Geocoin Theft

[Team Simpson IOM]

:angry:

I have logged a few coins lately that have been drilled or otherwise defaced by their owners to stop them being stolen by collectors. Technically that's what it is when you remove a coin from a cache and don't log it and keep it for your own collection. I have had a limtied edition Isle of Man Geocoin stolen form (GCXYDT) A53 Tak a tern on the old road Coin No TBNFB9 Tracking no PC3AMA

It's really annoying to think that a coin I bought has been taken and kept by somebody, but this is becoming all to common these days...

Also the owners put these coins out to travel around and give others a chance to see them.

So if you have ever kept a coin or know someone who has.... MOVE it on and don't be a selfish *$%& and don't spoil it for the rest of uswho play by the rules

[deepdiggingmole]

Originally Posted by jimblonduk

Ok, just supposing I visited someone who shows me their coin collection and I find a few that have been 'drilled', what should my course of action be ?

I havent, they havent and I would if it ever did.

Can they be reported to the GAGB, or maybe to Groundspeak with a view to their membership and therefore their access to co-ordinates being removed. I'm sure the police wouldnt want to know although with tracking numbers proving the offence shouldnt be too difficult.

Just my Tuppenny worth

With regard to the police - I am aware that some Police forces would consider the matter seriously in that they would create a crime report and do any enquiries possible - it is a theft - though unless there are lines of of enquiry that could identify the offenders you will probably find the report 'filed - pending further information coming to light' - I know my local police would consider the matter as 'theft' as the item has been taken without the owners permission with the intent to permanently deprive - irrespective of how it was obtained (left in a plastic container in the middle of some woods - could be considered 'being dumped') - because the owner has control of it (to a degree) and it is owned then it is theft if taken.
I am aware that many cachers will not have reported missing property because of the unlikelyhood of there being a positive outcome and I am not sure how much information groundspeak would divulge if requested, but if anyone has an idea as to the identity of the thieves then I would advocate 'report it'

tim - ddm

[toxo]

I'm a newbie who is very confused by this thread. I thought the idea was to cache stuff that had no real value. If the only way to acquire a collection of coins is to buy them, why would you put them in a cache?
I would love to see something of mine go around the world, but would be just as happy if it was a traveling log sheet with no value that could be signed by everyone on the way.
I'm made up at finding this pastime. Me and the dogs have never had so much exercise and I found my first cache a couple of days ago. The problem now is that I'm reluctant to say that there was a coin in it and alert someone who has a mind to go and steal it and therefore it can't be right. If it stops geocaching working to it's fullest potential then surely we must stop putting anything valuable in the cache.
Just my tuppenceworth. I hope I haven't missed something and am talking out of turn. Just seems obvious to me that the longer it goes on, the more "collectors" there will be and it's well known that some collectors are not fussy about how they come by their collectables.

[Matthew 7:7 Too]

It's a risk you have to accept when sending trackables on their journeys. I keep a duplicate at home of coins that I particularly like - but then they're not fulfilling their real purpose of travelling around. There's less of an issue with trackable items as you can release things you don't mind losing. And the culprits aren't always cachers of course as muggles (ie non-cachers) have also been known to come across a cache (by accident or intent) and destroy it. The cache owner then loses his container etc as well as any trackables in the cache at the time.

Unfortunately there will always be some idiots who can't play by the rules, or who just enjoy stopping others from enjoying themselves.

On the other hand, I'll always treasure a moment when I was hunting for a cache in a large hollow tree. Then I saw what appeared to be the landowner walking towards me with 2 large dogs. I was conscious that I had strayed from the footpath through her land by a few yards, so decided to explain I was admiring the age and size of the old tree. "Yes" she replied, "and look here, there's a box hanging in it! People come from all over to write in a little book in it!" I felt I had explain that I was just about to do the same, and what geocaching was all about. She had obviously known about the cache for some time, but was happy to just keep a watching eye over it for the owner.

Chris

[toxo]

Nice story Chris.
I'm not up to speed yet on trackables and travellerbles but IINM, it's part of the game to log into the website and tell people where these things are when you find them, which is like a beacon to any lowlife in the area who just has to go pick em up.
It seems to me that collecting the bits and pieces is a spin off from the original objective of the game but it's grown to the state where I guess it would be impossible to change anything.
I do hope I won't feel too foolish when I learn a bit more in the future and look back over these ramblings.

Paul

[Doc]

Here is the State's I just got off vacation. I hit about 500+ caches in the
4 days I was gone. At one point in 87 Geocaches. In those caches
I should have found 37 Travel bugs but I did not find any. I tagged them to
check up on them to see if maybe someone before me picked them
up. After waiting two weeks they are still unaccounted for.

Coins are really a no no here. Drop a coin and it's gone. What I have
noticed after 20K caches is that cachers are making a photo copy of
the coin and putting them in a plastic coin container. Most of the time
you only find them at events.


Happy Hiking

Doc

[DrDick&Vick]

I tend to drill a nice hole or two in my coins, this seems to deter the 'collectors'

[bmatbev]

I am new to this and have not yet been out looking, but i intens to go tomorrow. How will I establish which items should be traded and which should be moved on? And by moved on, does that mean that I keep hold of them until i find another cache to put them in?

Sorry if i sound stupid, but i dont want to wrongfully take something that should be left in the cache or put things in the wrong place. I am very excited!! lol

[martybartfast]

Originally Posted by bmatbev

I am new to this and have not yet been out looking, but i intens to go tomorrow. How will I establish which items should be traded and which should be moved on? And by moved on, does that mean that I keep hold of them until i find another cache to put them in?

Sorry if i sound stupid, but i dont want to wrongfully take something that should be left in the cache or put things in the wrong place. I am very excited!! lol

"Trackables" include Travel Bugs, which will have a (usually) metal dog tag on them with a tracking number; and Geocoins, which will be some sort of metal item, often coin shaped but also some come in the other shapes too, these will also have a tracking code on them. Both usually, but not always, say somewhere "trackable on geocaching.com".

If you take a trackable, you need to log the find on the website, using the link on the left hand side of the page for "Trackable Items", and yes you hold onto it until you find somewhere to leave it, but it's considered bad form to keep a trackable for more than a few weeks.

If you take a trackable item you don't need to leave anything in it's place.

Anything else is a "swap" item, and you're expected to leave something of equal or greater value in it's place.

Oh and welocme

[Mrs Blorenge]

Important...

If you find a trackable (a geocoin or a travel bug) and take it from the cache make a note of the tracking number on the item before you drop it off in a new cache.

A classic error is to pick such an item out of a cache, then drop it into another cache found during the same trip out. Then when you get home and have to log that you 'retrieved it from Whatever cache' and 'placed it in Theothercache' you realise you haven't got that vital tracking number to put in the appropriate box.

Then your stuck.

You either have to go back to the cache to find out what the number was or send an email to the owner explaining what's happened...