What form of physical bitcoins would you prefer?

[PrintCoins]

Only vote if you would intend to actually buy them.

I am trying to determine what form to really make PrintCoins in. Before starting I was flipping back and forth between business cards and paper fiat style bills. The bills just happened because I happened to have a ream of really good paper available and no business card sheets.

After talking with Mike (Casascius) some, I realize that coins aren't as big of a cost compared to the actual holograms (and the effort).

I think the plastic form would just not be worth it since it would require a plastic printer. Also if you had 5 bills in your wallet, it would be bursting at the seems.

What would your preference be, and if you have some reasons, feel free to post here.

Feel free to multi-select if you are cool with any one of multiple formats.

[istar]

You need a great design, something that makes people go wow and for that, the material is important but so is the design and they need to go hand in hand.

[PrintCoins]

What do you think of the current design?
http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/spread.jpg

Please be more descriptive than good/bad. I am looking for what to improve if anything.

[cbeast]

Howsabout CVD Superdiamonds with single atom arrangements forming the keys.  

Really before we go crazy over physical bitcoin, shouldn't we have a way to redeem them that doesn't require 3 forms of ID and 8-10 business days.

[kronosvl]

I was thinking that we could have have something like a credit/debit card with chip(without magnetic strip)
This chip will be somewhat like TPM is now(mostly in laptops). No way to know what it data contains exactly just some communication gates/functions. You can know what addresses contains but the chip will never release their private keys, you will have to request a transaction signing to the chip itself. This way you will always have bitcoin wallet with you, maybe protected by a PIN.
The private keys are on that card(chip) only. Lose it and you will lose money, just like walet with cash these days but the thief/founder will not be able to spend them.

I don't know if somebody else has already described something similar in a different thread, just thinking out-loud.

Ofcourse this asumes that we will also have lot's of machines (on comerciants) that can use this card.
The simplest form would be something like a card reader (modified ofcourse) with a software that knows about the chip.

[PrintCoins]

I think mobile phones end up working better than credit cards since they can act like credit cards, and no fancy extra hardware is needed. In fact I think phones will replace credit cards in the future (if this bitcoin thing doesn't work out)

Physical bitcoins I think are more off grid transactions and for new users that don't have wallet software. They are also good for people that just like cash.

[westkybitcoins]

Howsabout CVD Superdiamonds with single atom arrangements forming the keys.  

Really before we go crazy over physical bitcoin, shouldn't we have a way to redeem them that doesn't require 3 forms of ID and 8-10 business days.

StrongCoin lets you do it quickly and securely.

[westkybitcoins]

What do you think of the current design?
http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/spread.jpg

Please be more descriptive than good/bad. I am looking for what to improve if anything.

I think some sort of background imagery would help. Perhaps a faded picture of a pile of bullion, or maybe you can create a theme for the product and have a different pic on each denomination... since these are paper, perhaps the 1btc note could show a nursery of pine saplings, the 100btc note could show a single majestic oak, etc.

Leaving just the bitcoin symbol by itself is just a little too simple, imho.

[tritium]

i agree that it needs some sort of background image, english notes have famous/influential people, USA has presidents. bitcoins could have cryptographers, computing pioneers, revolutionaries. anything that can be associated with bitcoins

[barbarousrelic]

i agree that it needs some sort of background image, english notes have famous/influential people, USA has presidents. bitcoins could have cryptographers, computing pioneers, revolutionaries. anything that can be associated with bitcoins

This is an outstanding idea.

Charles Babbage
Claude Shannon
Alan Turing
Gordon Moore
Jack Kilby


and there's many more.

[cbeast]

Put a picture of Moh Jesus on it. 

[db]

What do you think of the current design?
http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/spread.jpg

Please be more descriptive than good/bad. I am looking for what to improve if anything.

Design for global use. I assume you wish them to be used not just in the USA? Drop the USA legalese ("not recognized as legal tender"). Remove all usage of the English language. Look at the Euro notes, they don't require the users to know any particular language. That includes the plural "s"; make it "5 Bitcoin" instead of "5 Bitcoins".

[db]

And "bitcoin" or "BITCOIN" for the unit, instead of "Bitcoin" which means the system.

[PrintCoins]

What do you think of the current design?
http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/spread.jpg

Please be more descriptive than good/bad. I am looking for what to improve if anything.

I think some sort of background imagery would help. Perhaps a faded picture of a pile of bullion, or maybe you can create a theme for the product and have a different pic on each denomination... since these are paper, perhaps the 1btc note could show a nursery of pine saplings, the 100btc note could show a single majestic oak, etc.

Leaving just the bitcoin symbol by itself is just a little too simple, imho.

The size of the coin increases logarithmically based upon its value. I have printed 0.01 bitcoin bills while testing, and the coin in the middle is only a few centimeters. The 100 BTC bill fills the bill to the point where it almost overlaps the text.

I might do commemorative bills with different people and events, and do limited runs (semi-collector items). The mainline bills (big center coin) I would like to keep away from the cult of personality.

[oOoOo]

Howsabout CVD Superdiamonds with single atom arrangements forming the keys.  

Really before we go crazy over physical bitcoin, shouldn't we have a way to redeem them that doesn't require 3 forms of ID and 8-10 business days.

You can use this little tool (OSX only ATM) to create a new wallet.dat containing your priv key. Note however, this tool does not support encryption or any advanced features, it just creates a wallet with a single key in it.
I already started working on an updated version, but this takes a lot of time, so I can not make any announcements right now.

hf
.

[cbeast]

Howsabout CVD Superdiamonds with single atom arrangements forming the keys.  

Really before we go crazy over physical bitcoin, shouldn't we have a way to redeem them that doesn't require 3 forms of ID and 8-10 business days.

You can use this little tool (OSX only ATM) to create a new wallet.dat containing your priv key. Note however, this tool does not support encryption or any advanced features, it just creates a wallet with a single key in it.
I already started working on an updated version, but this takes a lot of time, so I can not make any announcements right now.

hf
.

I'm naming my next child oOoOo

[kwukduck]

All of those physical solutions allow the private key to be read without damaging the 'seal', so i won't use them

[Vandroiy]

Huh, I'm the only one who ticked "other"? I guess I have to explain myself then.

Let me add, I don't necessarily switch away from Casascius. I like both his brass 1 BTC and gold plated 25 BTC coins, even with better design decisions, his craftsmanship will be hard to top.

But at times, they seem a little... conservative. Gold-bar imitations, silver coins... meh, come on. It's Bitcoin, do something avant-garde! I'm thinking rings with spirals inward, or rectangular coins like the old Asian ones, or a yin-yang colored disc with text instead of the dots, or... you get the idea. Cool, novel eye-catchers, not something that looks like an imitation of ordinary stuff from 20 years ago!

I'm just a fan of the combination of exotic design with high crafting skill. I guess this is again a lost cause, because it looks cheap and stupid if done wrong and I'm the only one who voted "other" in the first place.

[BurtW]

All of those physical solutions allow the private key to be read without damaging the 'seal', so i won't use them

I have many of the coins and I have tried very hard to read the private key without damaging the hologram - to no avail.  Please explain how you can read the private key from one of the coins without damaging the seal/hologram.