So I collect a coins, primarily, but every once in a while I'll get some paper bills if they look interesting/are a good deal.
As bitcoins continue to rise, we (or me at least) are engaging in transactions that are primarily a fraction of 1 bitcoin. The future might somehow change that. Casascius is making 0.5 BTC coins.
Anyways, I went through my bill collection and picked a bunch out that are worth MAYBE $1. I noticed a lot of them were "cent/centavo" bills (which means why they aren't worth much-think of all the pennies in circulation).
So, I started loading ones that say "1 Centavo" with 1 bitcent. And I loaded a "5 Centavo with 5 bitcents. I thought they were pretty cool-great as a conversation starter, gift to an acquaintance, etc. A good amount of the bills posted aren't cent notes. All you have to do is get creative with those. Every foreign bill has a number on it-which is all you need to work with. Examples: "1 Pound" bill equals a bitcoin, or 1 Dinar can be 1 bitcent-I'm sure you see how the possibilites are endless by now.
I said "offering" to the community because as best as I could, I calculated postage, envelopes, holograms, etc and am therefore only asking $1.50 for one. The $1.50 includes free shipping and a hologram.
I'm sure most of you know how to make a physical wallet. But, for those who don't its very simple.
1) go to bitaddress.org, click bulk wallet, and in "rows to generate" just put 1-because you are only looking to make one keypair because you have just one bill
2) hit "generate". backup ALL the data (digits that appear).
3. The second large set of numbers (figured by commas) is your private key. Hide it likes it gold-but keep it accesible.
4. go to barcodesinc.com/generator/qr/ Although, you can use any QR code generating site but thats my favorite, easiest to use
5. paste your private key into the box and hit create. save the barcode (saves as a picture file)
7. On a word processor program, insert the image that is the barcode and resize it-make it no bigger than .62''x.62''.
8. Print and cutout QR code with as little empty space as possible around the borders of the code.
9. take your QR holo and with the blank side against the sticky side of the holo, and the inked side looking out, apply it as centered on the holo as possible.
10. Now just stick the hologram wherever you want on your physical wallet and press-and-seal.
11. Congrats! You made it! To fund it, just use the public address you got when you originally generated the keypair. You can put literally how little or how many bitcoins you want on it.
12. To redeem (there are other ways, but I use this)-go to MtGox.com. You have to create an account (if you don't already have one). Go to “Funding Options, Add Funds, and scroll to the bottom to select “redeem private key”. And all you do is put the key in there, hit redeem and you get a notification that the funds will be sent to your wallet on MtGox. Don't be alarmed, it can take a few hours for the funds to show up on there.
If anyone wants to avoid the trouble above, I'll do it for $2 (
)
Otherwise, for $1.50 (
) you get the bill of your choice and an unused hologram mailed right to you.
International: $2.60 (
)-to compensate for additional postage
If interested, please let me know which bill you'd like. I cannot guarantee any specific bill will be available, but feel free to ask first.
Thanks!
