Bitcoin Forum

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April 6, 2013: Auction for 8 rolls of fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins.

See my blog, http://casascius.wordpress.com

Am having problems with BitMit, thought I would try an auction here.

Minimum bid: face value (50 * 0.5BTC = 25 BTC per roll).  Please bid in 0.1 BTC increments.
Shipping cost is a flat $35 for US Registered Mail, $50 for international Registered Mail, regardless
of the number of rolls won.

Unless otherwise specified, you are bidding for ONE of the eight rolls.  You can bid in any of the following
ways:

1. "I bid 26 BTC for any available roll".  If your bid wins, you'll win one roll.  You will not get to choose
which roll you get.

2. "I bid 26 BTC for rolls 1, 2, 3, or 4."  If your bid wins and any of your chosen those four rolls is
available, you will win one of them.  You will not get to choose which roll you get.  If none of those
four rolls is available at the point your bid is processed, it will be skipped.

3. "I bid 26 BTC for roll 1."  You will either win roll 1 for 26 BTC, or you won't.

Roll #1: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 121
Roll #2: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 121
Roll #3: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 122
Roll #4: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 122
Roll #5: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 123
Roll #6: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 123
Roll #7: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 124
Roll #8: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 124

Auction ends April 10, 2013, 23:59 UTC.

After auction end, bids will be evaluated from highest to lowest.

I reserve the right to cancel the auction if necessary for reasonable cause.  If I do so, all bids are
cancelled.  I'm reserving this right simply because this is the first time I've done an auction like this,
and want an escape hatch just in case I've missed something critical, like leaving a way for more than
one person to be deemed the winner of the same roll of coins or something.
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If this auction works successfully, then I will also start auctioning the remainder of my initial batch, as well as specific slots for future production.

For example, I might auction a roll in the future: Roll #X: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins, with address prefix 125, to be shipped as soon as they are assembled.

The purpose for doing this will be to ensure that there's a decent amount of supply available for bidding.  Ideally, they'll be shipped out the same day they are made.

ok!

I bid 26 BTC for any one roll. 

i'd start at 26 each for all 8

double check your signature? here's what i'm getting. typically it seems to be the forum newlines that cause this

Verification FAILED.
Bad signature by Mike Caldwell <mcaldwell@swipeclock.com>

27 for roll 5 or 6

I only want one roll though

I bid 26 BTC for any one roll.

Making one minor change:  Any bid that comes 15 minutes or less after a previous valid bid shall be considered valid.  This will extend the auction so long as there is bidding.

Pastebin for signature verification: http://pastebin.com/Xhja4RNS

Just for clarity:


I will interpret "each" (as the author likely intended) to mean a separate 26 BTC bid for all 8 rolls.


Additional bids must be at least the minimum increment of 0.1 BTC above the prior competing bid to be valid.

Bid of 26.5 BTC per roll for all 8 rolls.

212 BTC total bid.

I was invited to this auction via email.

My bid does not take into consideration that 1 or 2 rolls (5 and 6) were bid up to 27 BTC already.

Therefore, I'd like to revise my bid to 27.5 BTC per roll, for all 8 rolls.

My apologies for the confusion.

27.6 for 1 roll (as long as the BTC price stays under $200)

27.8 for 5 or 6

I bid 27.8 for any one roll.

I'll bid 55 for any two rolls.

casascius could you track the bids for each roll somehow in OP. It's hard to get an overview.

I'll bid 56 for any two rolls out of 1 2 3 4 5 8

I'll bid 27.6 for Roll 6
I'll bid 27.6 for Roll 7

fgnfhfhfaa should had my morning coffee first.

I'll bid 56 for any two rolls out of 1 2 3 4 7 8

I'll bid 28.5 for Roll 5
I'll bid 28.5 for Roll 6

28 btc for any one roll.

you should probably make an auction for each roll seperately and use the format the "unified asicminer orderbook" uses:


bid 28 @ roll 1
bid 27.7 @ roll 2
.
.
.
.
bid 26.5 @ roll 8

and then list the competing orders beneath your list of rolls.

i know its a hassle, but it's more transparent. I can't keep track of who bid for what.

also, no "x for any" orders.

that being said:


I bid

28.50 @ #1
27.50 @ #2
27.50 @ #3
27.50 @ #4
28.50 @ #5
28.50 @ #6
26.00 @ #7
26.00 @ #8

28BTC for roll #8

28 for #2

Thanks

30 BTC for roll 5 or 6

#1 2weiX 28.5 BTC
#2 Goat 28 BTC
#3 slakeco 27.5 BTC
#4 slakeco 27.5 BTC
#5 Superbitcoin 30 BTC
#6 Superbitcoin 30 BTC
#7 slakeco 27.5 BTC
#8 j_gillard 28 BTC

any
28.00 BTC Severian
27.80 BTC crazy_rabbit
27.60 BTC mtbitcoin

This table of course is problematic when trying to display

"X for #a or #b and Y for #c and/or #d"

Just so you know, roll #1 isn't substantially earlier in sequence #2. Both are 50 random selections out of the 250 or so from the lot.  The private key cutting process mixes them up quite well, so to say its truly random is fairly accurate.

I guess it's just to be able to say "this is from the first batch ever"
or for the vanity-aspect of "123....."

Yes I agree I am just saying roll #1 isn't materially better than #2 (at least without seeing which coins are in it).  They are both rolls where all coins will be 121's.

28 BTC each for any 2 single rolls

28.5 for any single roll.

I bid 28.8 BTC for any available roll.

28.6 BTC for any roll.
//DeaDTerra

This bidding for any one or two rolls is really not making any sense.
also - will we be paying the amount bid by us or just the 0.1 over the second-highest bid (ala eBay)?

I bid

Roll #1: --> 29
Roll #2: --> 29
Roll #5: --> 29
Roll #6: --> 29

bidding 28.7 for 1 roll which can be any

overview


ROLL 1 

USER	AMOUNT
2weiX	29

 

ROLL 2 

USER	AMOUNT
2weiX	29
Goat	28

ROLL 3 

USER	AMOUNT
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 4 

USER	AMOUNT
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 5 

USER	AMOUNT
Surpbitcoin	30
2weiX	29
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 6

USER	AMOUNT
Surpbitcoin	30
2weiX	29
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 7 

USER	AMOUNT
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 8 

USER	AMOUNT
j_gillard	27.5
slakeco	27.5

ANY ROLL

USER	AMOUNT	ROLLS
PsychoticBoy	28.8	1
nduck	28.7	1
DeaDTerra	28.6	1
LittleShop	28.5	1
Otoh	28	2
Severian	28	1
crazy_rabbit	27.8	1
mtbitcoin	27.6	1
mtbitcoin	26	1

I'll avoid the bid-for-multiple-rolls in my next auction, but might preserve the "bid any roll" option (thoughts?).  This first one is a learning process for me which is why I only offered 8 rolls in this one.  Thanks for the helpful summaries you have been posting.

The amount bid is the amount I am expecting to be paid.  Just as reminder, unlike eBay, I am allowing the auction end time to be extended as long as there is bidding: after end time, auction ends 15 minutes after the last valid bid.

Just so you can get a sense for the supply beyond these 8 rolls, I expect I'll be releasing more rolls for sale, auction style, once I feel good it's going to work and once I have counted inventory and know the characteristics of exactly what I have to offer.  I'm going to also get rid of my 2011 25BTC coins (total 1000 were made).

I'm open to suggestions on end time and format.  I anticipate offering auctions for future production as well (not far out in the future, I just mean perhaps the amount of product I can make in one coin party so I can ship it out the same day)

i bid 28.9 BTC for any roll.

30 for no 2

I am willing to pay 30 BTC for any roll and am willing to buy two rolls

Hi Mike

As it stands so far, I bid the amounts as listed below.

Roll #1: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 121 @ 31.6 BTC per roll
Roll #2: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 121 @ 30.6 BTC per roll
Roll #3: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 122 @ 31.1 BTC per roll
Roll #4: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 122 @ 30.3 BTC per roll
Roll #5: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 123 @ 30.8 BTC per roll
Roll #6: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 123 @ 30.2 BTC per roll
Roll #7: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 124 @ 30.3 BTC per roll
Roll #8: Fifty 0.5 BTC - prefix 124 @ 30.1 BTC per roll

Regards
Paul Gruber

I bid 30.4 BTC for any roll

Could we see some photos?
Are you using new art for this 0,5 btc?

Thanks

works here (on linux):


it might help to save the file using unix line end characters instead of windows

EDIT: I copy-pasted mikes message from "-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----" to "-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----" (and put a newline at the end). This is my file test/test in above code. The sha256sum of it is: a18455386d3d6331c1d5332f596984301fce359fc1b6521dface4df320e93ad3

Hi mike

I have sent a couple of PMs but you must be busy.

I want to bid on this but it depends on if you can bundle 100 btc in from my order from before you changed the site.

PM me if you want to do it privately.  :)

I have shipped all the orders other than ones contains these 0.5 coin rolls and 1btc coin rolls.

I will post photos soon but they look the same as my 1btc coin just 1inch instead of 1.125 inch. Hologram is scaled down as well.

I bid 32 for each of any two rolls.

Im interested in how this plays out, but with respect, i just cant help feeling this is not the way to go.

I say again, respect and admiration to Mike for bringing the Bit Coin to where it is today. It has grown with valued credibility, through the consistency of Mike's process, and the transparent way he sets out his stall, and how it has all been executed. And all that gave confidence to the cause.

All im asking is, does Mike's recent changes and apparent indecision to the process of selling, somehow dilute any consolidated confidence?
And im asking that, because its healthy  ;)

Personally, i think theres something in licensing each country with a defined amount of resellers. Mike achieves the block orders he is seeking with the same trusted but lesser in number clients, the resellers get credibility from Mikes credible (maybe legal) licensing, enhanced by country centric markings on the coins, there-by making them more desirable to collect around the world.

What say you?

If anything, I am all for not auctioning them.
I could imagine Mike selling only 200BTC-lots at once to single sellers.
I could imagine an invite-only closed bidding process for 100-BTC lots, maybe.

I dunno.

Just auctioning them off is kinda strange when the notion was that resellers would get a decent rate and now we're already at a 20% premium.

Forgot to add..... country centric markings also mitigate the loss of confidence around the world, due to the fraud that will operate in this space soon.

As you were.

If I have to worry about licensing and who's entitled and not entitled to sell in different countries, then I have to manage a whole lot of things that I am deliberately trying to get out of managing.

I could see myself raising the minimum lot size.  It's a matter of balance.  If the lot size is too small, then individual collectors will bid on them directly, choking out the possibility of emergence of a reseller market.  If the lot size is too big, a lot of valued potential resellers will be shut out of the bidding process, and I see a value to having lots of resellers because a buyer should ideally be able to find a seller in his home country so he doesn't have to deal with international shipping.

I totally understand it may seem disheartening for those of you who have shown enthusiasm, interest, and loyalty to me and my products only to be transitioned to an arrangement where you're competing to buy products with newcomers who aren't.  I ask you put it in perspective.  The dynamics of the market changed overnight, and I am responding to them, appropriately I would hope.

The only thing I can promise is that I will respond true to my own values, which have not changed overnight.  Allow me to reward those who have shown enthusiasm, interest, and loyalty, with respect and favors of the same kind.  Me sending out or offering a closed bidding opportunity on some sort of rare or special items, or giving them as gifts, would be an example of me returning a favor.  Turning my back to the market and rewarding a favor with a fractional monopoly on all of my products and sacrificing my rational self-interest in getting a reasonable market-based wholesale price for the market's new valuation of product is something I'm going to see as a wee bit more weighty than a favor.

Cryptography is one of those things that gives me a leg up on every possible counterfeited item in the world.

I assume my product WILL be counterfeited.  But when I start producing digitally signed PDF photos of my own product, I've got the counterfeiters beat.  The more possible I can make it for you guys to authenticate my genuine products, the more value a genuine product will have, and the less lucrative it will be to counterfeit them.

This will only work for products I produce from today forward, but here is an idea you can do right now.  The counterfeiting hasn't happened yet.  Go throw your current stash of Casascius Coins on a scanner, scan a photo of them, take a 160-bit hash of the file, and then work that hash into the block chain somehow.  Convert the hash to a bitcoin address and send a satoshi to it (my Bitcoin Address Utility can do this, for example).  Your photo with its supporting hash in the block chain will be publicly verifiable proof that the coin in your photo existed today.

I like the idea of country-specific markings (like with the EUR coins). However that would probably greatly complicate production and distribution.

I also think (hope) the auctioning is just a measure to handle the current shortage. In the end this gives the coins to the markets / people who desire them most. It also guarantees a better distribution and higher level of fairness amongst the resellers than to simply sell to the first resellers who order.

I myself would love to see predictable pricing again at some point (when market is saturated) with a premium for Mikes work based on USD value.

The best thing that could happen in this respect would be competition for Mike... but I don't see it. He encourages it but a newcome with a different coin will just not be the same. There would have to be some kind of an innovation involved... a better product. Just a copy wont work.

Resellers getting the coins at vastly different prices can turn into a problem for the resellers who bought at a high price when the price competition sets in and distorts the previously level (except for location) playing field.

But for now I think the auctioning is an acceptable solution to allow an effective solution for the shortage.

Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing!

Mike. No one can criticize you for seeking a 'reasonable' rate. Just dont think its your business to create the market, you state is there. Your value is in your production methods and integrity, not trying to build Ebay-esk markets. Moreover, does it not cheapen it?
Just dont think people will understand why you just cant state a fair price.


  

That is a great idea. Thanks also.

If the rate I charge is too low, the entire production will fly off the shelf and I will be stuck with willing and ready buyers willing to pay a far higher price than the one I'm charging, with no product to deliver them.  Whom exactly does that benefit?

On the other hand, if I happen to make a nice profit in the process, I end up with the means to increase production and quality.  I can suddenly afford, and make the business case, to go find and get some robotics to make enough of these things to satisfy the market demand, possibly at a lower price.  I can suddenly tell my silver coin supplier, hey, look, you need to prioritize my order, because I can afford to pay you for bigger orders at a higher tier.  I can start to afford to segregate the created products by quality and simply discard the lowest quality specimens so I'm only delivering the best of my product.  Ultimately, profits for me are good, because they directly lead to my ability and willingness to supply the market with a higher quality cut of the product being demanded.

So, no, it does not cheapen it, to answer your question.  And when the price I'm willing to sell equals the price people are willing to pay, it's very fair.  I will have competitors offering a lower cost product soon enough, probably using software I've given away for free and broadcast loud and clear "use this at no cost to you" to generate private keys for their own product, which I think is more than fair.

It's a seller's market. Avalon probably wishes it had done the same thing that Mike is doing here with its 3rd batch.

Can some one please tell me how many hours are left. Thanks

High-resolution photos of rolls #1 and #2 (more forthcoming)

https://casascius.com/roll-2013-04-06-1-12122Pkz-lot-121.pdf

https://casascius.com/roll-2013-04-06-2-12119ceg-lot-121.pdf

I'm aware this is not an implementation of the process you described above (putting hash of high-res scan of coins into blockchain), but it's a scan of coins.

how is it possible from such scan to infer a given coin is exactly one of the individual coins shown. I surely couldn't do it. Maybe if the scan was higher-res so I would be able to make out irregulatrities within the brass base.

Another question (I know Mike has stated this somewhere, but I can't find it): what's the (exact) diameter of the 0.5 BTC coins?

I just haven't digitally signed these yet as my HSM is not nearby.

The image is 600dpi...how much resolution do you need?  (The PDF can be zoomed)

Unique characteristics of each coin include the exact placement of the label, the positioning of the transparent window, and the positioning of the text through that window, as well as any unique micro-defects.  All of these vary and are unique per coin.

The coin is 1.00 inches in diameter.

The bolded part was what I was looking for.

http://i.imgflip.com/118u2.jpg (http://imgflip.com/i/118u2)via Imgflip Meme Generator (http://imgflip.com/memegenerator)

What is the exact ending time of the auction in GMT 0?

Ok. Im just going to make a few points one more time, and then im done.

Just to echo molecular points. If someone/reseller had an idea to sell your coins in a business like/defined way, they can no longer do that due to supply being inconsistent and/or disrupted (you dont seem confident how and when these will go on sale, going forward). This, together with unknown prices from one auction to the next, does not instill any confidence, in a possible opportunity or benefit for a re-seller, other than pure speculation, which is where the magic starts to dissolve and dissipate!  :(
      
Ive read your thoughts about competitors elsewhere, as well as here, so it appears a firm belief for you, that some other outfit is going to challenge and compete directly with what you have created here. Mike, its not going to happen, anytime soon. Im wondering if your perspective/position, is allowing you to fully appreciate the value in brand Casascius. Yes, someone could challenge you, and possibly should, but for others to replicate what you have built in terms of integrity, value, and desire, is years away, if at all.

Im done. Thanks for the attention.
 


 

Auction ends April 10, 2013, 23:59 UTC.

I bid 31.7 BTC for roll 1.

I am going to treat this as not a bid and ask that no images that could be construed as bids be posted to this thread to avoid confusion.

I am willing to pay 32 BTC for any roll and am willing to buy two rolls

by attorney -- Newbie-Restrictions

bummer.

Anyway. Offer still stands. Make it 32.1 BTC for one roll. Doesn't matter which one.

I thought I'd comment to say that I would like to see them sold through the regular website like always, but with a minimum order level of 100 BTC or whatever level Casascius feels relieves him of the burden of retail sales.

Surely managing this auction takes more effort than shipping out 4 100 BTC orders made on the website.

32.2 BTC for one roll

Auction is over, right?

"Auction ends April 10, 2013, 23:59 UTC."

31.7 for roll one.

On my phone and im not sure if this a valid bid.

The problem isn't the 4 100 BTC orders made on the website, it's the 64 100 BTC orders that would be made if I were taking them.  I don't have coins to fill them.

It's no longer a matter of just offloading the shipping burden, it's also rationing the limited supply now that demand has spiked.


It's valid with respect to timing and form, but I didn't evaluate whether it was high enough to outbid an existing bid.

It's valid with respect to timing and form, but I didn't evaluate whether it was high enough to outbid an existing bid.
[/quote]


yeah, hard to read the whole thread to find out who bid what for what.

was kinda shocked that a new guy with 2 posts bid on everything pushing up the price kinda high.

right now the coinage premium for those rolls is somewhere around 28%. I've seen worse, but wouldn't go any higher - I bid, mainly because I approve of the work Mike has done for the community as a whole. A fair coinage premium should be somewhere around 10% I suppose.

I'm a long time collector and hold one of the Gold 1000 btc coins. I was waiting to buy a second gold one when the .5s came out but I guess I will have to do it separately now.

I will only pay this much for one roll.

wow

After reading through all of this, I honestly have no idea what the high bids for any given roll are...  There are people bidding X each for various rolls, Y total for any Z rolls, etc.  Can this be tracked/updated somewhere, perhaps in the original post?

Scrap this bid, I don't know where it stand compared to what the top bids are on each roll at the moment so I don't feel comfortable stabbing in the dark.

is this bid valid?

by attorney -- Newbie-Restrictions
Quote from: 1John8Lare on April 09, 2013, 03:54:13 PM
"I bid 33 BTC for any available roll"

it comes from a newbie (forward posted). if its valid it seems to be the highest bid for any roll.

Dont lose confidence now guys.  :(  Not long now.....!

Like the silver one it is a work of art. World class.

Id like to know what the bids are if any can sort it.

Thanks

if I havent forgotten anything, this is the order right now:

ROLL 1 

USER	AMOUNT
TradeFortress	31.7
Goat	31.7
paulgruber	31.6
2weiX	29

 

ROLL 2 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.6
2weiX	29
Goat	28

ROLL 3 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	31.1
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 4 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.3
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 5 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.8
Surpbitcoin	30
2weiX	29
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 6

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.2
Surpbitcoin	30
2weiX	29
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 7 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.3
slakeco	27.5

ROLL 8 

USER	AMOUNT
paulgruber	30.1
j_gillard	27.5
slakeco	27.5

ANY ROLL

USER	AMOUNT	ROLLS
1John8Lare	33	1
2weiX	32.2	2
Jutarul	32.1	1
2weiX	32.2	2
kjlimo	32	2
k99	30.4	1
PsychoticBoy	28.8	1
nduck	28.7	1
DeaDTerra	28.6	1
LittleShop	28.5	1
Otoh	28	2
Severian	28	1
crazy_rabbit	27.8	1
mtbitcoin	27.6	1
mtbitcoin	26	1

thanks a lot for the overview!

I bid 33,1 BTC for any available roll.

BTC28.9 for any one roll, maximum number of rolls in this bid: 1 (one).

If I read this right, the lowest bid you can make to get a roll is 32.1

I might not be correct however.

Bids placed on behalf of others are valid when the actual bidder's forum username is clearly visible in the bid. That person will eventually have to be able to pm me to claim the roll, if they can't, the bid is skipped.  I have also gotten access to whitelist users.

I will soon auction off another 7 or 8 rolls (depends on availability) to finish off this batch after these 8 rolls are sold, so if you don't care which you get, just be aware those will be forthcoming. I assume these ones up for auction now (121s etc) will be perhaps valued more just observing the correlation between date and price on the secondary market.  Am prepared to accept and am anticipating a lower price for later batches/rolls, and I feel fine knowing that being transparent about upcoming supply may result in lower bids here. 

2wieX, I find your table to be off regarding the Any Roll portion.  For instance, j_gillard nixed his bid of 32.2 and you did not bid 32.2, you only bid 32 so there should not be any 32.2 bids and you should be down for 32 @ 2 rolls.  I can see where mistakes are easy to make, this thread is pretty difficult to follow.  Thanks for your effort to try to even make a table out of this.

I edited my bid in as 32.2 without making an extra post about it, so if need be i hereby bid 32.2 for up to two rolls.
That I am in the list twice is my mistake, I forgot that I couldnt edit the posts in this sub.

please add this in the corrected table.

I bid 31.8 Btc for roll#1

I bid 31,9 BTC for roll 1 as well as 33,1 BTC for any other available roll (2 rolls in total).

Here is table updated. hope there is no mistake in there.

ROLL 1
USER   AMOUNT
k99   31,9
PsychoticBoy   31,8
TradeFortress   31.7
Goat   31.7
paulgruber   31.6
2weiX   29
 

ROLL 2
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.6
2weiX   29
Goat   28

ROLL 3
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   31.1
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 4
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.3
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 5
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.8
Surpbitcoin    30
2weiX   29
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 6
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.2
Surpbitcoin    30
2weiX   29
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 7
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.3
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 8
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.1
j_gillard    27.5
slakeco    27.5


ANY ROLL
USER   AMOUNT   ROLLS
k99   33,1   1
1John8Lare   33   1
2weiX   32.2   2
Jutarul   32.1   1
2weiX   32.2   2
kjlimo   32   2
k99   30.4   1
rpietila   28,9   1
PsychoticBoy    28.8   1
nduck    28.7   1
DeaDTerra   28.6   1
LittleShop   28.5   1
Otoh   28   2
Severian   28   1
crazy_rabbit   27.8   1
mtbitcoin   27.6   1
mtbitcoin   26   1

RETRACT ALL BIDS

THEN BID32.3 for roll 1

(is this really the FIRST roll? can i get a certificate with that? like pgp-signed message with all public addresses from ROLL ONE?)

and 32 for any on

FUCKIN SPACEBAR. again:


RETRACT ALL BIDS

THEN BID 32.3 for roll 1
THEN BID 32.1 for any other roll


(is this really the FIRST roll? can i get a certificate with that? like a pgp-signed message with all public addresses from ROLL ONE?)

adjust my bid to: "I bid 32.3 BTC for any available roll"

I bid 32.2 for any available roll.

I change my bid for roll 1 to 32,4 BTC.

here again the updated table.

ROLL 1
USER   AMOUNT
k99   32,4
2weiX   32,3
k99   31,9
PsychoticBoy   31,8
TradeFortress   31.7
Goat   31.7
paulgruber   31.6
2weiX   29
 

ROLL 2
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.6
2weiX   29
Goat   28

ROLL 3
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   31.1
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 4
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.3
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 5
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.8
Surpbitcoin    30
2weiX   29
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 6
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.2
Surpbitcoin    30
2weiX   29
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 7
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.3
slakeco    27.5

ROLL 8
USER   AMOUNT
paulgruber   30.1
j_gillard    27.5
slakeco    27.5


ANY ROLL
USER   AMOUNT   ROLLS
k99   33,1   1
1John8Lare   33   1
2weiX   32,1   1
Jutarul   32.3   1
JustJake   32,2   1
2weiX   32.2   2
kjlimo   32   2
k99   30.4   1
rpietila   28,9   1
PsychoticBoy    28.8   1
nduck    28.7   1
DeaDTerra   28.6   1
LittleShop   28.5   1
Otoh   28   2
Severian   28   1
crazy_rabbit   27.8   1
mtbitcoin   27.6   1
mtbitcoin   26   1

Yes I will digitally sign the PDF containing the scan of the coins.

I can GPG sign as well as native PDF sign with Adobe hardware signing module I have bought.

I bid 33 BTC for roll #2.

what a ride hey.. I hope it shakes the market free of those with doubt and gets some stability..

Max bids as follows:

34.2 for roll 1
33.9 for roll 2

any other single roll (just 1 roll) 33.3

I bid 34.3 for roll 1 or 2
I bid 33.5 for roll 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8

Two be clear, I'm bidding on a maximum of 2 rolls total.

34 BTC for roll #2

Also 32.6 BTC for any available roll

35 BTC for roll #2

I bid 34,4 BTC for roll 1 as well as 35,1 BTC for any other available roll (2 rolls in total).

36 for roll 1

is it all over yet?  ???

36,1 BTC for roll 1
35,1 BTC for any other available roll
(2 rolls in total).

I think it's past the end time? If not then 36.5 for roll 1

36,6 BTC for roll 1
35,1 BTC for any other available roll
(2 rolls in total).

This auction states that it finishes at 23:59 so does that actually mean anything posted after exactly 23:59:00 is totally null and void?

The auction ends 15 minutes after the last bid is placed. If another person bids within that 15 minute period, the auction continues for another 15 minutes from the time of this follow up bid. So on and so forth.

Sweet, Cheers for that.

37.5 for roll 1
36 for roll 2

any other single roll (just 1 other roll) 35.5

34.0 btc for any 1 roll

37,6 BTC for roll 1
35,1 BTC for any other available roll

38.5 for roll 1
36 for roll 2

and 35.5 for any other roll that follows (only 1 other roll - 2 rolls total)

38,6 BTC for roll 1
35,1 BTC for any other available roll

time test, will edit

39 BTC for roll 1
35,5 BTC for any 2 other available rolls

39 for roll 1
36 for roll 2

35.5 for any other single roll (just 1 other roll - 2 rolls in total)

39,1 BTC for roll 1
35,6 BTC for any other available roll

39.5 for roll 1
36 for roll 2

35.5 for any other single roll (just 1 other roll - 2 rolls in total)

39,6 BTC for roll 1
35,6 BTC for any other available roll

40 for roll 1
36 for roll 2

35.7 for any other single roll (just 1 other roll - 2 rolls in total)

40,1 BTC for roll 1
35,8 BTC for any other available roll

k99, do you mean for 35.8 for all other rolls available? please make it clear..

finally i can reply to this topic


34.1 for any roll (only one)

 ???

Good idea.

40,1 BTC for roll 1
35,8 BTC for any other single available roll (1 roll)
2 rolls in total (nr. 1 + any)

thanks k99

I bid 40.0 each for any two rolls.

And I'm done bidding.

Mike, with all due respect, I think this auction format is sub-optimal. Obviously it incentivizes sniping, which is fine IFF it's an eBay style auction that will auto-increment against people's max bids, with a fixed end-time. But, since this auction has the 15-minute auction-extension component but no auto-incrementing, now bidders are incented to wait 15 minutes between each bid, and bid only the bid-increment over the last bid, which is just an annoying strategy to execute.

You're actually incenting me to write a little app to auto-post-execute the above strategy for me so I can get on with my day.

As implied, my time has value, which is why I'm throwing 40 up there, even though I may overpay. If the auction had auto-incrementing and a fixed end-time, you should see what happens on eBay, but without the irritating snipe-every-15mins component: everyone would just snipe their true maximum seconds before the end, and that'd be that. Same result for you, but a more time-efficient format for your customers.

I know this auction is effectively an experiment. Just hoping to provide some feedback for the next batch. Thanks again for producing these great coins, and all you've done for bitcoin in general.

35,9 for any (only one)

Melbustus: +1

i agree to Melbustus. hope its soon over :-)

I bid 34.2 BTC for Rolls #3 & #4.

Based on my understanding of the bidding terms, this format is applicable and currently are valid bids for the two rolls specified.
However, if I have made an error, please excuse me and consider the bid for any 2 rolls instead.

2 Rolls total

Thank you.

+1

YEAH we are done!!!!

is it all over?

I reckon we are done.

We are certainly beyond 15 minutes of (my) the last bid for the first time in the auction.

Kudos to everyone who helped make Mike's Casascius auction work.

Sounds like its over!  Congrats to all winners.

I am posting from my phone, will review it more thoroughly when sitting at a computer. I am open to changes to the format to improve fairness and efficiency, and will take into serious consideration the suggestions presented here.

Ripper..

I hope it's all over and I got something  :)

I also say to all the Blokes and Ladies involved, well done. It is a bit of a hard way to go about things. But I'm sure the next round will be a lot more organised with a private auction script to make bidding a bit easier.

Cheers All.

 

Mike, I can have one of my coders put together a decent customised auction script if you're interested.

Thanks once again for the opportunity.

Cheers
Paul Gruber

Looks like I missed this one.  I had at first thought that the end time was fixed, and when I saw that it wasn't I had other things that needed doing, and I couldn't sit in front of the computer for what I thought might be another 4 hours or so.

Maybe someone will resell me some.

Again, I would like to suggest that instead of auctions on the forum, that the coins be sold in the webstore like always, but that the store have a minimum order quantity or value that can be used to ensure that orders are of a wholesale nature, and ease the burden of processing them, which is the point, isn't it?  Or maybe I have it wrong...

+1

& Melbustus: +1

+1

I have the idea:

REVERSE auction them off on your website.
Price drops 1% every hour or so.

Start each roll at sky-high (face value x 3 or so) and implement a reserve.

Only bulk items (ie rolls).
Each roll listed seperately, shipping may be combined.
You can just throw new items on there and see how they sell.



THAT would be a process I'd like to be part of.

Clever idea!!!!!!!!!

very good! Because it incorporated the very important factor of timing (when you will receive the coins). Someone who needs coins urgently has to pay more.

I like it.

I'm trying this and thought I'd show you guys because I'm unsure about some specifics of the process:

Casascius Coins: Am I doing "Proof of Existence" right? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=173273.0)

+1 for all the above.

I have tried several auction methods, and a reverse ("Dutch") auction is one that works quite well. You implement a website with lots (plural of "a lot") of products for sale and a ticking "buy now" button. The amount in the button decreases steadily. First bid always wins. Payment in 10 minutes. You can time out the products and not need to tell when it happens, so it will increase the excitement. Smooth as a pie.

This will not fetch you the long term highest price, according to the statistics. But I figured out, you don't care about squeezing the last satoshi, just want the market to allocate the coinsn efficiently with less decisions needed from your part.

The reverse auction idea is neat, but I would like to see any kind of auction be avoided as a primary means of sale for the coins.

Auctions create a premium on the value of the coins based on the time and effort someone needs to put in to participate in and win an auction.  They also take time and effort to administer, especially without any auction software to help.  I thought the point of changing the sale format was to have Mike put less time and effort into sales.

that's exactly what happens.
the market will find its "own" sweet spot, which I find desirable.

I definitely agree with bogart as if we are all true resellers or in the business to provide physical Bitcoins to the market without over inflating the price, they should be sold directly through casascius.com in large quantities (whether it be 100 or 300 coins etc..) for resellers only. This would give Mike a much better idea of exactly how many to mint which will take away a lot of the hassle of selling individual coins to the public. It will not create a monopoly on physical Bitcoins, but will help keep the market interested in physical Bitcoins.

To be really honest, I think that doing things the way they are being done is opening the door for other coin mints to create a huge amount of coins which will eventually sell each coin at face value.  I saw an eBay auction for a casascius 1btc for a stupid amount just days ago. This is not the way it should be.. I've got 4 x 10btc 1 troy ounce silver coins and they're just a keepsake for each of my kids more than anything. I say let there be physical Bitcoins, but also be fair in what they really are "Bitcoins".. Regular Bitcoins and put out special editions such as the silver 10btc coins occasionally.

Anyway, it may not make much sense in what I've jus said, but really wanted to just state where I see things going.. (And I just woke up)..

I will need a bit of time to be ready to collect the shipping info, issue payment addresses, and get these out.

To be honest this has been a busy week for me.  Lots of unexpected stuff, all good.  Have had lots of new media inquiry regarding my coins and I consider this a high priority use of time: it results in good coverage, and is consistent with my ulterior motive to promote.  It's also resulted in new resources come my way to help produce better coins.

Don't pay any address that I don't PGP sign.  I will use "you're able to PM me from the winning account" as the determiner as to associate the coins with the winners.

Mike, you will be PMing the winners directly, right?

I hope that's the case also.

As far as I can see I win at least 1

Here is what appears to be the results:

Roll 1 - k99 - 40.1
Roll 2 - paulgruber - 36
Any - Melbustus - 40
Any - Melbustus - 40 (2nd roll)
Any - 1John8Lare - 35.9
Any - k99 - 35.8
Any - paulgruber - 35.7
Any - otoh - 35.5

Anyone see any issues before I go and PM requesting payment?

I'm happy with that.

Mike, you're famous..  :)  all over the news..

When you guys receive them, please PM me if you plan to sell any.

Thanks.  :)

@Bogart - which country are you in? I assume the US as you didn't say.

@Casascius - can I just use the previous address that you gave me for paying these & keep it as a permanent payment address, that saves having to sign a new one each time, also is it possible to defer shipping until I buy some other coins from you & combine shipping at the $50 in order to make more than just a single roll being sent for that price. A great assessment of the present situation on your blog (http://casascius.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/so-whats-a-bitcoin-worth-today/#like-38), calm & balanced, many thanks.

Now that we have discovered a price of around 50-60% above face value, is that what non-winning people here expected? What do you think of the 'value' now?

I would be inclined to think, they will easily resell for BTC1 per piece, so this secures a fair profit for all participants.

The probability that these will fetch BTC5 per piece in optimal selling circumstances some time in the future is high, imho.

The crash in USD/BTC naturally cuts the 'profit per transaction' for the middlemen.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I have prepared the following Bitcoin addresses to accept payment for the rolls.

I will use $200/BTC to calculate the shipping (which favors the buyer greatly, as compared to the
currently displayed exchange rate, which I think is bogus).  So, if shipping to the US, please add
0.175 BTC for shipping.  If shipping outside the US, please add 0.25 BTC for shipping.

Roll #1,6: 126458fQpss7h1QPCP5e8v658NTNU4B5T3 - k99 - 40.1+35.8+shipping

Roll #2,7: 12r6Njk3BgBKdG2UJbte8A23VSDuVjhzZF - paulgruber - 36+35.7+shipping

Roll #3,4: 12vzGoyXn2mGo1nGBeborGD2eobHYBUc6q - Melbustus - 40+40+shipping

Roll #5: 136noaQzVdo76yL12rdZHjmyRs5Q9n3PQB - 1John8Lare - 35.9+shipping

Roll #8: 136Qw6rYi2LaWZ37oN8vQU4ea2eM2SRMCc - otoh - 35.5+shipping

Please PM me your shipping address and I will have these out right away.

Please let me know if I've made any mistakes with the above (other than the bitcoin addresses -
they're sweet two-factor paper wallets I just printed and I guarantee they're mine and secure)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.17 (MingW32)

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJRaIwnAAoJEFou6PHxF1ojvBYH/2+82+jeStrIUxjP3fqikjQw
XOnwNsBWSyxGx8WN4mBmHJthxTAU5HcmXGGNe0nwKAh13s9IhutJRIOr/3v+Tk/F
4zjhETODfQJ4VWqjnmWBLOmktcLJT1C8rDCINShSNW79r1LCwpIMHTD1Iy5Qcikq
7qW8HIuUY8jzn2meHmQSnMCoor4wAmhQvCFkan8z9dDTNm/iWojjvB7kvkfb7GsK
4Rb6rdp5rqNF9eqzZOZ0P3CCo/Abk/OwJcd3S0tQE5htC/ecJNazyHEAs7WSB89m
t3z+YXUKiJiG+v4CZm8rrTRw5BfQBzBjFODyW2H8RU7Wc/EIrEJ5wfW/pnwoKvg=
=c8jD
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

seems to be some fail on blockchain.info wallets atm, at least for me - can't log in on FF or Safari, will pay tomorrow hopefully when it's fixed

Edit: not just me, it seems: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=175173.0;topicseen

Me too..

Blockchain wallets are not updating funds, sending funds etc.. This sucks.

 >:(

No hurry.

I'll throw in my obligatory plug for paper wallets.  Blockchain having issues doesn't affect me, because I don't keep coins there, nor on any web wallet.  I have never heard of anyone losing their coins on a paper wallet.  So low tech, so high security.  Blockchain can scan QR addresses and private keys via your webcam and they make it super easy to get funds in and out of paper.  I import, transact, and then withdraw my full remaining balance to paper wallets every time I am done using my web wallet.

BC Wallet working again, funds sent, no rush at all for the roll, my address on file, many thanks.
https://blockchain.info/tx/c7acffbec8901eb9c07a64de9f676a085ac346c995571d9a76b2a28da66cc61c

Yes, US, east coast.

Photos of all the coins in this auction (use genuine Adobe Reader to validate digital signature)

https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-1-12122Pkz-lot-121.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-2-12119ceg-lot-121.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-3-1226cE9B-lot-122.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-4-1221UFNW-lot-122.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-5-1231oZPi-lot-123.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-6-1233biEJ-lot-123.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-7-12416Nmk-lot-124.pdf
https://casascius.com/pdf/roll-2013-04-06-8-1241E5cn-lot-124.pdf

does anyone know a cheap source where to order plastic airtight cases for the coins?

http://www.valleycoin.com/ they also list some on eBay & ship internationally.

I am sure this is a dumb question but you ship to P.O. boxes to right?

Yes po boxes ok

Where do you keep them?  A safe deposit box?

Does it not bother you that anyone with physical access to the box (e.g. crooked employee) can easily recognise what it is, and steal your coins?

Nope, this is why I came up with BIP 38 and Casascius Bitcoin Address Utility.  It allows you to create passphrase-encrypted paper wallets.

Keep two or three copies of your encrypted paper wallets in safety deposit boxes in two or three different cities.  This may sound like a big deal to set up, but it's not: there's probably a branch of the bank you already bank with in another city you already visit once in a while, just open a box while you're there.  Use a bank vault for what it's actually good for - storing your valuables so nobody can touch it - rather than as as theater to make it seem like they actually have your money there.

Leave a copy of the passphrase with your estate planning attorney in a sealed envelope.

I have safety deposit boxes in banks in the US & elsewhere, crooked employees do not & can not by design have access to these, you would need to do a full on 'sans armes, ni haine, ni violence' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Spaggiari) to access them & any virtual currency keys/codes/passwords would be only half of what's needed to access funds = secure

as I don't store full backups there but only passwords that one needs to know where to find the, lets say LastPass ID & Yubi key for, they could though make off with my PMs as compensation/reward for getting that far, same goes for any gov intervention, though there's  not much to potentially plunder.

That looks really interesting.  I'm computer literate but know nothing about mono.  Do you have build instructions anywhere?  I've installed mono, but not sure what to do on a unix platform to add the bouncycastle and QR dependencies.

Thanks.

As long as those dependency DLL's are in the same directory, everything will be fine.

I would also recommend to not disclose the Bitcoin address on the encrypted offline wallet, so noone can guess the amount stored there. Otherwise you risk severe torture/blackmail/kidnapping when someone gets to your offline wallet and forces you to pay ransom by revealing the password.

I think zebedee is trying to run this on linux w/o wine.

DragonflyBSD actually.  Got it working by commenting out one line in the source that mono rejected.  Even though they're called DLLs they're not windows-specific apparently.

Interesting. Probably platform-specific, though.

Nope, I'm using ones from the windows download sites... I assure you no-one makes DragonflyBSD ones :)

damnit, I meant architecture-specific.

Yep the DLLs contain architecture independent byte code that mono can jit compile for whatever it's running on.

Are there pictures of these 0.5 BTC coins published anywhere?

Stunningly beautiful

Roll #8: Fifty 0.5 BTC Casascius Coins made April 6, 2013, with address prefix 124

Roll # 8 received, please to fund at your convenience, many thanks.