About 30 coins remaining for now. I'm opening up sales for 10 of them now. PM Me  |
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Alright, I'm opening up sales again @ $150 (for each buyer's first coin. 2nd & 3rd are $195).
Please PM me to make reservations.
Coins are now available.
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Alright, I'm opening orders for the first 10 or so buyers @ $150 each. Minerjones will be taking care of shipping, which will be paid separately. Please PM me to make an order along with number requests. These first coins should go out this week  EDIT: 13 coins sold to 9 buyers. That's it for now folks Hope to get this first batch out shortly |
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200.200$  Damn I should reload next time  One small remark, your new site says: "Now direct from the author, cheaper than any other distributor!" Though I still can find it cheaper with one of my main distributors  Really? Please PM me the info. Probably a good time to bring the price down as well. |
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IS that it? Really?
Fair criticism is fair. This gives me an opportunity to explain the coin. Basically, I found that there are plenty of coins with a traditional hologram out there, and this piece is meant to be more conceptual than useful. It's not really made to fit into the mold of the existing & established market, but rather to challenge and parody it by taking the very basic elements (B, year/mint/very generic circuit board/private key) and combining them into something unique. Naturally, not everyone will like that. Casascius coins were created to make blockchain/cryptocurrency feel like normal money. This coin was created to make 'normal money' feel like blockchain/cryptocurrency. The INFINITY hologram symbolizes how blockchain goes on forever, is interconnected, and is mindboggling , difficult to comprehend, and virtually impossible to falsify. It is then this interconnected jumble of never-ending, hard-to-understand connections that both 'protect' and 'conceal' value, with both the silver (physical) and private key (digital) representing that concept of value. This value is then encased between 2 sets of this 'protective layer'. I understand if doubling up the hologram is controversial; many have come to associate high quality with some sort of symbolic image. Instead of an image, this coin attempts to convey a concept. Most people who display a coin consider the hologram 'secondary' and display only the main 'image'. This is impossible with this coin since the hologram IS the image; the focus is the concept of the blockchain/tech, not the concept of coins/money. Regarding security, my general view which I've mentioned here before is that new creators, unless they are institutions, will likely never get the trust that the likes of Casascius and Lealana had. Also due to legal concerns, I'm not releasing funded coins. These are meant to be art pieces as opposed to useful and secure cold-storage coins, but I do invite anyone to put 'token' amounts of BTC into them. Again, the point here is not to actually defend against 'attacks' (though those features are certainly present) but to convey the idea and concept of doing so both at the level of the individual coin and the blockchain as a whole. Casascius coins were primarily coins; the hologram was added as a 'necessary' security feature to the coin. This 'coin' is built around the hologram; the coin was added as a 'necessary' platform to host and affix it. With all that said, the beauty and meaning are in the eye of the beholder, and this is one of those things that is going to mesmerize some and disappoint others. To those who are disappointed, I hope you will appreciate that everyone has different tastes. I'm sure there are and will be other coins that you love. |
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How about the most important part..... the price??  Does it matter? We want one  LOL...so true! You guys are crazy! Price is all that matters. Yeah you're right...I guess I'm coming from the as long as it's reasonable realm then the price will be justified. Of course Elias and the market itself will truly set that for us. Cheers everyone.  / 5000 - 5 = ___ First person to post the answer to this skill-testing question will receive a discount of $0.30 x 33 + 4.10 |
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Haha you ruined the fun. This is also the official launch of www.cryptonumist.com It is replacing CoinFIRM as the go-to source for info on physical crypto The Casascius Gallery features all Casascius coins in a very neat way where they 'flip' to reveal the other side when you hover over them. Most of the other coins from the book are also on there, but still need to be sorted. My vision for it is to make it a depository for basic info and images of ALL physical crypto coins. For this, I am seeking dedicated volunteers as I, unfortunately, do not have time to keep on top of every new coin. On the blog post that the 'teaser' is on, I wrote the following text: On this website, you will find a gallery of Casascius coins as well as others. Practically all of the information in my Encyclopedia is now available for free through Cryptonumist, because I believe this information should be free for everyone to access. The aim is to add all physical crypto coins to the galleries on this site and create a regular blog with updates for collectors. I am looking for volunteers to take a role as admins and writers. If you would like to play a role, contact me. Do check it out! |
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^yes, that is a screenshot of the video, but you need to see the video to understand. The hologram goes on forever, hence the name. The backside of the coin, along with stats, is now posted on the new physical crypto blog. Where exactly is this blog? I just gave you a hint  |
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There were no where near 500 actually struck in the end - that was just an upper limit. And also the encyclopedia seems off to me- must be a mistake. I do not think that more than 100 pure silver strikes were made off the top of my head.
I will compile them and put them up here and disseminate the numbers, while also putting them on my site soon. I have time this weekend and since you're interested this is probably the best time to do it.
Good to know! |
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Many have asked me when I'll release a coin. I came close two years ago, but it turned out that the highly unique design was outside of the mint's capability. I felt strongly that if I'm to release a coin, then it would need to be something special. That coin has now arrived. SEE GIF 1 HERE >> https://imgflip.com/gif/2v1moxSEE GIF 2 HERE >> https://imgflip.com/gif/2v1mx8I present to you the Infinity Bitcoin, produced by the Physical Bitcoin (PB) Mint. PB Mint is a collaboration between me and a partner who has access to cutting edge hologram technology. 100 limited edition (plus 10 'demo coins' made) Background: Basically, I found that there are plenty of coins with a traditional hologram out there, and this piece is meant to be more conceptual than useful. It's not really made to fit into the mold of the existing & established market, but rather to challenge and parody it by taking the very basic elements (B, year/mint/very generic circuit board/private key) and combining them into something unique. Naturally, not everyone will like that. Casascius coins were created to make blockchain/cryptocurrency feel like normal money. This coin was created to make 'normal money' feel like blockchain/cryptocurrency. The INFINITY hologram symbolizes how blockchain goes on forever, is interconnected, and is mindboggling , difficult to comprehend, and virtually impossible to falsify. It is then this interconnected jumble of never-ending, hard-to-understand connections that both 'protect' and 'conceal' value, with both the silver (physical) and private key (digital) representing that concept of value. This value is then encased between 2 sets of this 'protective layer'. Instead of an image, this coin attempts to convey a concept. Most people who display a coin consider the hologram 'secondary' and display only the main 'image'. This is impossible with this coin since the hologram IS the image; the focus is the concept of the blockchain/tech, not the concept of coins/money. Casascius coins were primarily coins; the hologram was added as a 'necessary' security feature to the coin. This 'coin' is built around the hologram; the coin was added as a 'necessary' platform to host and affix it. --------------- This sale also marks my first public announcement of a project I'm currently working on; a new book: 21 Stories: A Decade in Bitcoin
The book will have 21 chapters, with each looking at the blockchain ecosystem & phenomenon from an entirely different angle. The aim is to unite all these angles into one cohesive piece. One of these chapters is about crypto art, and physical coins are of course included! The book is 25%-33% done. UPDATE: Teaser video will be posted on twitter https://twitter.com/elias_ahonen on SATURDAY. Please follow me UPDATE 2: Taking a few 'teaser' orders @ $150. PM me. Those who already messaged me earlier don't need to do so again to get this. -------> 'Teaser' sales ended. Will open to more later. Shipping (and sealing) of coins is being done by minerjones. Shipping charges are extra and will be arranged with him. Image showing security seal function:  |
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I think that a highly trusted entity could create high-value loaded physical coins/bill/cards etc for mass consumption.
Would I trust a new startup with $10,000 or whatever in loaded value? Nah.
What about if The Canadian Mint created them, or a major bank issued them and said that they guaranteed (or even had insurance on) each loaded BTC? Yeah, I'd probably trust that.
Not to say such entities are lining up to create physical bitcoins.
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Because of the trust issue, I don't believe any new coin maker can achieve that level of common trust. Considering Mike started making his coins in 2011 when BTC was $1, the fact that not one coin has been compromised at $100, $1,000, or $20,000 successively lowers the probability that he kept the keys or that they could be compromised in any way. Another factor is time; 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 25 years etc.. as time goes on, its exponentially less likely that someone will dig up the keys somehow, even if they were hypothetically stored on some laptop or printer that was sold to someone on craigslist (for the record, I have no reason to believe this is the case, Mike was very careful with data security). Couple that with the fact that there has never yet been a good fake, nor a coin with an illegible or otherwise corrupted private key.
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I think indistinguishable fakes will be along at some point and then things are going to get a bit shaky.
All the stuff that's put up as fake at the moment is nowhere near a concerted attempt at a forgery, it's just a bit of a rip off that looks similar.
You may be right. At that point, provenance will become increasingly important, just as it is in the traditional art world. I believe the market for these coins will be more akin to the art/antique market, as opposed to the traditional rare coin market. Coin collectors almost exclusively care about currency issued by governments, whereas others collect things like subway tokens and poker chips, and physical bitcoins belong to neither of those categories. For all the coin brokering I've done, usually in larger quantities, I've issued certificates with the coins numbers and even photos, and all the info I have about provenance. I think certificates like these will become more commonplace. I am launching a service to issue these types of certificates digitally or physically. I believe that eventually, the coins will be in so many hands that this forum will only see a small fraction of the trading that takes place. |
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I believe that even decades from now, Casascious coins will be the 'face' or popular image of bitcoin to a significant extent. It's just perfectly fitting; if bitcoin is a digital cash/gold, it makes perfect sense that its mascot should be a gold-colored coin with the Bitcoin symbol that connects the physical to the digital. Right now the first part of that applies, but I think eventually more people will appreciate the way the coin combines physical ownership & keys to digital assets. And just like bitcoins, they are finite (and decreasing!) in supply.
As such, I believe that as long as we have Bitcoin and even (especially?) if we didn't, Casascious coins will be sought after.
I think that dollar value premiums of coins will continue increasing, even for peeled coins. I believe peeled coins will become highly sought after, with loaded coins being out of reach of anyone but the most serious collectors.
I don't think we will see a 'bull market' in the coins in the way we have before, in that a 1btc loaded coin commonly goes for over 2btc. This is because most of the people currently holding these coins don't think of BTC in its current value but as ~$10,000-$100,000. In that line of thinking, maying five or six figures to speculate on a collectible is not easy to justify.
One of the questions is whether coins should be valued in BTC or USD. My view is that the digital value should always be given in BTC because the loaded amount is stable, and the 'premium' should be thought of in USD terms. Suppose we considered 1.5 BTC to be fair for a 1 BTC loaded coin (let's ignore the BCH etc). Surely if BTC fell to $10, nobody would be selling their coins at a $5 premium, whereas if it rose to $1,000,000, few would consider paying $500,000 extra for a 'normal' 2013 brass Casascius (rare versions might be an exception though). In the first scenario, we can easily imagine a value of $100 meaning 10 BTC premium whereas the second scenario might have a $100,000 premium meaning 0.1 BTC.
Overall, I think Casascious coins are excellent ways to hold BTC for the long term without being tempted to panic sell, daytrade, or invest it in a stupid way. Do I think you can 'make money' with them in the short term? probably not. in any case, you are holding a piece of history and you should continue doing so. This goes for all physical coins, as well as early crypto art and such.
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Alright guys, I've got something special from the vault today. What we have here is one of the original paperback editions of the encyclopedia. It was one of the ~110 copies in the initial batch, 100 of which were designated as 'first print'. This specific book went with me as I traveled the world for about 1.5 years in 2016-2017. It's seen a lot and has been browsed by people from all walks of life around the world from; from impoverished schoolchildren I tutored in South Africa to Chinese billionaires. It was with me in a dug-out wood canoe in Botswana's Okavango Delta when I was chased by a charging hippo, and has been passed around in bars across Southeast Asia as I backpacked there. It was even featured in Chinese media after being the star of a book talk I was invited to in Nanjing. Now, I have recorded all the countries the book has been in behind the front cover. I've also attached a 'globe' hologram to the front, making it unique among my books. it is of course signed. It's time I give the collectors here a chance to own this truly unique piece. The book's condition is FAR from mint, so you can browse it without worry. I would invite the buyer to take it on further travels and record them where I left off.. another 10-11 countries will fill up the page!   STARTING BID: 0.050 BTC MINIMUM BID INCREMENT 0.005 BTC END TIME: OCTOBER 15th, 2018, 14:00:00 PDT SNIPE: Any bid made in last 10 minutes will extend the auction 10 minutes beyond the ending time, and if within those 10 extended minutes, a new bid is made, 10 minutes will be added to the auction from the time of that bid. SHIPPING: Based on location and preference |
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