Lot's of Casascius for sale, what's going on?

[HabBear]

The market is full of Casascius coins all of a sudden, what happened?

Is this a function of lower confidence in bitcoin post ETF news? Is this a result of the USD conversion to Bitcoin dropping, making these coins appear more affordable and easier to sell? Or is it something else all together?

I hope the buyers come out in full force too!

[Gatorelf]

I think there are starting to be more collectors coming into the physical BTC market ever since it hit a new high.  Elias also made mention recently of an increase of inquires of collectibles. Will have to see in the coming months if and how much the Numismatic value increases.   

[coin@coin]

I think also the BTC price going down a bit may have helped. I tend to agree with Gatorelf too, Bitcoin has been talked about a lot in mainstream media since it's price surpassed gold price for a while. The Encyclopedia also has had an article/review on Bitcoin.com a week or so ago. More collectors are very welcome! Every little helps I guess.

[elianite]

I can't say for certain, but I can tell you that I've recently received notable interest in certain coins, and I've thus 'upped my game' in both making contacts and marketing my services. Practically all of these coins have always been 'for sale', but to buy them you would have had to know exactly who to ask (me ).

I can also say that in the past two weeks, I've seen a significant increase in book sales, not from forum members but new, 'outsider' collectors. I've received queries asking me to find coins for them, as many 'normal' people are not comfortable dealing on a forum like this. To them, I strive to be a trusted intermediary who can source any coins they need.

I can also say that since putting up my sale post, I've received lots of good offers from several forum members, half of whom (and I am amazed to say this) are new members whose names I have never seen before. This tells me that the collector base is indeed growing. I suspect this may be in part due to increased media attention to Bitcoin during the run-up to the ETF decision, and the tendency for news to feature physical coins as a symbol of Bitcoin. I think this makes people curious.

That said, I would not be surprised if some long term hodlers of Casascius coins are looking to diversify parts of their collections, given the gains they have seen over the years. I would say this is an excellent time for new collectors to do a 'coin-grab' that may not be possible in the future.

All things considered, I'm very optimistic with where this space is headed!

[Lincoln6Echo]

Indeed! I think because media often put pictures of casascius coins on top of their articles many people get interested in those physical bitcoins.
There is a lot of potential for physical bitcoins/casascius coins in the future imho.

[FFrankie]

Indeed! I think because media often put pictures of casascius coins on top of their articles many people get interested in those physical bitcoins.
There is a lot of potential for physical bitcoins/casascius coins in the future imho.

Its a shame that the coins got cut short, because if these could still be sold today, even a 1/100th or 1/50th of a bitcoin I feel like there would be thousands sold every week.

[Gatorelf]

Indeed! I think because media often put pictures of casascius coins on top of their articles many people get interested in those physical bitcoins.
There is a lot of potential for physical bitcoins/casascius coins in the future imho.

Its a shame that the coins got cut short, because if these could still be sold today, even a 1/100th or 1/50th of a bitcoin I feel like there would be thousands sold every week.

thats an interesting thought, you know the coin of coins ( collector wise) Morgan dollar was discontinued for a while then minted again..(The Morgan dollar was a United States dollar coin minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921)

If Mike enjoyed it enough and it made money perhaps he may restart the famous mint again ... Casascius Bitcoin Silver Dollars, each with 1/100 btc ...sounds awesome I would buy 10 today lol

[coin@coin]

The other point I forgot to mention we have seen many new sellers recently, people who may have bought coins directly from Mike when they were released.
Some do collect them some just want to make a little profit, some others may see their BTC under a hologram (at recent prices) like an opportunity to cash in.

[eddie13]

What I am seeing is that with the price of BTC going up, these coins relative value against BTC is going down because people are pricing the collectors value of these coins in dirty fiat rather than BTC..

So my casascius .5 is only worth like .7-.75 BTC (if that)  now rather than the .8 I paid for it because the additional value in fiat has remained almost the same but BTC being worth more I'm taking a haircut on my invested amount of BTC..

I did not expect the value of these things to be so closely tied to fiat rather than BTC and am a bit disappointed..

Everyone is rushing to dump their coins while they can still get the most BTC out of them, especially when it looked like BTC was going to moon.. So, the market is getting flooded with sellers likely further decreasing even the collector value in fiat related terms also..

They took a big hit just before china hit 8888.. "Here comes $10k better dump these coins"..

[Gatorelf]

What I am seeing is that with the price of BTC going up, these coins relative value against BTC is going down because people are pricing the collectors value of these coins in dirty fiat rather than BTC..

So my casascius .5 is only worth like .7-.75 BTC (if that)  now rather than the .8 I paid for it because the additional value in fiat has remained almost the same but BTC being worth more I'm taking a haircut on my invested amount of BTC..

I did not expect the value of these things to be so closely tied to fiat rather than BTC and am a bit disappointed..

Everyone is rushing to dump their coins while they can still get the most BTC out of them, especially when it looked like BTC was going to moon.. So, the market is getting flooded with sellers likely further decreasing even the collector value in fiat related terms also..

They took a big hit just before china hit 8888.. "Here comes $10k better dump these coins"..

IMO as far as flooding thats just people wanting to get $1,000 plus for a $50 to $600 physical BTC investment, everyone who owns BTC I'm pretty sure is considering it an investment. 

as long as BTC competes with gold and even passes it the media attention will continue, if it cracks even $2,000 this year get ready for an all out frenzy collecting everything BTC from the collectors that know nothing of physical coins.... that means these Casascius coins will boom in numismatic value.

[HabBear]

I can also say that in the past two weeks, I've seen a significant increase in book sales, not from forum members but new, 'outsider' collectors. I've received queries asking me to find coins for them, as many 'normal' people are not comfortable dealing on a forum like this. To them, I strive to be a trusted intermediary who can source any coins they need.

I can also say that since putting up my sale post, I've received lots of good offers from several forum members, half of whom (and I am amazed to say this) are new members whose names I have never seen before. This tells me that the collector base is indeed growing.

I like this news! New interest is great. I've also seen a few comments on Reddit and news article comment sections from people saying "how do I buy these?" "Normal people" inquiring is a great, great development.

If Mike enjoyed it enough and it made money perhaps he may restart the famous mint again ... Casascius Bitcoin Silver Dollars, each with 1/100 btc ...sounds awesome I would buy 10 today lol

Yeah, I'd load up too if Mike issued more, but you know they'd never be as valuable as the original series minted betweend 2009 and 2013...all of our existing collections would jump up in value!

What would be best is if some of these dumb copy cat coins didn't directly steal elements of Mike's design. It confuses the understanding the significance of Casascius coins and cheapen's its value.

[user27]

The market is full of Casascius coins all of a sudden, what happened?

Is this a function of lower confidence in bitcoin post ETF news? Is this a result of the USD conversion to Bitcoin dropping, making these coins appear more affordable and easier to sell? Or is it something else all together?

I hope the buyers come out in full force too!

Not really sure. However something listed more than usual doesn't really mean that people are losing faith in bitcoin.

I'd say that the general enthusiasm for collectors of physical bitcoin has increased, there is now a bigger market and the coins are more liquid. There are new players emerging in this market.

I mean, who doesn't like treat that's shiny and bitcoin related at the same time?

[Gatorelf]

I can also say that in the past two weeks, I've seen a significant increase in book sales, not from forum members but new, 'outsider' collectors. I've received queries asking me to find coins for them, as many 'normal' people are not comfortable dealing on a forum like this. To them, I strive to be a trusted intermediary who can source any coins they need.

I can also say that since putting up my sale post, I've received lots of good offers from several forum members, half of whom (and I am amazed to say this) are new members whose names I have never seen before. This tells me that the collector base is indeed growing.

I like this news! New interest is great. I've also seen a few comments on Reddit and news article comment sections from people saying "how do I buy these?" "Normal people" inquiring is a great, great development.

If Mike enjoyed it enough and it made money perhaps he may restart the famous mint again ... Casascius Bitcoin Silver Dollars, each with 1/100 btc ...sounds awesome I would buy 10 today lol

Yeah, I'd load up too if Mike issued more, but you know they'd never be as valuable as the original series minted between 2009 and 2013...all of our existing collections would jump up in value!

What would be best is if some of these dumb copy cat coins didn't directly steal elements of Mike's design. It confuses the understanding the significance of Casascius coins and cheapen's its value.

   well I can tell you in my short time of collecting physical BTC that Casascius is the "Morgan Dollar" of the BTC collectibles. Seeing more coins swapping hands is good, that means there is a thriving and growing interest in this market. For sure the original series will always be the most desirable and as long as there is crypto currency we will always have a physical coin representative. 

Ive been trying to get my kids interested in this as well

[elianite]

Until we stop indexing the bitcoin price against the dollar, yuan, pound, euro, etc; premiums will always fluctuate.
Why else would there be a flood of sales??
We still live in a fiat world for the time being and people love their $$$$....

Interestingly, I've had this conversation with an outsider recently.. they dont understand why the coins would be valued in BTC, other than for the contained value. For example an unfunded coin, They've wanted to have me estimate the value in USD, like of any other collectible. They don't necessarily see why the $ value of a (for example) redeemed 1000BTC bar would change dramatically with price swings. What do you guys think?

[HabBear]

   well I can tell you in my short time of collecting physical BTC that Casascius is the "Morgan Dollar" of the BTC collectibles. Seeing more coins swapping hands is good, that means there is a thriving and growing interest in this market. For sure the original series will always be the most desirable and as long as there is crypto currency we will always have a physical coin representative. 

Yes, along as the buyers are new. This people that buy on Bitcointalk are a very tight group, you see the same coins passed between the same 10-15 people. That's not expanding interest in the market.

Until we stop indexing the bitcoin price against the dollar, yuan, pound, euro, etc; premiums will always fluctuate.
Why else would there be a flood of sales??
We still live in a fiat world for the time being and people love their $$$$....

Totally agree. It's ironic, actually. We all believe in Bitcoin but when it comes to buying bitcoin in the physical format we resort to "what's the fiat conversion" to make buying and selling decisions. It demonstrates that we aren't really committed to Bitcoin as much as we say we are.

Interestingly, I've had this conversation with an outsider recently.. they dont understand why the coins would be valued in BTC, other than for the contained value. For example an unfunded coin, They've wanted to have me estimate the value in USD, like of any other collectible. They don't necessarily see why the $ value of a (for example) redeemed 1000BTC bar would change dramatically with price swings. What do you guys think?

This is a tough one, I'm glad you're having the discussions with these people. What you could say is if Casascius coins and bitcoin are an investment like stocks are, and stocks go up and down in value based on the current supply/demand relationship for the stock, bitcoin (and therefore Casascius coins) will react the same way.

They're not buying a TV, they're buying an investment. Investments go up and down in value...and if they're not interested in understanding why that happens for Casascius coins (i.e., because the premium should remain static even if the conversion to fiat is changing) that's their business.

Whatever you do, make sure you quote them a BTC:USD/fiat conversion that supports what these coins were trading at back in 2014!

Great talk, friends, thanks.

[Gatorelf]

on that same thought of USD vs BTC for purchase its interesting to note that of the six Casascius coins I purchased in the last five months, three were off of Ebay using USD, two were through txt messaging purchased with Paypal/USD and one was from here using BTC

[HabBear]

on that same thought of USD vs BTC for purchase its interesting to note that of the six Casascius coins I purchased in the last five months, three were off of Ebay using USD, two were through txt messaging purchased with Paypal/USD and one was from here using BTC

Are the two via text/paypal with friends of yours? How did the buyers know you were selling?

[Gatorelf]

on that same thought of USD vs BTC for purchase its interesting to note that of the six Casascius coins I purchased in the last five months, three were off of Ebay using USD, two were through txt messaging purchased with Paypal/USD and one was from here using BTC

Are the two via text/paypal with friends of yours? How did the buyers know you were selling?

I was the buyer, I met a guy on ebay when I bought a .5 from him. we communicated in txt now and then about bitcoin and stocks. Months later he offered me two more he had a 1 and .1 silver. I have 100% feedback on a 19 yr old account so he offered to send me coins overnight, If I liked them I would pay him on our agreed price. I did and I did lol

If I had not liked them I would just send back signature conformation both ways.  I think it cost him $12 to send to me, I originally didn't want another 1 gilt but it was pristine and got a deal.

[gentlemand]

Until we stop indexing the bitcoin price against the dollar, yuan, pound, euro, etc; premiums will always fluctuate.

I don't think that's ever going to go anywhere so people should make peace with the premiums reducing unless collector interest surges alongside the price.

I have a few coins. I've never bothered to include any premium above face value in my mind.