congrats!

I'm sure that you're right, I'll just check this with them to make sure and will report back when I hear, tomorrow probably..

YVW!

I noticed that some posters were asking if people could pay in bitcoins for this auction, and the answer is yes sure they can, so long as they register ahead of time if they are new customers.

Very good call!

This post has aged pretty surprisingly well, so far at least, considering that not so many would have thought we'd be up around here just one week later I imagine.

https://tinyurl.com/yur47w5z

I think that Heritage are doing a great job here, I believe that they've just sent out some nice glossy catalogues, taking it as a given that bitcoin is here to stay, then at some stage there's going to be a collectors, and investors, market for these early historical physicals and others, I don't know when that's going to happen but I believe that it will be via exposure like this rather than niche sales here on the BTF (which are also great in their own way, and are how I bought much of my collection), so this is a test to discover what the interest may be now at about ten years in.

I have absolutely no expectations, realistic or otherwise, maybe there'll be some premiums, or maybe that'll happen once the buyers of these see substantial future gains, and then some of these will start to come back onto the market again, even if those are only mostly bitcoin price appreciation gains, which I'm certain we'll see, and that probably even in the next few months.

I've been guaranteed the spot price and I'm totally happy with that, the alternative would have been to peel them, or to just leave them in a safety deposit vault indefinitely, I prefer this option as it should preserve them, and hopefully it will help to get this market kick started in the wider mainstream, I do have a bunch more of different Casascius, BTCC offerings (many of which I hand carried out from Shanghai) & some other noteworthy physicals (ie a couple, or so, of 1,000,000 DOGE coins, Etc - Nice if one of those could be landed on the moon one day, or at least to pay it a visit) that can follow this, and which I hope that these will also add value to this Part 1 of my collection in the future, with their 'Otoh Collection' provenance.

A couple of friends, one who had sold/peeled or gifted all of their physicals, and the other as yet to get any, approached me in the last few days with interest to pick up some of the other physicals which I hold, so it does seem that this auction is kindling an interest in this area (anyway from that small sample).

Whatever happens it is only the beginning of what I trust will be a fun, groundbreaking and exhilarating series of auctions.

Status: Reserve (If Any) Will post on 10/27/2023 7pm CT

Reserve (If Any) Not Posted Yet:
Although many lots will not get reserves, this signifies that we have not yet posted any reserves to this entire auction. Reserves are usually posted approximately 3 days prior to the closing for Internet-only auctions, and approximately 7 days prior to the live session for Signature auctions. At that point, any unmet Reserve will become both the price shown (with an asterisk) and the Minimum Next Bid, regardless of any previous bids.

I haven't placed any reserves on the coins personally, but I have been guaranteed by Heritage the overall bitcoin spot value for the collection as a whole, if say the spot price was $30,000/BTC on the 3rd of November, then I would get a minimum of $30,000 x 200 = $6M, which as I understand it some could then sell for under spot perhaps and some for a premium, though I'm not sure on this, as it's totally up to Heritage if the want to post a reserve on the coins or not, I guess it's best to either wait and see if they do that, or to contact them directly to find out what their intentions may be if they are willing to share, or have even decided upon it yet.

Maybe they're happy to buy in any coins if they don't reach the spot price, to hodl themselves, or even to peel if they didn't want to do that (but that could be controversial I'd imagine, so hopefully not), there's also about $200/BTC (I think) in forked coins which add value over the BTC spot price. Edit: looks like $335/BTC ATM for the forks 23/10/23.

So it's a bit like selling say gold bullion collectables, unlikely to go for under the melt (peel) price on the day, and more likely to merit a premium for their rarity, desirability and future growth potential, but it will all depend upon demand, plus probably many outside factors, it should be good price discovery in any case and entertaining to watch, especially in what happens to their value in the subsequent few years, and over their next decade of existence.

That's the price of moving the market into the mainstream, whether it's an artist being represented by an agent or gallery, any major auction house and even retail establishments, there will be added costs, the alternative is to sell items oneself ie on BTF, or just peel and destroy the artefacts, my decision was to go down the major auction house route with the increased exposure that their marketing, clout and collectors base will bring.

Yep, these were all bought directly from Mike Caldwell in 2013, so they have the very best provenance, in fact they were still in their original vacuum sealed tubes when they went for grading at NGC.

https://imgur.com/a/mIVPmrd

It is quite a lot to offer in a first sale, but I wanted to make a splash with it to get collectors and auction houses attention, perhaps it is a bit early timing wise when bitcoin is still seen as a risk asset, rather than as a safe haven one like PMs, but the buyers of these can almost certainly look forward to new ATHs in the next couple of years with the halving and probable US ETFs around the corner, plus the bottom being most likely already in already and tested.

Ideally this may mark the start of a much wider market for physical crypto with premiums being paid, or at least that being a potential in the future, a lot of collectors are always looking for the next thing which has high growth possibilities, ie like 'undiscovered' contemporary artists, or that market may begin once the buyers of this offering start to find that it's performing way better than any of their other assets in a couple of years time or something.

lol  

The NGC coin grading, and this auction, is primarily to preserve these coins as a piece of the early Casascius physical bitcoin production for prosperity, and also to test, and hopefully encourage the wider numismatic collectors market for this presently, relatively niche, field.

I've sold all of my digital crypto over the years and the physicals were always my long term 'cold storage' option, now after more than ten years it seems the right moment to let these go, it isn't primarily about getting the maximum return, when I consigned them bitcoin was at $30,000/BTC, and of course it was 50/50 if it would be lower (as now), or higher when they came to auction, it will be interesting to see how they do in such a high profile US auction house, hopefully they'll appeal to some collectors there, and maybe pique the interest of others, and some MSM coverage perhaps.

If the sale does do well, ie over the peel value anyway, then there may be a part 2 & 3 (or more) of my collection offered over the next few years, with both much rarer and higher denomination offerings, plus BTCC goodies, if it gets stuck around the spot price on Nov 3rd then I'll rethink, but for now I'm excited to offer this hoard preserved through a wild west volatile early decade to new custodians and enthusiasts to enjoy the subsequent decades of ups, downs, thrills and spills.

www.otoh.com

Lot 1: 0.19 BTC
Lot 2: 0.155 BTC

Lot 1: 0.18 BTC
Lot 2: 0.15 BTC

Lot 1: 0.16 BTC
Lot 2: 0.14 BTC

  54 please - Otoh

watching

This was the original 2012 thread on The British Museum Casascius coins, I like to use the display one for sending donations to, it would be nice if they made this possibility more obvious to visitors IMO.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=122274.0;all

https://blockstream.info/address/1NyVMo79Vanhbu92MpPQgCbu9MDV5a4NhW

following