Bitcoin Forum

Greetings Bitcointalkers and collectibles aficionados,

Today, I have the bitter sweet honor of offering you the highly sought after Genesis Block Newspaper, one (1) complete, authentic, original copy of The London Times from 03 Jan 2009 emblazoned w/ the infamous headline "Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".

Full paper w/ inserts is stored in archival grade polyester protective covering and comes with archival grade box for truly cold storage (but keep it @ room temp.) of this prized relic. Proof of purchase from UK Historic-Newspapers is provided and pictured below, I believe I obtained one of their last copies in mid-2013.

Content courtesy of Bittburger from https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/ (https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/):


CONDITION & PHOTOS:

Two further remarks on the condition of the paper. There is a small diagonal tear less than 1/4 in. in length on the top of the right side of the back page, this is the back of the paper if the front page is folded. There are approximately ten (10) small pin-sized holes down the leftmost side of the back page, I believe these are a result of the way the papers are printed/distributed, see photos. Photos taken earlier today, see last 10 characters of the block hash for block #572620.

https://i.imgur.com/yCWEc3i.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QOVPv4B.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2YvK2H6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WO7Aoar.jpg

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

Small tear closeup
https://i.imgur.com/JFsGmyK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/S0SklNC.jpg

BONUS:

Sometime during the final week of the auction I will give details about the bonus item which will be included for the winning bidder of this auction. It will not substantially add to the value of the item up for auction, but bidders will agree that it makes for a welcome addition to this item. Photos forthcoming.

DONATION:

After obtaining the blessing of Mrs. Lyn Ulbricht, I am pleased to share that 10% of the proceeds of this auction will be donated to FreeRoss.org. Following the successful conclusion of the auction this donation will be made in order to further FreeRoss.org's efforts towards obtaining clemency and/or a presidential pardon for Ross Ulbricht who is currently serving two life sentences in the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, AZ. Ross's trial and subsequent sentencing were obscene miscarriages of justice and I am pleased to be able to help his cause in this small way.

Sign Ross's clemency petition: https://www.change.org/p/freerosspetition-we-seek-potus-s-clemency-for-ross-ulbricht-serving-double-life-without-parole-for-a-website-realdonaldtrump-free-ross (https://www.change.org/p/freerosspetition-we-seek-potus-s-clemency-for-ross-ulbricht-serving-double-life-without-parole-for-a-website-realdonaldtrump-free-ross)

Visit FreeRoss.org (http://FreeRoss.org) to learn more.

TERMS:

Minimum Bid: 40.00 BTC 20.00 BTC 0.00 BTC
Bid Increment: 0.25 BTC

Auction Open: Sunday, April 21 @ 2300 EDT Monday, May 6 @ 2300 EDT
Auction Close: Sunday, May 5 @ 2300 EDT Monday, May 20 @ 2300 EDT https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20190520T23&p0=179&msg=Satoshi+Times+auction&font=cursive (https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20190520T23&p0=179&msg=Satoshi+Times+auction&font=cursive)
No Sniping: Each bid in the final 60 minutes adds 60 minutes to the Auction Close time until no bid has been made for 60 minutes.

Valid bids will be accepted as replies to this post for the duration of the auction. Clearly indicate your bid in your reply.

I reserve the right to reject bids from any user for any reason. If you are a newbie or have zero/negative trust, please PM me PRIOR to placing a bid.

I encourage questions in this thread but also feel free to PM with any private questions or concerns. Other private channels can also be arranged.

Payment/Escrow/Shipping

Payment must be received by an agreed escrow within 48 hours of the conclusion of the auction. The escrow shall be a mutually agreeable, trustworthy member of these forums or a highly rated and trustworthy arbitrator from bitrated.com.

This item ships free anywhere in the world. I will ensure that the utmost care is taken in the handling and packaging of this delicate artifact to guarantee that the winning bidder expediently receives the entire genuine 03 Jan 2009 London Times in the expected condition as described above. Item ships from the Southern US, and if the winning bidder does not express a preference of carrier, item will ship via UPS/UPS International and will be insured to the fullest extent possible through the same.

Auction will commence approximately 12 hours from the time of this post and is scheduled to end two weeks from then. Happy Easter and good luck :)

FAQ

Q: Price is very high, how can you justify the high minimum bid?

A: These are obviously rare papers and very few sales have taken place. https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/ notes 8 "verified copies" of the paper ranging in asking price from $250k-$1.3M. BTC has been somewhat volatile since the auction began but at a ~$5200/BTC the minimum bid for this auction is priced 15-20% below the lowest priced paper on https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/ and I am a highly accessible and public owner happy to answer questions to facilitate this deal; and I am donating 10% of the final sale price to a deserving charity.

If you are commenting to complain about the price please take precautions to avoid having your post look like a bid.

Q: Is this your only copy?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you willing to meet the buyer in person to consummate this deal?

A: Yes, I am willing to travel (reasonable distance w/in the ConUS) to meet the buyer at an agreed upon location to complete this deal via in-person delivery if the winning bidder so chooses.

Q: Will you entertain a trade that is not the minimum bid or higher?

A: No.

Q: What is the fastest way to check the status of this auction?

A: http://thetimes03jan2009.auction and click on the last page  ;)

Q: Where can I guess the final sale price without actually bidding?

A: You can hash your final sale price predictions by May 15 @ 20:00 PST on Sat0shisGhost's thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5140169.0

$210,800 ? just for the MB?

Are you smoking crack?

Viz

I was excited to see this but that starting price is a bit inflated.

Since it's reserved, though, looks like it has already sold anyway.

40BTC.........  ::)

Edit:
Most certainly not a bid!  This is a wack-a-doodle price.

Very nice item. Might not see bids but definitely a very rare sought after newspaper. Once we get into the high end "in person" auctions once bitcoin and physical coins become more mainstream this will do really well.

Careful :p that looks almost like a bid.

haha
40BTC

you probably are smoking crack :)

***edited to show only 2x haha*** :)

great item, got me exited at first lol


https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/028/720/t3qkhrohrh321.jpg

I've seen open offers of $25 to $50k and speculations of $100k.  To *start* an auction this high seems ridiculous, imho.

Be careful when saying the starting bid in an auction.. It may not always be obvious if it's a bid or not.

40 BTC seems like a too high starting bid, as you can see you received an offer of 4 Casascius coins for it, so "bid/ask spread" is quite large.

I encourage everybody laughing at the price to provide some proof of previous sales/availability of The Times 03 Jan 2009.
There is no reason to ridicule somebody offering an extremely rare piece like this. Let's educate and he may realize that his expectations are too high.. he has one, many of us don't.. a large premium is expected but let's try and not scare people away.

Nice to see a piece of Bitcoin history offered.

A bit too high for me to reach..so will observe on the sidelines.

Goodluck on your sale. ;)

Btw..if you do get to sell at your price...delivery in person is the way to go. For something this expensive and rare...I would never trust anyone else to deliver it safely

Even though they seem to be very rare, and considered to be one of the first collectible of the cryptocurrency world 40BTC is too expensive to start with in an auction. Though I have never seen a Times Genesis block paper coming up for sell/auction, it would be quite interesting to see how this sale/auction progresses over time. Probably a whale like OTOH or Canary or GP can complete this deal for you at a worthy price.

As krog said, if someone buys this at such a price both you and the buyer should meet in person and finalize the deal. Will you trust a Premium delivery service with such an expensive item?

40 BTC is barking mad but they ain't making any more and it's the type of thing an early adopter with coins pouring out of their botty would love to have. All the same I'd have to whack myself around the head with an anvil if I bought it just before a bull run. Glad I'm not really the collecting type.

Good luck with the auction. This is definitely going to be very informative and something that'll be referred to often in the years to come.

Is there another one that has sold publicly, like... ever?

There's a couple there which sort of ground to a halt. They're quite old threads and obviously as time goes on these items become ever more mythical.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=833184.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=397557.0

Your only way of obtaining one would've been through the old newspaper sites. Certainly no one gave a shit on the day. It's not as if anyone would've realised their significance until at least a couple of years afterwards. I wonder what type of stock they had per newspaper. It can't be high.

Ask Worth Point perhaps.

It is common to reserve the second post in these cases. I believe the second post will be edited to showcase the bonus item and have it at the top. Try not to spread fake statements.

https://twitter.com/Free_Ross/status/1120472033337409538


#TheTimes03Jan2009

I will probably do an FAQ post later this week. Thanks everyone for your input and participation so far.  :D

I wish you luck on this auction.  I love the one off collectables and this is king of one offs.  Wish I grabbed one when I could have.  Is this your only copy or do you have an extra to keep for yourself? 

Indeed it was a smart piece of paper investment.....

Auction has been live for almost one week and will run for another week. Thanks to all who commented, shared thoughts, and stopped by to read and take a look at this item.

FAQ

Q: Price is very high, how can you justify the high minimum bid?

A: These are obviously rare papers and very few sales have taken place. https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/ (https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/) notes 8 "verified copies" of the paper ranging in asking price from $250k-$1.3M. BTC has been somewhat volatile since the auction began but at a ~$5200/BTC the minimum bid for this auction is priced 15-20% below the lowest priced paper on https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/ (https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/) and I am a highly accessible and public owner happy to answer questions to facilitate this deal; and I am donating 10% of the final sale price to a deserving charity.

If you are commenting to complain about the price please take precautions to avoid having your post look like a bid.

Q: Is this your only copy?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you willing to meet the buyer in person to consummate this deal?

A: Yes, I am willing to travel (reasonable distance w/in the ConUS) to meet the buyer at an agreed upon location to complete this deal via in-person delivery if the winning bidder so chooses.

Q: Will you entertain a trade that is not the minimum bid or higher?

A: No.

Very fascinating info. Never knew much of the intricate details of this item. Good luck with your auction/sale.

iBHK8

I cannot tell you how many libraries I have searched in an attempt to find this issue. 

I think it's now one of those things where if there was something available, someone got there and nabbed it a long, long time before it even occurred to you to look. I'm sure there must be some obsessive newspaper collectors with no interest in BTC who have one. Maybe their descendants will unearth it and buy their own space station.

There's still time to add this to your personal library  ;)

I am still working to get the bonus item sorted, hoping to have photos to update this auction with soon; you guys will not be disappointed!

Gentlemen -

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control I will be unable to include the bonus item w/ this auction. I had wanted to include a copy of The Times from 03 Jan 2019 featuring the Bitmex advert. I'm sure collectors more savvy than myself can make this pairing happen, but it won't be this auction.

I want this auction to end on a successful note and as of now there are approximately 48 hours remaining until the close of bidding. I am a motivated seller and I am willing to engage in some price discovery to make a deal on this piece. I would prefer to avoid fleabay, and I would love for this item to end up in the hands of a forum user.

Because BTC is up and because I failed to deliver on the bonus item I am lowering the minimum bid to 20 BTC. All other terms of the auction remain in place. I have updated the main post to reflect this. I do not anticipate lowering the price further and I hope this change encourages bidders in the final days & hours of the auction.

I have moved the FAQ to the 2nd post and will continue to update there with questions as they arise.

So the 1/3/2019 paper was worth 20BTC as well??  I have a copy I’ll sell you for a mere 10BTC.  Half of what you believe it to be worth.  I’ll even cover the escrow fee.  ;)

Edit:
...and I’ll give 1.5BTC to freeRoss out of your 10BTC.  It can come straight out of escrow.  :D

Please don't misrepresent what I believe the value of these items to be. If you read my first post I clearly state that the bonus item would not materially add to the value of the 03 Jan 2009 paper which is up for auction. Thanks for your offer though.  ;)

Just following the absurdity.....  and making a point to go along with said absurdity. 

....and be careful about misrepresentation.  You give a site for reference with ABSURD FOR SALE prices.... not SOLD prices.  I can put my car for sale for 1M USD.... doesn’t mean it’s worth that.

That's what we're here to find out. I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to value this and I doubt anyone other than the eventual buyer does either, and even they probably don't know what they're willing to part with until they do.

He kicked off at a level that didn't ignite. Time for a different one.

I’ll bid 1BTC and a mars bar..

Less than you want I know, but a lot more likely than your silly silly request son

36 hrs remaining

1.5BTC, just in case he would go for it.... :D

I have all 3 UK released Times newspapers from this years anniversary featuring the Bitmex advert...
UK Print 2 versions & Scottish Times Print.
You have now made me curious as to the value of this clearly unusual anniversary set.

Viz

Piddling. Loads and loads and loads of people will have them.

The stuff that winds up worth the most is often considered worthless at the time which is why they're so rare. 10th anniversary papers will be crawling out for decades to come. Anything that people believe will be a slam dunk in future from the off is always fatally saturated.

If your basement is big enough. Start filling the shelves.

Seeing that start price makes me really regret not picking up 2 of these papers when I had the chance. IIRC back then he was asking 1BTC each and I was like lolplz...

What was price of BTC ?

Probably $400ish?

Damn! But who couldve known where this collectable was headed?

Yeah there were a bunch of them floating around.  If you want to get real crazy I remember an auction where someone won one for like .15btc ish when btc was around $200 lulz.

Edit: .26btc nubbins https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=727068.0

Edit #2: bitcoin was around $600 making that paper sold for around $150

~24hrs remaining

Yep  :-\

6 hrs remaining

I thought long and hard about the results of this auction.

My initial minimum bid requirements of 40 and then 20 BTC were too much to ask of this forum, but I would hate for this auction to end on such an unsatisfactory note.

For that reason I am extending the auction for another two weeks with a MINIMUM BID of 0.00 BTC. No valid bids have been entered as of this post and the auction will restart a few hours from now, the bid increment remains the same at 0.25 BTC. All other terms remain unchanged.

I will be doing more promotion this time around to hopefully get some more eyeballs on this item over the next two weeks.

If you don't plan on bidding, but know someone who might be interested in this item please share:

Follow #thetimes03jan2009 on Twitter

&

http://thetimes03jan2009.auction (http://thetimes03jan2009.auction) redirects to the first post.

I cannot wait to see how high this goes.

Will start bid with 0.1BTC

0.35 btc

1 BTC  ;D

1.25BTC

1.5 BTC

It isn't a high ask for the forum, it's a high ask for the item. Real genius you are indeed. ::) -100 merit, but unfortunately this option does not exist.

Watching.

1.75BTC

fuck off sky - fucking whale

2BTC

2.25BTC

2.5BTC

2.75BTC

3BTC

3.25BTC

AFAIK this is still the only verified “newspaper-only” sale. When I resold it, it was with a bundle of other rare goods, deliberately obscuring the price. The paper and a s2 0.5 silver would have collectively been valued at around 25btc to the buyer at the time. The other coins in the bundle were common and easily priced.

The guy from the times 2009 website still reaches out about once a year just to see if I still have any other copies stashed away. I don’t!

Winner: please take a high-resolution scan of the front page. I wish I had!

Thanks to all who placed bids and PM'd with questions/concerns this week. If you have suggestions on how to enhance auction integrity in the collectibles subforum I recommend checking out the thread started by micgoossens: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5140603.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5140603.0)

Also remember to hash your final sale price predictions by May 15 @ 20:00 PST on Sat0shisGhost's thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5140169.0

The auction runs for another eight days, get your bids in early and good luck!  :D

4BTC

I want to see a Otoh vs greenplastic showdown. ;D ;D

4.25BTC

Edit.. please MR OTOH.. let some minnows have some fun for once

5BTC

6.25BTC

6.5BTC

I hereby bow to a greater opponent, best of luck big O

6.75

7BTC

7.5

I believe that this is a correct countdown timer for the Auction Close: Sunday, May 5 @ 2300 EDT Monday, May 20 @ 2300 EDT, but no guarantees, it's unofficial so do you own DD, though I shall be following it unless someone spots a flaw in it.

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20190520T23&p0=179&msg=Satoshi+Times+auction&font=cursive

I can confirm that this is indeed the correct Auction Close time.

I have also edited the first post clarifying the no sniping rule as follows:

Just over ~24 hours until auction close.

Remember 10% of the proceeds of this auction will be donated to FreeRoss.org.

You can also donate at https://freeross.org/donate (https://freeross.org/donate)

Good luck everyone ;D

One hour until auction close.

The No Sniping rule is now in effect.

The winning bidder has been contacted.

It didn’t get anywhere near 40BTC .....and it didn’t get anywhere near 20BTC. ::)

I told you those were wack-a-doodle prices!

Congratulations on what you got though... I guessed less than half of that amount.

Following an in-person negotiation with the winning bidder we agreed on a reduced price of 7.4BTC after the discovery of some minor discoloration on the right side of the front page which was not evident from the photos. The winning bidder is having the paper professionally preserved so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.

As promised I have forwarded 10% as a donation to FreeRoss.org  ;D
https://blockstream.info/tx/eb56282278d5a9eb0d8c58a64d5623d539699c380d4d8a63edfbdf60c7d79423 (https://blockstream.info/tx/eb56282278d5a9eb0d8c58a64d5623d539699c380d4d8a63edfbdf60c7d79423)

For the record:  Just because 1 person decided to let the newspaper go for less, doesn't mean the other prices are false.

It just means this is the price 1 person was willing to let it go at.

Even though its hardly a low price as 7.4 BTC works out to over $60,000 at the price of Bitcoin on the sale date.  (EDIT:  I assumed a BTC price of $8100 after a half-second glance at the CMC chart from the date of auction).

I own TheTimes03Jan2009.com - and if JDBound is who I think it is, they are the single, solitary individual out of all the newspaper holders who was even willing to consider selling.   They were also the only individual who had an actual asking price below $500,000.  

So if this is the same individual, then I would consider this a one-off event, and the new owner to be an extremely lucky person, because after this, you are not likely to see one to for anywhere near this price again.

-B-

If you had a buyer will to pay half of $500k you would have sellers come out all over the place, you tripping if you dont think a quarter mil would get sales ripping

Agreed.   $500k buyers would be tremendous for the entire bitcoin space.


And why would it matter who JDBound is? Its not a secret btw.

Understood.  There's only 8 of them in existence that we've been able to verify.  Another 1-2 who claim to have one but aren't responsive to communication and we haven't verified.

Of the 8 in existence, all but one say they're not interested in selling.  Honestly the $500k label is probably just a symbolic way of saying its not for sale.  I've had the Winklevoss Twins email asking to buy, and nobody would let theirs go to them.  Deep pockets is an understatement for those two.

I received a note from a motivated Hedge Fund manager offering $300,000 for a copy.  Currently reaching out to him to see if that offer still stands.


Sorry about that.   I wasn't sure who he was.  I just always try to be discreet in referring to who has copies, etc.  Didn't mean to imply it was a secret or that he isn't already known.  I did verify though that he wasn't the one I was thinking of.  So there is 1 other individual willing to sell at this time.  His last number was $70k.  But that was a year ago.  

-B-

There's more than 8.  For obvious reasons not everyone you ask will tell you they have one.  If that was the way you deduced mintage and the $ amount people are willing to sell for than you would think only 3 or 4 casascius loaded 25btc coins exist.  Not a lot of people are going to rush to tell a stranger they own something like that if you know what I mean  :)

Plenty must have been sold by the newspaper reselling sites from 2010/11 onwards who must've been wondering why that particular day was flying out the door.

And I'm sure there are a few retained by people for personal or sentimental reasons who have zero idea of what it can fetch. It'll be one of those things that'll be unthinkingly thrown out along with everything else when they croak.

Agreed unless professionally store where it looks like something that should be checked out for value it will be misconstrued as clutter

7.4 BTC. Damn. I would've gone 10.

Ha! 10 for a real one. < 0.01 for a fake one.