Geocoins

What is a Geocoin? A Geocoin is a metal coin minted like a medallion or a military challenge coin. They are used exclusively in geocaching. While most are metal, some wooden geocoins are in caches as well.

The neat thing about geocoins is that many of them are trackable using a serial number and website address etched on the coin. People can have personal geocoins made and use them as signature item bearing the geocacher's handle or name and their own unique design, similar to a heraldic device.

A lot of the geocoins made are minted by caching clubs and used as fund raisers for events involving geocachers.They are sometimes placed in caches as signature items(cool swag!) to be found and kept by others, usually as a first to find prize. Other geocoins are moved from cache to cache like a travel bug, some are traded, and some are sold to collectors.

Trackable Geocaching.com geocoins are imprinted with unique codes and tracked via the geocaching.com website. Some trackable geocoins may not have been activated yet. I am keeping a record of cool geocoins that I come across on my blog. If you are looking for ideas for geocoins to hunt for on either ebay or out in the wild, you can go to my www.coolgeocoins.com/blog.

Here is a good article I came across about the first geocoin and how it came to be.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"The idea of a custom coin as a signature item immediately struck a chord with me. It was an object that would be unique, immediately identifiable, easy to carry around in a backpack, and – based on the popularity of coin collecting – highly desirable."

"With some leads from Silver, I started researching online businesses that produce coins and got to work on coming up with a compelling design. The design was the easy part: I used my mountain biking logo (which I had developed years earlier for a t-shirt design for my riding buddies and me) on one side and an alteration of the Groundspeak logo (one that fit better on a round surface) on the reverse. "

"Deciding on a supplier for the coins was a bit more difficult, but after some web surfing and several phone calls, I had one picked out. I decided on the features that I wanted on my coins (color, numbering, etc.) and then I sat back and waited for the coins to arrive."

Read the rest of it here.