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Post by EelKat on May 9, 2011 20:26:36 GMT -5
On another forum I found a question, which I thought I'd bring over here, to find out what folks here had to say about this:
Geocoin help Please?
Hey everyone, Newbie here, I have decided that geocaching is a gateway drug. It has lead to a geocoin addiction. I found my 1st trackable coin yesterday and will be moving it tomorrow. I have purchased 2 very cool geocoins and do not plan on sending them into the wild. Should I activate these coins so they show up as inventory on my profile? Does activating decrease the value of the coin? I may take 1 coin with me at all times and "dip" them into every cache to log mileage so i will have to activate that one. It seems like people use these coins in many different ways. I just purchased the coins as souvenirs for my start into Geocaching. Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Post by EelKat on May 9, 2011 20:27:26 GMT -5
Here is the answer I wrote over there:
I just started collecting a few coins and was curious about the pros and cons of activating vs not activating. It seems like a lot of traders advertise that their coins are unactivated. I haven't done anything with coins yet. But I plan to and I'll tell you about what I think of the whole "worth more unactivated" thing... Outside of geocaching I am a collector (of just about everything! LOL! comics, records, milkglass, salt shakers, shells, cats, roosters, ponies....you name it I probably have a small collection of it). Comics are my big thing though (going for a Guinness record with them and close to it now), but I'm an odd sort of collector - and I drive other comic collectors crazy - I'll bid huge amounts of money to get some rare comic book that was still sealed in it's original shrink wrap, and than I'll go home open it up and read it.  Major no-no in the comic book world. I did this a few years back and several of the people whom I out bid, went hysterical and wanted to know why I did it: my answer was simple: I don't collect comics to have them sit on the shelf unread, I actually want to read the stories inside. I don't care how much the money value is. I'm not buying this as an investment, I'm not going to resell it, and in this instance the issue was so rare that the only one I could find happened to still be shrink wrapped - I wanted that issue, it had a limited edition story in it by Don Rosa, my favorite comic book author and I wanted to read it. You see, I don't collect things because I'm investing in their value. I never buy something I would resell later. I collect things, because they are things that I enjoy. And just like how I want to read the story in the comic books, when I start collecting geocoins, I'll do it for the story of the coin's travels, not for any so-called money value the coin has. So in that light, I say ACTIVATE THEM ALL! Send them out there, let them travel, let them build up a history, let them become legends - because that's what I'm going to be looking for. And in my case, keeping the coin would not be my goal - I would rather have a scrapbook full of photos of me with the coins I've found, so I could says: "See, I found it, and for a short while it was in my possession, see, here's the proof. I kept it for a short while and than I sent it on it's way for some one else to be able to find and enjoy." I think, geocoin collecting is like fishing: every one wants to go after the big one that got away, but when some one captures it than takes it home and hangs it on their wall, the fun is gone - FOR EVERY ONE! No more can there be fishing trips in hopes of catching the "big one". That's how I see geocoins: I think they should be out there in circulation so every one can have a chance at trying to catch it, but than once they've caught it - don't keep it, just take your picture with it and let it go for the next person to be able to enjoy the pleasure of catching it too. However, thus far I've been activating mine even though I don't think I'll be circulating them. I might show them to other cachers though, so I wanted to let them be discoverable. Is it not really worth activating them just for that? Does it devalue a coin to activate it? Many people will activate every coin they own. They take them to events so others can discover them. So over time the coins build up a history of where they have been and who has seen them. For some that adds value. Yes. This is the other road I like to see: if you are going to keep it, activate it so others can find it and record their find. Let your coins have stories for you to tell the grandkids about. What good will it be to show the coins to your grandkids, if you don't have a great story to tell them about the coins? I only have one of my coins activated. It travels with me to all caches and events and acts as a sort of mileage tracker. I had not thought of doing this with a coin. I'm going to do it with my car, my atv, and my RV though - so that I can keep track of where I went with what vehicle, and allow people to discover them as well. |
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Major no-no in the comic book world. I did this a few years back and several of the people whom I out bid, went hysterical and wanted to know why I did it: my answer was simple: I don't collect comics to have them sit on the shelf unread, I actually want to read the stories inside. I don't care how much the money value is. I'm not buying this as an investment, I'm not going to resell it, and in this instance the issue was so rare that the only one I could find happened to still be shrink wrapped - I wanted that issue, it had a limited edition story in it by Don Rosa, my favorite comic book author and I wanted to read it.