Trackable tales—An underground discovery
Many geocachers own trackables that travel far or reach their goals, but it’s not every day that a trackable resurfaces after being missing for over 18 years. Released in 2005, this geocoin traveled for just over six months before going dormant—underground. Read on to learn the incredible story of how this geocoin was found and returned.
In February 2024, GaryJoeS, who was not a geocacher at the time, took his two grandsons metal detecting at Burke Town Hall Park in Madison, Wisconsin. Among their finds of the day was a USA Geocoin with the words “Celebrating 5 Years of Geocaching 2000-2005” written on one side and Geocaching.com on the other. Upon his return home, GaryJoeS noticed the words “Track This Coin” and a tracking number.
Although GaryJoeS was unfamiliar with trackables at the time, he reached out to Geocaching HQ via the Help Center to see if he could return the geocoin to its owner. Geocaching HQ Lackeys quickly determined that the coin was TBJND2, owned by FyndersKeypers. This geocoin was released on April 10, 2005, at GCMMYW in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. From there, the geocoin traveled to California, where it visited several geocaches. Its last known sighting before February 2024 was October 22, 2005, in Orange County, California.
The geocoin never made it into a geocache in Wisconsin as planned. While the exact details remain unknown, the geocoin was likely lost en route to a geocache in Wisconsin. Over time, the geocoin became covered by soil and eventually ended up about four inches underground.
Geocaching HQ connected GaryJoeS with Hiker1965, a family member of FyndersKeypers, who passed away. GaryJoeS said,
“As fate would have it, my wife and I were planning to take a drive down to Florida to visit relatives in the upcoming weeks. We arranged a meet-and-greet with the family, drove to Florida by way of Kentucky, and did a personal hand-off of the coin! We had a very nice visit with them. They were so appreciative of our efforts and it was a really nice feeling to see the smiles on their faces and to hear how much the coin meant to them. We’re glad we were able to bring the geocoin full circle, back to its rightful home.”
While not every trackable has a story as surprising as this one, USA Geocoin TBJND2 reminds us that hope is not lost for missing trackables. If one of your trackables is missing, perhaps one day it will turn up in the hands of a metal detector like GaryJoeS.
