This topic contains 27 replies, has 19 voices, and was last updated by 
JimandLinda 10 years, 1 month ago.
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@northwoods Tom wrote:
@zuma wrote:
Sometimes coins gone for years will reappear.
I know you have been a member for a long time, so I’ll ask. What has been the longest period of time so far that a coin has been missing before it showed up again?
The geocaching podcast (http://www.podcacher.com) has been talking about these on the last few shows. A number of listeners have contributed and a few have interesting stories.
Just this last week one was found by a treasure hunter with his metal detector and they did some research to figure out what it was all about and got it returned. I think this one was missing for about a year.
Here’s one they had on show 385 a few weeks ago that was MIA for 6 years. http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tracker=TB405D
We’ve put out 34 trackables over the past few years – 12 are still active. About 50% geocoins and 50% TBs. Although it’s disappointing when they go missing, my expectation is actually that most WILL go missing. Those that are still moving are a great pleasure to follow and make it all worth it, and once in a while one pops back up after being inactive for 6 months to a year+. We will continue to put them into play in hopes that a lucky few will continue on. For me that’s a realistic expectation.
A new strategy we’ll likely be adopting in the future is to use less desireable objects for travelbugs so that people hopefully won’t want to keep the objects. If I attach Batman to a TB dogtag it almost certainly will disappear. However if I attach a thimble, a skeleton key, or any routine household item I’m guessing that it will have a better chance of surviving. With coins I’ll just put them into a double-fold plastic sleeve with the other half stating PLEASE DON’T KEEP ME and explaining what a geocoin is. Whatever then happens, happens. 8)
I had a thread in the Geocoin forum a while back about two of my geocoins that suddenly reappeared after having disappeared for several years…I still have a number that appear to have permanently gone AWOL. But…you never know!!!
:bartrod:Oconto...the birthplace of western civilization:)
I just redid “The Lock Box”. Released 2 new keys. “The Key #1” and “The Key #2”. I posted pics with the entries. now i’m being flooded by people logging that they “Discovered in the gallery”. What is this? they discovered a picture of my tb? I don’t like it. When did this start? i haven’t even released 1 yet.
@peach107 wrote:
I just redid “The Lock Box”. Released 2 new keys. “The Key #1” and “The Key #2”. I posted pics with the entries. now i’m being flooded by people logging that they “Discovered in the gallery”. What is this? they discovered a picture of my tb? I don’t like it. When did this start? i haven’t even released 1 yet.
anytime the actual tracking number is displayed on a photo anywhere instead of the Reference number, you run the risk of people logging discoveries.
this virtual logging happens a lot though it is against Groundspeak rules and can actually result in the trackable being locked so that even legitimate finds are denied. All virtual logs should be deleted and tracking numbers obscured in photos. in your Cache listing you also included the tracking number instead of the reference number.Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.
thanks. i’ll have to fix that
I delete all bogus finds on our trackables, sometimes I really wish things could not be discovered, or you could turn off discovery on certain trackables
@northwoods Tom wrote:
@zuma wrote:
Sometimes coins gone for years will reappear.
I know you have been a member for a long time, so I’ll ask. What has been the longest period of time so far that a coin has been missing before it showed up again?
Here is one of my coins that went missing in 2007, only to reappear in 2012:
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tracker=TB1HEG3
z
We have a confession to make. Our first attempt at moving a geocoin ended in disaster. We tryed to log it and we couldn’t. My wife took it anyway. We dropped it off in a cache with the hope the next finder can fix it. We have since learned from that mistake and now have our own TBs out. Right now one of ours is in Nevada and not moving but being discovered. The rest are in stand still for the longest while.
I’ve traveled the same frustrating road as every other trackable owner and have all but given up. Anyone familiar with S|S trackables knows that many have significant emotional connections, stories I hoped to share with cachers who appreciate what can happen when you tie something significant to a trackable’s mission or existence.
I recently grabbed a trackable from a cache and it prompted me to look at my inventory. I have (had) 30 released trackables. Not counting those in my possession or placed with ghost duplicates (13), 16 of the 17 others are MIA and have been missing for 2-7 years. They not only include some VERY nice geocoins with specific missions, but things like a collection of chips from the Berlin Wall that I removed myself shortly after it came down, a robot that I gave my son after a very scary emergency room visit, a coin with a mission to return to the scene of my own harrowing experience in Prague, and the like.
To witness these inevitably appear with a “No TB’s in cache” or “A cache your trackable was in was archived” or like many, languishing in some newbie cacher’s inventory for years, is hard to take. It’s a testament to the lack of respect both cachers and muggles have for trackables and cache owners intent.
I know there isn’t much that can be done when it comes to muggles pillaging a cache, but there has to be something more we can do to educate and inform newbie cachers to prevent at least some of this from happening.
Most of us want to give back to the community as much as we get out of the sport, but when you face this level of disrespect, it’s hard to motivate yourself to keep giving.
I can sympathize with you completely, S/S. My daughter gave me a great coin for Christmas one year…disappeared within a couple of months:(
Oconto...the birthplace of western civilization:)
We’ve released 50 so far, beginning in 2010; only 11 are still active, but we kind of expected that. Naturally, our very favorite ones have been among the first to disappear. Lesson learned – we still send out trackables, but not with objects that are highly desirable.
When the new smart phone cachers can’t find the micros, they head for the regular sized caches and find the “goodies”, having never seen a tutorial on geocaching etiquette. They take the nicest thing in the container, then look for more. In a few weeks or monthes, they find a new tech distraction and forget all about the swag they pilfered. The thrill is gone; time for something new.
I had the privelage of seeing and moving a few s/s TBs. They were like someones child that you were entrusted with until you hopefully found a safe haven for them.
There is now no “safe haven” in the travel bug world. Attach an orhpan to a tag and send it away, with the goal of a long and happy life. Then, don’t look back.
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