Bitcoin Forum

https://i.ibb.co/wycWnmy/f5deac70-d148-432a-9670-ed386170e3d0.png

Snuck in towards the rear of the Stacks Bowers Spring 2023 are 303 offerings of physical cryptocurrency tokens.

Lots 8001-8303 contain physical cryptocurrency examples. Some redeemed, some fully loaded. From a variety of makers.

All lots can be viewed here: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/auctions/3-11DVT6/spring-2023-auction-session-9-cryptocurrency-lots-8001-8303?limit=36

al lots have opened up for pre-bidding today. The auction closes on March 24th.

This is a major effort by grading agencies as well as blue-chip auction houses.

This is the largest physical cryptocurrency auction to date.

https://i.ibb.co/QcDvX8S/Screenshot-2023-02-17-152610.png (https://ibb.co/LPNdvQj)

if anyone has submitted coins to them before, how did it go?

Yeah - can’t say that I am not more than a little sad… disgusted… pissed… to see coins that I bought at presale in October, graded and listed for sale at auction before I even have my presale order filled.

So.. You are saying you bought a set of the gilt lealanas? Sorry, just confused on what set you mean, thanks! :P

Very confusing auction. Looks like some coins were loaded on 6th January, 2023. And some coins we are waiting for are already there.
Is it because not all coins that were ordered are minted?

I literally looked a few days ago and saw no sign of anything crypto coming up.

Ah I see now, sorry...

Did you ever all think that maybe these are smoothie's coins? I did mention to him a few months ago how high his coins were going for on S&B and he didn't seem to know at the time.

Just a theory that makes sense, since the gilt btc set said it's straight from smoothies archive/collection as well. 🤷‍♂️

Valid. Now we know

https://imgur.com/a/zUbhBsc

I’m only talking about these.  I thought of the forum as a space for collectors, but more and more each day it’s becoming more about exploiting it to make money… from overpriced eBay resellers to stacks and bowers flippers - no average collector has a chance anymore. Sorry if my bluntness offends, but it’s just who I am. 

You should have mentioned that they should be funded. Redeemed pieces shit the bed last time lol - not sure what unfunded pieces will do but we will see

Sorry I missed that they were BF... ::) (Long week sorry)!

Well we also have the fact that smoothie also can't load his own btc on them and then send them to S&B afaik, as that would be breaking msl/fincen rules etc. So yeah, I have no idea here either, @smoothie where are you hahaha... ;D

Impressive auction. Stacks Bowers never fails to impress :o

Its an easy process, if you PM me I'm happy to make the introduction.

Super curious to see what the Lealana cents go for 👀, I always wonder how this stuff seems to get a super high premium though I suppose we're still a small community at this point...

What a prick move... shady shit IMO!!

 Sorry, just confused on what set you mean, thanks! :P
[/quote] I thought of the forum as a space for collectors, but more and more each day it’s becoming more about exploiting it to make money… from overpriced eBay resellers to stacks and bowers flippers - no average collector has a chance anymore. Sorry if my bluntness offends, but it’s just who I am. 
[/quote]

Just curious here, Precious, and not offended by bluntness at all. I get the frustration of seeing coins you ordered on sale in the secondary market before you get them yourself. Legit frustration. However, not sure I follow you then upset at the forum because people are selling into the secondary market. I bought 5 or 6 coins on the forum this month, including Satoris under $100, -all for great prices. That’s pretty amazing and only available on the forum. You bought a coin from Smoothie at the original price of the coin. You can only get that in on the forum. I would never buy the eBay coins at the high prices they go for, but not sure that secondary activity steals opportunity from collectors on the forum.

I hope these coins on Stacks sell for all time high prices because it drives adoption and brings in more collectors. I think it is still risky for the sellers that are putting coins in the Stacks Auction though; with this many coins selling and in the bear market, there may be some real bargains available. In the last Stack’s auction I bought a CI Hodl redeemed for $20.

I thought of the forum as a space for collectors, but more and more each day it’s becoming more about exploiting it to make money… from overpriced eBay resellers to stacks and bowers flippers - no average collector has a chance anymore. Sorry if my bluntness offends, but it’s just who I am.  
[/quote]

Just curious here, Precious, and not offended by bluntness at all. I get the frustration of seeing coins you ordered on sale in the secondary market before you get them yourself. Legit frustration. However, not sure I follow you then upset at the forum because people are selling into the secondary market. I bought 5 or 6 coins on the forum this month, including Satoris under $100, -all for great prices. That’s pretty amazing and only available on the forum. You bought a coin from Smoothie at the original price of the coin. You can only get that in on the forum. I would never buy the eBay coins at the high prices they go for, but not sure that secondary activity steals opportunity from collectors on the forum.

I hope these coins on Stacks sell for all time high prices because it drives adoption and brings in more collectors. I think it is still risky for the sellers that are putting coins in the Stacks Auction though; with this many coins selling and in the bear market, there may be some real bargains available. In the last Stack’s auction I bought a CI Hodl redeemed for $20.
[/quote]

*****

All I’m saying is thank God for the people still running auctions, because if everyone just sent the stuff to Stacks then this collectibles community forum would be dead. Plus - selling at fair retail value and exploiting people is a huge difference - practically everyone I’ve bought from on the forum has been fair.

I still wonder how many of these CAS coins were bought at auction here and were instantly flipped to Stacks? I bet I can find plenty. Slap in the face to people running auctions IMO. So thanks to the real OGs who keep this place alive and for the people who allow me to win collectibles for my personal collection. I am not one of the smart guys that got into bitcoin early - spent my time buying vintage silver bars as collectibles (also why I LOVE btc collectibles). But in every hobby there are givers, supporters, and takers. Don’t be a taker.

Ok - off my soap box for the evening.

Just curious here, Precious, and not offended by bluntness at all. I get the frustration of seeing coins you ordered on sale in the secondary market before you get them yourself. Legit frustration. However, not sure I follow you then upset at the forum because people are selling into the secondary market. I bought 5 or 6 coins on the forum this month, including Satoris under $100, -all for great prices. That’s pretty amazing and only available on the forum. You bought a coin from Smoothie at the original price of the coin. You can only get that in on the forum. I would never buy the eBay coins at the high prices they go for, but not sure that secondary activity steals opportunity from collectors on the forum.

I hope these coins on Stacks sell for all time high prices because it drives adoption and brings in more collectors. I think it is still risky for the sellers that are putting coins in the Stacks Auction though; with this many coins selling and in the bear market, there may be some real bargains available. In the last Stack’s auction I bought a CI Hodl redeemed for $20.
[/quote]

*****

All I’m saying is thank God for the people still running auctions, because if everyone just sent the stuff to Stacks then this collectibles community forum would be dead. Plus - selling at fair retail value and exploiting people is a huge difference - practically everyone I’ve bought from on the forum has been fair.

I still wonder how many of these CAS coins were bought at auction here and were instantly flipped to Stacks? I bet I can find plenty. Slap in the face to people running auctions IMO. So thanks to the real OGs who keep this place alive and for the people who allow me to win collectibles for my personal collection. I am not one of the smart guys that got into bitcoin early - spent my time buying vintage silver bars as collectibles (also why I LOVE btc collectibles). But in every hobby there are givers, supporters, and takers. Don’t be a taker.

Ok - off my soap box for the evening.
[/quote]

Hey man I totally hear you.. I've been here almost 9 years in April...  Absolutely everything has changed, quite a few times over in my opinion. I used to flip a lot of coins back in the day, and for the most part I wish I had kept them now lol.. but let's face it this is Bitcoin talk it's not just about Bitcoin it's about money and making it. I try not to let things piss me off here anymore because honestly if you think about this forum too much it can literally drive you crazy. I've seen it with many people here and I've also experienced it myself at times..  we can still be thankful we have this forum to get stuff before the common man so to speak so I'm still grateful for that either way...

 Thanks for your soapbox rant as you probably seen I can rant a lot myself! 😂💥

I think what we are seeing is the maturation of the collector market for certain collections, in particular Casascius and Lealana and possibly Satori and the likes of Crypto Imperator - these coins are gaining acceptance by the "mainstream" collector community as part of the historical record.
When this happens, prices rise because a limited quantity of coins suddenly becomes more widely recognized with a much larger pool of buyers. At the same time, we can expect premiums, especially for non-funded pieces, to stabilize to a (hopefully rising) dollar value as opposed to the BTC-denominated value we use here.

On the heads side of this, this can mean that the earliest coins become increasingly difficult to acquire for non-whales. Unlike a Bitcoin, you can't buy a fraction. Its like this with art, gemstones, and other rare coins or stamps.

On the tails, as the most sought-after items move into the larger and more moneyed mainstream market, new entrants and smaller players can purchase newer collections that still come from within this community - in hopes that in 10 years, they too might command ever-larger premiums - something that is still true in the traditional coin and stamp world where many collect new releases instead of speculating on historical pieces.

The reality is that many collect things not only because they are interesting, but because they are rare and desirable - like bitcoin itself - which then makes them even more difficult to get. Almost every collection gets sold eventually, if not by the collector than by their estate - which is already happening in our space.

I had a quick talk with a guy who claimed to represent Stacks Bowers and was interested in auctioning my Casascius coins collection.  I wasn't comfortable with the way the auction would have gone down from my end, so I wasn't interested.  I am curious about them selling other crypto coins though.  Have any of my Minted Seats ever been sold at a Stacks Bowers auction?  I'm a bit curious how they would be valued by people outside of our little community.  Maybe I need to get in touch with them and ask about NastyFans Minted Seats (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352515.0) and if they'd have any interest in auctioning any.

 I saw your little dime coins up on their site for this auction. This auction says it all. All the coins weve been trading for years will eventually be up for auction. I would imagine minted seat coins will be up this year. For the next couple years it will be a feeding frenzy of coins being auctioned then followed by years of scarcity where the prices will really climb. Physical is going mainstream. I can feel it in my bones.

There's several Nasty's in the current auction. 

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots?search=nasty&lots_range=upcoming

Stacks success doesn’t = real life value. These all end with a bunch of rich guys in the room drinking and bidding. Last auction an Alpen went for $600+ and a genesis btc went for $1200…. Don’t forget the CI pumpkin for $1200. Way over priced but they were the only examples for sale which garnered extra interest. We will see how this one ends up but rarity helps a lot… or even perceived rarity in these stacks auctions.

Very cool.  I would imagine that with more eyes (I don't really advertise or mention these coins much outside of this forum) these coins would sell for quite a bit more than what I offer them for here.  We'll see though.  There are still some available at https://nastyfans.org/mint for those who are interested.  I'll have to keep an eye on these auctions.  If they sell for something ridiculous maybe I'll need to increase prices.   :P

Very cool to see stuff I've made continue to be distributed in different ways and to differed markets.  Thanks for sharing this link.  That gold highlighted Minted Seat is pretty rare... 

  Just because we buy them here cheaper dosent mean that outside of the forum these prices arent legitimate. Demand is increasing and our cheaper prices are only held at bay by peoples inability to find the forum, use btc, and inexperience. If everyone who wanted these coins knew how to get here prices would be through the roof or coins would be gone in 3 seconds. Thats why in my videos i never mention bitcointalk. Its the best kept secret but eventually it will be out. Even still ive seen prices raise pretty high in the last year on the forum. I saw you were upset about people selling so high here and on ebay. I think its a sign of the times and will only get worse. Be happy you had the forsight to get in early. Because eventually your right, it will be rich guys selling the coins, smoking cigars and spending their trust funds.

    I walk by their auction house every day on my way to work...so one day I dropped by after making an appointment with James.

    All I can say is I was greeted very warmly and we discussed crypto coins in general and how the auctions are held.

    I cant say anything negative about them, but the only thing I do not like are the starting prices.

    I have not placed any Casascius coins for sale nor do I plan to....I cannot stomach the idea of starting a casascius loaded coin at $1 and then be at the mercy of the markets.

   If there was a reserve in place I would feel much better. But then thats my two satoshis on the the subject, other might not worry about that at all.

   I say to each his own, but other than that he was great and responded to my emails promptly as well.

   I was planning on grading one of my coins and giving it a try, but PCGS did not grade my coin and they are the only company that I know of that had

jumbo encapsulation services big enough for my coins.

What's the diameter of your coin?  I know NGC has some big cases, but not sure they are accepting crypto coins.

I second that statement. Forum is like a tiny bubble that 99.999% of coin collectors are unaware of. Of course, most of these coin collectors will/currently are not interested in crypto / collectibles themed around crypto. But I am sure at least 1% would be, which would probably amount to several tens of thousand of people.
With cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin becoming more and more mainstream that's already about to slowly but steadily change.

Not sure if I would agree that forum prices were high last year. For some items yes, but if you get lucky you still could get a bunch of amazing collectibles for low every now and then. Except for the mega-og coins I guess, like cas and some Lealanas.

  Hi thanks for inquiring....they are 2.75 inch diameter coins.....PCGS was the only one I came across that had that size encapsulation and also doing crypto...but it turns out they were not doing my crypto for whatever reason  ::)

   I hope someday others might be able to do them as Stacks only accepts encapsulated coins for auction

Ahhh… I was wondering why I was seeing so many coins with low values being auctioned in encapsulated graded slabs. I think it probably cost significantly more to have the 1g coins graded than their original sales price so I was surprised to see so many being auctioned. It makes sense as to why now if it’s a requirement to participate in the auction.

Just received this e-mail from Stacks Bowers. Exciting times for our niche, physical crypto collectibles! :

https://i.postimg.cc/jdW5NLd5/ACF52106-3-DE0-4078-9-E71-9-EA113-BB1-BD9.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/dtz09wL9/2-F876-D6-A-FD64-4-BEB-A66-B-DC3-A1-BFCBA4-C.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

There are a couple of 'slabbed firsts' in this auction. The first PCGS Satori and First PCGS Denarium. Kind of cool coins with that history.

They have two coins"Version Detail # RC-01-xx" made by us,  as well (but not consigned by us)!!  :o  ???

How does one consign to them ?

You can contact James at Stacks and Bowers...  also, elianite (Elias) is someone who you can contact to help with this

What ! that's amazing ! so much crypto coin ! and there is 1HoDLCLUB ! Wow I have no words! It's incredible !  :o

Good on PCGS for waking up finally. Dude who owns NGC is a fool, despite having the best slabs by far (IMO).

Now, when is Heritage going to open up sales ..would be huge.

Crypto auction starts at 5pm EST today.

I will be watching; you should be to.

I have been watching these since the first PCGS MS70 Lealana .1 Buyer Funded Black was sold. It seems like each auction has a "coming out party" for a different creator. Lealana and Casascius were immediately accepted, then BTCC and Satori, then Moonbits. It feels like this might be CryptoImperator's introductory moment. They haven't done well publicly so far and PCGS has rejected grading them. This auction might change all of that. I'm not sure who submitted the CI coins to this particular auction but they probably are going to be happy.

Some HOLY GRAILS will hit the hammer tonight! Due to its low mintage, you don’t see a Silver BTCC coin pop up every day. First time a Casascius superbowl coin hits a major auction house as well I think? Plenty of juicy crypto rarities, I’ll certainly be watching this one!

Good luck to all of you bidding tonight  8)

Does Stacks and Bowers accept BTC for their auctions or do they only accept monopoly fiat money?

Looks like they are accepting crypto payments as well, as they state: ''Winning bidders may also pay their invoice via BitPay for a 1% fee after authorization by Stack’s Bowers Galleries prior to the sale.''

PCGS has links to these auctions in their population report!!! 8)

https://i.imgur.com/m4ePzZO.png

Cool! Seems to be the same for the BTCC items graded by them

Live now, watch on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIHurShzxhY

Nice action so far. Sooo much lealana, awesome.
This will bring much new collectors to the forum im hoping.

Greets Tank

Dont really know what to conclude. Bonkers pricing :-\
Zero consensus on price of premium/s....good for sellers i guess, but too volatile for functioning collectible market.
Did anyone here get involved with this Stacks Bowers auction?

Would have been interested in the blue graded Btcc poker chip but wasn't able to bet. Had 15 minutes to watch the youtube auction during work break. This chip went for 1050$. In the sales list it's declared for 1260$...do they take 20% commission?

I was not impressed by the pricing of this auction.

A great night for buyers, a horrendous night for consigners.

Its as if nobody cares about this market. Its deeply bothersome.  

Looks like I have a ways to go in understanding the market.  I grabbed 5 total coins but none that I targeted due to what I thought was a large premium. 

I bought the CryptoImperator Magic Internet Money Wizard coin. I have been wanting that coin forever and finally decided to pull the trigger

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-11DWGY/2019-crypto-imperator-wizard-0005-bitcoin-loaded-firstbits-1ghnylgi-serial-no-43-silver-ms-69-pl-icg

I ended up buying a number of coins in this auction.

It was a buyers night not so much a sellers night.

Some of the best deals were in the Litecoin category IMO. Some of these rare 2013 pieces were going for near load value. 

A great coin at a really good price here.

 Would love to see a 10BTC Casascius go for auction there....loaded and unloaded.

  I can't recall ever seeing a 10 BTC peeled Cas coin for sale on forum in all these years here.

I purchased several item. Prices seemed really reasonable especially for a lot of the less expensive lots. The 20% premium hurts a bit but was worth it considering the overall prices.

 I was very pleased with the auction. I thought prices were impressive for the older coins. for the new coins; what do you expect for coins a year old. there were more than 130 coins up for auction. In years to come, coins in auction will become less and less as they find permanent homes. Which in turn will mean prices continue to rise. Over the last couple years I have seen a steady gradual rise in everything physical. I am excited for the future and see no reason why physical bitcoin doesn't continue to grow. Hold fast gentlemen. you hold the greatest collectables on the planet

You cant. Its against Caldwell Coin Law to peel a 10BTC. Sacrilege, even  :D   

I just checked...142 peeled 349 active. Does make you wonder how much a peeled 10BTC would go for....

Yeah, rare as hen's teeth :P
I have only ever seen one in all my years....

https://i.imgur.com/xt0yumb.jpg

  For you to say that means quite alot!  LOL

   In all my years in crypto...I was able to acquire a silver 10 BTC redeemed one....and once came across a 10 BTC silver/gilt in very bad shape on ebay years ago. Since then its been pretty dead.

If you ever want to buy a loaded one of either type, you know where you can find them… I think the reason they aren’t seen more often is because buyers want them for 10.5 BTC and sellers want to sell them for 15 BTC. The only sale I can recall ever seeing here was I believe Anduck selling his. I think it was for sale for 14.5 BTC for years before someone finally snagged it.

Hens don't have teeth?

 ??? :-X

Is that the whale guy? (avatar of whale rising from the sea??). He seemed to buy much Casascius. I sold him my one and only 10BTC Cas while he was travelling UK shores, back in the day. It was part of a multi-coin deal, so cant remember how i broke down the cost of the 10BTC Cas.

Drooling... ;D

Regards,
Chris@TBPCo.

How long does it takes Stacks and Bowers to ship out their coins to the winners? I still haven't received tracking or any notification that the package has been shipped

It takes awhile. 2-3 weeks but it will come and you’ll get email notification about it. I’ve only bought a single item on a pre bid I made, as typically stacks is WAY over priced. But this auction it seems like the 306 lots held pricing down, or maybe it was the multiples of the exact same coins. No matter how cheap you feel you won something, after an extra 20% buyers premium, sales tax, and shipping - it’s definitely not as cheap as you originally hoped. In my experience anyways. Maybe they shouldn’t allow normal satori’s anymore, or lot after lot of the same coins. Or do the auction on a Friday night and not an afternoon.

 Not trying to make trouble but it occured to me that you said as the buyer they added 20% premium to the final auction price? I was talking to a seller the other day and he said that the final auction price included the 20% premium and he received quite a bit less. Are they double dipping that 20% premium. 20 from the buyer plus 20 from the seller. Since all the buyers and sellers are here should be able to figure out pretty easily. Any thoughts?

I’ve never sold on Stacks so I have no clue on that end. I was told that the sellers get the hammer price, not sure if they take taxes add taxes or do anything with that. Or have any fees. Someone else will have to chime in there. They also list the sales after the auction with the buyers premium included - which could cause confusion.

I do know I bought a coin for $160 - plus 20% for the buyers premium, plus 8% for taxes, plus I think $10 to ship.  Which made it much more expensive. Imagine the difference on a 1k coin or hell - 50k

Why is there not, a www.MJ_Krog_et-al_CryptoAuctions.com  ??

Here is a summary article for the sale:

https://coinweek.com/auction-news/stacks-bowers-sells-700000-in-bitcoin-physical-cryptocurrency/ (https://coinweek.com/auction-news/stacks-bowers-sells-700000-in-bitcoin-physical-cryptocurrency/)

This auction had good elements and bad elements.

I wish prices were higher but also this is a step towards market maturity.

I got this information yesterday from a rep at S&B regarding upcoming stuff:


Looking forward to them! :D
 

Yes, agreed, happy to see exposure of lots of crypto-collectibles on public display here.
Which pieces you feel went under-value?

The moonbits price here is crazy: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-11DWMW/2018-moonbits-1k-bits-test-run-0001-bitcoin-loaded-firstbits-of484qnm-serial-no-t2097-plastic-ms-67-pcgs
Would need to check, but as far as I know this one was rare indeed. Not even sure if the claimed 200 pieces were produced, afaik it was "up-to 200" but probably less in reality. Will inquire when I got time to do so.

New crypto auction online at Stacks.

Greets Tank

they have some really cool stuff!   2011-casascius-100-bitcoin-Gold bar

 https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-160789/unfunded-2011-casascius-100-bitcoin-bar-firstbits-1gcuzp8v-series-2-gold-plated-alloy-genuine-pcgs

Yeah. And the 25 btc. Mmmmmm

anyone knows how long does it take for Stacks Bowers to payout the seller ? thanks

It took me less than 30 days to get paid by stacks.

They sent me a check in the mail.

 

As I understood it from direct emails with them that it would be wired to my account. Did you have that option, or was it just too expensive vs check in the mail? :P

Some I can correct me if I’m wrong, I think it has to do with when the buyer pays for an item that you sell through stacks .  And they a couple other things. What I have done is use my consignment mo eye to pay for items that I also buy in the same auction .

Yes I believe this is true- I don't have a US-based account, so get international wires and its about 6 weeks after auction conclusion.
I've got some pieces in this sale, as well as the upcoming one in March which may still have some openings 8)

Latest auction from our favorite blue-chip auction house bidding open 10/12 through 11/17

Link: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/auctions/3-16067Z/november-2023-auction-session-7-physical-cryptocurrency-lots-7001-7103

A diverse set of pieces here, polymer bit notes on full display this time.  

First offering of rarity-check

I love to see the auction-houses embracing the future of gold and silver bullion.  ;)

The Stacked auction today was a little soft on price, high dollar items had a pretty good dip.  Especially on low grade 1.0 Btc loaded coins, The auctioneer started off the auction like he just rolled out of bed. zero enthusiasm, no excitement. It was kind of upsetting. none of the 1.0 btc items were mine but I would have been upset If I had a high dollar item running and got stuck with an auctioneer repping my item that had a voice equivalent to elevator music. Both gold bars did some very good money and a 2013 Lealana Gold B did a nice amount being it was the Only one of its kind graded by PCGS with a perfect Proof-70 Deep Cameo. The lower end stuff did well, there was a lot of variety. I think the $10k price movement up in Btc since last auction had a little bit to do with higher end stuff not pumping so hard possibly.   

That microsoul bar, wow

There’s one for sale on eBay for $800!

not anymore. lol

Haha you buy it?

I remember seeing that one up for $800 on eBay a couple months ago so it’s been sitting there for quite some time.

Seems like it was a good price though considering someone paid $8000 for one without holograms and the eBay one had holograms included.

Not the most impressive numbers, but pretty moderate performance.

Two standouts:

Silver hologram LEALANA:  https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1607BL/unfunded-2013-lealana-gold-b-1-bitcoin-firstbits-1jjukfah-serial-no-101-buyer-funded-black-address-gold-plated-silver-proof-70-

The silver hologram LEALANA 1BTC for $7,800 is a really surprising figure. I would anticipate this figure to be more in the range of $3500 - $4000 but I guess someone really wanted it. It was a perfect MS70, (Very rare) and the hologram was silver, not the regular gold.

https://i.ibb.co/ZS36LGr/6110f301-7de2-4a02-adcd-23a4e56f4b41.jpg (https://ibb.co/Sc2Xs5g)
https://i.ibb.co/BjsJDSJ/6fe191ea-abd8-4741-aed1-80aea2e622dc.jpg (https://ibb.co/gwg81B8)

Microsoul bar: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1607NK/unfunded-2016-microsoul-01-bitcoin-bar-gold-plated-brass-genuine-pcgs

The Microsoul bar puzzles me, very strange and odd for something like that to go for so much money, even without the hologram sheet. Maybe someone saw the CAS bearer bar and thought the microsoul bar was on par.

https://i.ibb.co/QC7vFG8/2f69d96e-351e-4616-bd36-679865148fe8.jpg (https://ibb.co/TbDMB5K)
https://i.ibb.co/CQxVSVk/f07867db-6363-4aab-bc42-c5c80911df6d.jpg (https://ibb.co/RcLQJQx)

Either way pretty average numbers, appears nobody is getting rich and retiring from these quite yet  ;)

The Microsoul bar did come with holograms although it looks like they did not include them in the pics, as noted in Stacks description:
“Though unassembled, the current bar comes with two spare holograms. These holograms feature a bull and a bear graphic and were first utilized on the LuckyCoin series released by Microsoul in 2016.”
41 made, it was a pretty rare bird.

I have a feeling that a decade down the road the Lealana Gold B will over take the value of the Casascius gold B.  For 2 reasons: The Lealana coin is far superior in design and presentation and 2nd with most coming with COA’s this will be a major plus the older these coins get when it comes to verifying them, having the creators signature on most of the back of COA’s again stands out superior when talking about these two coins . This market will get blurred 10 years down the road with a whole different set of eyes.

I find it interesting and I hope others can chime in on this, but even a decade after the first really well made physical bitcoins were released the whole physical bitcoin market still remains almost trapped in a state of infancy. With this forum acting as really the only adequate place of discussion on the topic even a decade later.

I think I may be delusional, but could a physical bitcoin become part of every ultra high net-worth individuals investment portfolio as a possible hedge?

I think we see a future where tucking a 1BTC cas or a bf lealana into your retirement portfolio may become attractive for a large portion of people.

For the younger generation gold is largely unattractive as a store of value, generic silver is pretty unattractive. But what about physical bitcoin?

I have this wish/dream that one day they make a movie kind of like the Italian job but instead of them stealing gold bars, they’re stealing physical bitcoins that look just like Cas & Lealana coins and it ends up sparking a demand overnight for everyone wanting one. And I 100% percent agree that one day these1.0 btc coins from cas and Lea will only be obtainable to multimillionaires and big corporations, I always thought it be cool to walk into the lobby of a hedge fund or big tech company , and in the center you see a big glass bulletproof tube with one Lealana a coin shining bright for all to see. Like a “Corprate flex”. Lol

Sounds cool. Wen script??

Greets Tank

Guess mondays aren't great for crypto auctions...

It is great for buyers tho - added the elusive proto moonbit to my collection at a price that  in my opinion was practically giving it away.

Yah stuff sold quite cheap. Haven’t bought from them in a while but I snagged a few goodies today.

SP

I was driving, so I had it up on my display, watching it, but couldn’t bid,for some reason I couldn’t get the audio to work on the Stoacks app made it much more difficult to keep up with everything, but they definitely were some snags in today’s sale just like last Friday’s

curious if you have received tracking, payment confirmation, or any response whatsoever from Stacks?  I tried to set up bitcoin payment - no response. Emailed them twice without any reply. Finally said screw it and just sent them fiat via paypal. 5 days later and still nothing. Piss poor customer service. Why list an email if nobody is going to answer and reply to it? and if you don't have the man power to do that then at least have auto replies set up. ok off to the mailbox to grab my squirrelbit - today is a good day!

Maybe stacks to an extended thanksgiving holiday ?  Lol. I’m going to give them a call today

I haven’t received any shipping info yet but the last time I purchased from them it took a few weeks for them to ship my order after I paid so I haven’t given it much thought and I wasn’t expecting anything yet based on the last time.

Whenever I have emailed them though I typically got a helpful response within 1 business day.

SP

It looks like there are a few sneaky BTCC items in the Stacks 12/6 Hong Kong auction (not mine). Wanted to share in the event someone wants to snag them. Lots 30846 and 30847.

wow... I have one for sale if interested. 9,000 usd is a pretty good deal.

Great to have seen a Poker Chip. They are quite rare, and in the hands of a few people.

https://i.ibb.co/Cmd7LX6/Capture-d-e-cran-2023-11-29-a-09-25-02.png (https://ibb.co/Cmd7LX6)

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1606FZ/2022-alpen-coin-poker-chip-00001-bitcoin-loaded-serial-no-e326-ceramic-genuine-pcgs

Not sure if anyone has seen this yet, but it's part of another auction (not crypto). ;)

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-16O04A/china-btcc-0005-bitcoin-2016-serial-no-e01360-clay-composite-pcgs-ms-70

They snuck a few BTCC items in this one. They next lot is a Titanium tenth.

Pretty crazy stuff. Stack's is sipping the bitcoin cool-aid.  ;)

Hello fellow coiners,

I wanted to bump this thread and update everyone with a recent situation involving Stacks Bowers. I personally consigned a few items in the last Nov '23 auction. SB typically issues payment 45 days post auction to consignors for sale prices less hammer fees. A few days before payment was issued Jan 5th, I noticed my invoice amount had changed and some items had been removed. Basically my check was going to be less from SB by a substantial amount. I reached out to SB, and the response was that the winning bidder decided not to pay, nor respond. Pretty frustrating as the same non-paying bidder had won multiple of my items.

I know this is no fault of SB, but I have asked them a few follow up questions 1) If the winning bidder decided not to pay, can the 2nd highest bidder be approached and offered the amount they bid? 2) Is there no legal recourse against a bidder that does not pay, or protection for consigners (at this point I am assuming no) for breach of the SB contract agreement for being a bidding member? 3) An account holder on SB is required to have a credit card on file. Why is this card not billed by SB if the winning bidder does not pay their invoice within the required SB timeframe?

If anything, I just wanted to share this information and will keep everyone updated as to what I find out. Just an FYI on SB if you decide to consign: just because your item sells, doesn't mean you will get paid. I know I'm small beans compared to many other consignors on SB, but the physical crypto world is in the infant stages. At some point and time, the items we collect here on the forum may be some of the most valuable in the world.

Happy 2024 everyone.

That would be a very frustrating experience, so sorry to hear about that. maybe the only upside was is, if they were loaded coins that weren’t paid for. They’ve appreciated so much more since then with the spike in bitcoin price. I feel that with all these high dollar coins, they should do what heritage auction did and have a mandatory deposit amount be made before auctions start  to be allowed to bid in an auction, the Otoh collection was a $5000 deposit, I’m not saying it needs to be that much but enough to where people think Twice before not paying for an item that they win. Who knows how much that non paying bidder bumped up other bidders on different auction items,  potentially costing buyers thousands of dollars more in items purchase prices.   I say make the despot $2k,  if the seller has a non paying bidder then the auction house keeps $1k and the seller who missed out on the sale gets $1k for his troubles and for tying up an asset that long.

Getting another stacks bower’s update email was very nice to see this evening, crazy that it’s the 3rd spring auction for stacks doing crypto, wow time flys, but I can’t help to think about the handful of non-paying bidders from the last auction, I still think it’s important that they should change a rule that requires all bidders to have a credit/debt card on file so stacks bower’s is able to charge up to $2k for being a non-paying bidder in a stacks crypto auction, what are your thoughts?  Ty  

Agree, or % of final sale price to deter from non-bidding like 25%.

There is an auction going off this week not many people seem to know about as there is  nearly zero chatter on forum about it and this thread was not bumped.

I can't find too much information on the auction but it appears to be of smaller scale then the previous offerings.

Several microsoul tokens (Many that I have never seen before) are being sold.

More of a curated offering from stacks?

Stacks direct: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots?sort=numismatic_order&limit=36&parent_category=3-U5GPQ&lots_range=upcoming

No, this is simply a part 2, hence the smaller scale that you note. There was a part 1 that was significantly bigger in scope:
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/auctions/3-18DWT2/spring-2024-auction-session-9-physical-cryptocurrency-part-1-lots-8001-8137?limit=96

The Stack's website just seems very poorly designed and buggy, hence the confusion here. I actually can't find a link to part 1 anywhere on their website -- the link I posted came from my browser history. Before part 1 ended, you used to be able to access it via their Cryptocurrency Auctions (https://stacksbowers.com/cryptocurrency/) page under the "March 28, 2024" "The Spring 2024 Showcase Auction" row, but that row now instead redirects to part 2 rather than part 1. And before part 1 ended, it wasn't even clear there would be a part 2.

Part 2 appears to have 96 lots with very few high-value items: the biggest is a single 0.1 BTC coin. This auction seems like it is internet only and ends April 2 ("Spring 2024 Auction - Session 13 - Internet Only - Physical Cryptocurrency Part 2 - Lots 12001-12099"), though there is contradictory information ("Live Bidding begins Apr 2, 2024 @ 10:00 AM PDT").

Part 1 had 136 lots with far more high-value items, including multiple Cas coins like a 5 BTC Bitnickel (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-18DWWJ/2012-casascius-bitnickel-5-bitcoin-loaded-firstbits-1cszck7t-series-2-nickel-brass-ms-66-pcgs) and a 1 BTC silver gilt (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-18DWWW/2013-casascius-gold-rim-1-bitcoin-loaded-firstbits-1ag5ic73-series-3-silver-ms-68-pl-icg) sourced from Jimmy Song. This auction ended March 28 and was called "Spring 2024 Auction - Session 9 - Physical Cryptocurrency Part 1 - Lots 8001-8137".

The auction last Thursday had a beautiful variety of coins, put together by James, he did a very good job. But I must admit the bidding prices were extremely weak this auction, it’s definitely turned into a “buyers market”. I think most collectors are still getting used to the new price point of bitcoin, when trying to value their inventory, I find it very difficult to make decisions, temporarily with the current $70K price point of bitcoin, I feel like 1.0 bitcoin coins will continue to slowly lower their premiums, but I think we’re going to see the 0.1 and 0.01 coins premiums start to climb drastically.  That’s just me two cents,  of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion :)

OG nasty's gold 50 seats went for a lot in redeemed state, wow.

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-18DXXQ/redeemed-2016-nastyfans-50-seats-gold-medal-firstbits-1nastyau6-2oz-9999-fine-gold-proof-69-deep-cameo-pcgs

It is 2oz of .9999 gold, plus that sell prices has the 20% buyer's premium included
  So in actuality, close to spot.

I wish it was not redeemed. Would be much cooler in the original state.

Well I went a little crazy and bought like half the Microsoul coins - prices seemed reasonable and many of these coins I have never seen come up for sale before so not really sure if I overpaid or got a deal!

SP

Someone got the deal of a lifetime on that coin...  It is still attached to 50 NastyFans seats, which means the 50 seats backing it are worth $1,500 at minimum and $4,600 at last trade value by themselves.  Unfortunately, someone cleared out the ~$500 in BTC held on the coin a couple months ago, so it doesn't have much BTC held on it currently.  The absolute minimum value for this coin today should be around $6,300 and a more realistic valuation would be closer to $10,000 in my opinion.  I likely would have bought this at that price had I known (nobody gave me a heads up)...  In fact, I believe I even offered that much to the seller (if it's the same guy) a long time ago in hopes I could keep them from peeling it, but they declined.  I'm sure the amount of BTC I offered for the coin back when we discussed it would be worth a large fortune now as Bitcoin's value increase has been remarkable.

This does bring up an issue though with peeled coins that I would like to see addressed someday...  I think people should be able to redeem peeled coins for their seat value either by selling their seats back to NastyMining at the current buyback rate, or claiming them digitally to their account so they can sell them or sell the redeemed coin and continue to safely earn BTC from the seats.  I think that would address a lot of issues people have, as a redeemed coin could not only get it's seat value but also any BTC held under the threshold for it's owner.  More people than just me would need to want this to happen for it to become reality though.