs, or even by Commanders as tokens of thanks to their subordinates for a job well done (you have to realise that US culture is far more 'reward driven' than in the UK).

    So there is a great culture of 'Coin Collecting' in the US that is not like the monetary coin collecting that a Brit would normally think of when coin collecting is mentioned. It would not be unusual for a member of a US uniformed service to have a display of coins they owned, either from purchasing them as mementos of Units they served with or been given by previous commanders as 'well done' tokens.

    So, to 'geocoins'. As we know the original intent is that they are a trackable as part of geocaching. But probably due to a combination of their attractivness and the aforementioned 'Coin Collecting' culture, there has developed a sub-culture of Geocoin collecting. Whilst there are quite a lot of legitimate collectors, who collect and display their collections at Events for fellow cachers to 'discover',there is a darker side. That is where coin thiefs will remove coins from caches to keep for their own hidden pleasure. They can never show them to other cachers since if anyone tries to log a 'discovered' it will show up as a missing/misappropriated coin.

  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by forestferret View Post
    how come so of you have collections of geocoins ??
    i thought you were supposed to pick them up and move them around to another cache site to compleate a mission ??
    or am i just being dumb lol
    Most of the geocoins that I've bought (and a few that I've had given to me) I have 'activated' - That means that they belong to me and they show up in The Blorenges account. Of these activated geocoins most are out in the wild travelling so that others may find them and move them on. By doing this other cachers get the icon for my geocoin on their profile. I have about a dozen activated geocoins which I haven't released for travel - either because they are particularly attractive and I fear they might get nicked, or because they have some sentimental value to me e.g. We have a cat geocoin named after our cat who is no more, I have a caving coin which I bought to mark completing the UnderWorld series of caches and one of the original UK geocoins that was given to me by another geocacher. Some geocachers will buy several of the same geocoin, then activate one to have in their account and use the others to trade with other coiners, for other unusual geocoins.
    Some folks will buy a geocoin they like for their collection but then make a 'copy' of it (usually by photocopying it and laminating it) to release into caches.

    (Sorry! Just realised that I've wandered off Topic... Maybe I'll go and start a new one for further discussion...)
    Last edited by Mrs Blorenge; 22nd November 2008 at 09:50 PM. Reason: To smack own wrist.

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