If there’s one thing I never leave home without, it’s my Sta2Key Geocoin. Officially activated on June 23, 2012, in Nevada, United States, this gold ROT13 Decoder Key Chain geocoin has been riding shotgun on my geocaching journey—and every other journey, really—for over 13 years. As of today (July 14, 2025), it’s clocked a staggering 180,255.7 miles.
More Than Just a Coin
This isn’t just any geocoin. The Sta2Key was the very first trackable my family bought for me when I began geocaching. At the time, I’d already found over 300 caches (oops—should’ve started logging those miles sooner!). From that day forward, it’s been attached to my GPS device like a loyal sidekick, helping me decode cache hints on the fly and adding an extra layer of geeky fun to the hunt.
A Little History—and Mystery—Behind the Coin
Designed as a functional ROT13 decoder, this geocoin celebrates one of the quirkiest parts of geocaching: secret hints written in cipher. ROT13, short for “rotate by 13 places,” was used way back in the 1st century BC, allegedly by Julius Caesar himself (and hey, rumor has it he loved geocaching, too). The cipher simply swaps each letter for the one 13 places down the alphabet—making it perfect for keeping geocache hints secret unless you’re in the know.
Whenever I spot a cryptic hint like “Guvf vf n fznyy pbyhza,” my Sta2Key is ready to reveal the answer (“This is a small column,” in case you’re wondering).
Ride-or-Die Trackable
Unlike most trackables that travel from cache to cache, my Sta2Key is a true personal traveler. It’s permanently attached to my keychain—meaning it goes wherever I go, whether I’m hiking up mountain trails, navigating city streets for urban caches, or simply making a late-night grocery run. It’s less “trackable in the wild” and more “can’t-leave-home-without-it.”
Want to Follow Along?
Curious where my Sta2Key has been? You can check out its travel bug map and see its globetrotting adventures here: Sta2Key Geocoin Map.
It’s incredible how a little gold decoder has become such a huge part of my caching story. Here’s to many more miles—and many more secrets decoded.
Caching with Craig 