Original Stash

This geocoin commemorates a plaque that commemorates the original geocache that was placed by Dave Ulmer days after the government of the United States removed the intentional degradation of the GPS signal. And yes indeed there was a can of beans in the original geocache.

Here is the story of the O.C.B. (Original Can of Beans) from geocacher Team 360:

Dave Ulmer placed it into the Original Stash. The lid of the bucket was damaged by a passing Oregon road crew mower, and the bucket quickly filled with rain. After only a few finds, Dave pulled the bucket out of the ground and dumped the rainwater back into the hole, and the Can of Beans went with it...

Fast forward to Sept 2003: I arrived in Portland to cement the Original Stash Tribute Plaque into place, and met Dave Ulmer at the site (I had invited him out for the 'ceremony'). While removing the dirt from the almost-filled hole left by the bucket, I dug up the Can. Another cacher, RomadPilot, just happened to be running video at the time, and we caught the whole episode, with Dave verifying on-camera that it was indeed the Original Can of Beans. This video was posted on PDXGeocaching.com at one time, and I do have a copy of it on my computer. Several other cachers were there at that time, including Makaio, a local cacher who was one of the few to actually find the O.C.B. still in the Original Stash, before Dave pulled it.

I asked Dave if he would like to have the Can back, but he told me to go ahead and keep it.

I carefully straightened out the metal the best I could, treated it with rust stopper/converter and several coats of UV-resistant polyurethane, and have it displayed in it's glass case, most recently seen at GeoWoodstock4.

I have traveled over 25,000 miles with the Can, to different Events and get-togethers, so that many others could see it.

- Team 360

The O.C.B. made a single appearance on eBay, with a starting price of $7,500. For the reaction from the geocaching community, check out this thread on the gc.com forums.

Size: 50 mm | Weight: 57.4 g