I'm a bit confused about this.
I've found a post from Gavin in reply to ribuck saying:
"Quote from: ribuck on January 25, 2011, 03:17:27 pm
The analogy doesn't stretch further than being a cute graphic. Individual bitcoins don't exist in any meaningful way, nor do the individual specks of bit-dust. There is no notion of 21 million coins, numbered 1 to 21,000,000.
"Sure there is-- block 0 contains coins 0-49, block 1 coins 50-99, etc.
If you get sent 500 bitcoins, they can all be traced back to generation transactions, so you "own" a bunch of little pieces of land in bitcoin-world."
The (otherwise excellent article in the economist) says:
'Bitcoins do not resemble banknotes with unique serial numbers.'
Of course, I'm inclined to take what Gavin says over anyone else, but I want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding this.
I had in my mind the idea that each bitcoin could be traced back through all its transactions to its generation (no matter wether it was mixed with other bitcoins or not).
I'm a money freak wanting to write another blog post about bitcoin. Already posted a question about the inclusion of transactions in the block chain to which I received a very helpful answer. Your thoughts are appreciated.
-Jon