Bitcoin Forum

I'm selling a super rare Casascius coin: A Series-2 0.5 BTC Silver.

While there are many 0.5 BTC silver coins in existence, almost all of them feature the Series 3 hologram. This coin is unique in that it features a Series 2 hologram. Only 45 of these coins exist, which I believe is the lowest mintage of any coin/sticker combo aside from the 500+ BTC coins.

This coin comes with a PGP-signed chain of custody: I'll provide the buyer with a PGP-signed document from Mike Caldwell stating that I'm the original owner of the coin, and I'll also provide my own PGP-signed document, using the same fingerprint, stating that I've transferred ownership of the coin from me to you. I'll add your PGP fingerprint to my message, in case you'd like to sell this coin later on. Years from now, a chain of custody will be crucial in discerning real coins from fakes; this is a great opportunity to cover your bases.

Pictures of the coin can be provided to serious buyers. The coin is currently in an airtite case in a safety deposit box.

Asking price 10 BTC.

Update: Here's a couple of photos of one of the coins, so you can clearly see the Series 2 hologram. This specific coin has been sold; the one for sale right now has a different address.

https://i.imgur.com/GlOaA59h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/aBdIPr0h.jpg

what's the market value of a series 1 25BTC piece?

That's a good question.  The error coin thread lists 30 as the highest known sale price, but I'm not sure!

I hope I'm not thread hijacking here nubbins...

The best answer we can really give right now, vokain, is the extremely broad range of 30 BTC  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=214589.msg2250539#msg2250539) to 80 BTC. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=333913.0).

There are Mintages available at that link that show the number of pieces minted, and remaining Active, of various denominations and series.

The behavior of most collectible markets dictate that lower rarity carries higher premiums.  The Bitcoin collectible market is still, relatively speaking, still a baby. Right now, serious imbalances exist to that rule of thumb.  That might be because this market will decide to break from collectible convention...or it might mean there are currently opportunities screaming collectors in the face and oh god i wish i had more bitcoins to snap up more pieces.  Ahem...anyway, it's one of those two...in hindsight we'll get to find out which  ;)

Relevant data we can use to try to narrow in on a range:

Original mintages, and coins still active:

S1    345   216
S2    486   343

So 62.6% of the S1s remain Active, while 70.5% of the S2s remain active.
For total volumes, the # remaining for each is very low.
(Yet you'll notice that the 0.5 Silver S2 has a relative rarity that is far lower, at 45 minted. There - not a thread hijack anymore :-P)

As for historical prices...I know an S1 has sold for 30 in the past - ages ago.
I know that someone  ::) has an S1 up for sale right now. Unfortunately, it is not only graded, but graded with exceptional quality - MS-65.  So it's got an 80 BTC price tag.
Somewhere in between 30 and 80, presumably, is the current willing buy price for a 25 BTC S1 Brass [NG].  It's a situation where I wish the market were larger, because invariably my offering would be undercut, a willing seller would come along, and we'd establish a true price.

Until that occurs, there is a window of opportunity on this coin - a window that swings both ways.  It remains unknown what the premium is.  Potentials buyers and sellers each stand to make or lose more significant numbers of Bitcoins than in buying a more established market, such as a 1 BTC Brass S1 [NG].

One of the frustrations in being a somewhat central source of this information is in dealing with and respecting other's data privacy.

I have information on a 25 BTC Brass S2 [NG] sale, but have been asked to share neither the seller nor its price. (In these cases, I wish I hadn't been informed.)
Keep in mind an S2 has 158% the Active Mintage as an S1.
This means that in the interim, there is partial information. At least a few buyers and sellers have an idea of a going price, but the marketplace as a whole does not.

That runs rather counter to the whole point of the marketplace. The more information that is shared, the better I and others will be able to answer questions such as the one you asked.

I have finally obtained a new Adobe PDF signing key (last one was expired), so I have resent a new signed certification to nubbins including signed PDF as well as PGP.

Hey, thanks, Mike!

I think chains of custody are going to be really valuable in the future (talking long-term here, 5-10 years or more from now), and I appreciate the time you've taken to provide them.

Trying to get rich off something not worth even half of that. If there was a way to make a wager against this selling for 5 BTC or more, I would for surely accept that. However, I could not since obviously you could just make a new account and "sell" it to them. Just because something is low numbered or a 1 of 1 doesn't mean its worth 20x its face value. I can show you many "extremely rare" baseball autograph jersey cards that fit this description for example. Your coin and its rarity is worth 2.5-3.5 BTC tops.

My BTC0.02

Hey imardern, thanks for replying!

You could always attach some conditions to the wager, I suppose, but the point remains (and is duly noted).

One of the problems with low-mintage, high-ticket items like Casascius coins is that the buying market is pretty thin -- it's difficult to get a sense of the true worth of an item when it's out of reach of the majority of interested buyers.

I will note that I have sold one of these coins for more than the range you suggest, although just one! While I haven't yet had any bites at 10 BTC, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to prices long-term. I'm in no urgent rush to sell these, so stay tuned, I guess, and we'll hopefully figure out what people are willing to pay for these :)

Holiday bump :)

Sub 500btc coin?   Ummm, was any coin produced between 25btc to 1000btc?

Zombie thread! Where's that lock button...

I think there were 500btc bars but no coins.