[CASASCIUS] 0.5 BTC coins: BTC 0.89 (incl. shipping, capsule, proof-of-age)

[molecular]

Sales temporarily supspendend due to fire.

We (jalaman and molecular) are happy to be able to offer to you guys the new Casascius physical Bitcoin loaded with 0.5 BTC plus some addons some of you might appreciate.


(click image for larger version)

you will receive

• a 2013 casascius 0.5 BTC coin loaded with 0.5 BTC
• a plastic coin capsule
• a certificate of existence matching the coin (explained in this post)
• download-link to a digital file (a tif image of a scan of the coin) you can use to prove the age of the coin
• worldwide tracked & insured shipping (except USA)

we can include up to 5 empty coin capsules fitting 0.5 BTC or 1 BTC coins for a price of BTC 0.01 each (please indicate what size(s) you want when ordering).

Price

Price is currently BTC 0.89 including worldwide shipping & insurance. Price is subject to change.

Recurring customers (people who have already received coins from me) receive a 5% off bonus (making the price BTC 0.8455).

Limits

You can order up to 3 coins at a time.

Shipping

please note: We're shipping from germany. To the US it can take quite long at times. I've seen anything from 3 to 20 days (1 letter even got lost). Most likely ETA seems to be something around 6-9 business days.

We ship at least twice a week for now.

How to order

you order by making a payment, please follow this procedure.

please read carefully

• make up a random 4 digit number (this is your order number)
• write an email to casascius_order@0x0000.de containing
  
  • your made-up order number
  • shipping address (don't forget the country)
  • how many coins/capsules (and which size capsules: for 1 BTC or 0.5 BTC coins) you order
  • some kind words
• calculate the amount due and replace the last 4 digits with your order number (example: if you order one coin and you pick order number "1337" (which you shouldn't), you would pay BTC 0.89001337).
• pay that amount to bitcoin address 1M8DqY5ajNT258rNxetDxbbNnMhPZfMTDn

More Details / Rules:

• We will pay for tracked shipping (you will receive the tracking number via email)
• If postal service loses the letter we will wait until we receive the insurance money (this can take up to 5 months!!). So please don't buy if you can't afford to have the money in limbo for that long.
• If tracking service of Postal service says: "received" or "could not be delivered, needs to be picked up" or similar, it's on you: the coin is considered to be delivered at that point
• In case of trouble/dispute I am allowed to publicize the tracking number (this does not reveal the receiving address)
• On request, we will publicize the tracking number here in the thread

If you have suggestions for or problems with these rules, please let me know. This offer is subject to change.

Sales temporarily supspendend due to fire.

[1714591189]

1714591189

[1714591189]

1714591189

[molecular]

reserved

[molecular]

someone just ordered without using the 4 digit identifier scheme.

Please read carefully how the order process works before you order.

We're using a single payment address so we need to be able to match payments to shipping address somehow. This is done by the 4 digit random number which goes both into the payment (last 4 digits of amount) and your email (which you send _before_ the payment) with the shipping details.

[MagicBit15]

Wow very nice, did they all come from roll?

[molecular]

Wow very nice, did they all come from roll?

yeah, bought them in a roll: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lPCbFXy6x4

As always, I didn't touch the coins without gloves.

[binaryFate]

Do you only have 0.5 BTC ones?

Edit: How long would take the whole process between (A) me paying to your BTC address and (B) me getting the actual coin in my letter box (in Belgium), maximum?

[molecular]

Do you only have 0.5 BTC ones?

Edit: How long would take the whole process between (A) me paying to your BTC address and (B) me getting the actual coin in my letter box (in Belgium), maximum?

Unfortunately I can't put an upper bound on this, but I'd be willing to bet 1:5 that the time from A to B would be no more than 7 business days.

So if you bet me 0.178 BTC at 1:5 odds you'd either get the coin within 7 business days or "for free".

EDIT: yes, currently I sell only 0.5 BTC coins.

[corrow]

You made the certificate yourself? 

[molecular]

You made the certificate yourself? 

It's a certificate of existence at a certain point in time. nothing more.

[boewie]

Where in germany do you live? And most important, sprecht ihr/du deutsch?

[hiddenoreo]

OMG, I will buy one, can you reserve one for me? I should be getting a few btc within the next few days.

[molecular]

Where in germany do you live? And most important, sprecht ihr/du deutsch?

Hamburg, und: ja.

[paraipan]

Nice, I'm interested  

How many certificates you plan to sell? Can I have an autograph of the issuer, you molecular, if I pay extra?

[molecular]

You made the certificate yourself? 

It's a certificate of existence at a certain point in time. nothing more.

I should probably explain a little what this "proof of existence" actually is and what it can be used for.

The printout you see in the photo is neither necessary nor adequate to proove anything, it's merely a printout of some data to make it easier to verify/find the data.

The actual proof that the coin existed at a certain point in time (in this case May 31st 2013) is in the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Here's what I did to produce this proof

• Scanned the front and back of the coin and made one image from those 2 images
• Took sha256 of that image (a tif)
• Used that checksum as a bitcoin private key to produce a bitcoin address
• Sent BTC 0.0001337 to that address

Here's how the existence of the coin on May 31st can be proven:

• Take the .tif image of the coin and compare it to the coin itself to verify the coin at hand is the coin in the photo (this can be done very reliably by looking at little scratches and orientation of the firstbits and sticker)
• Take the sha256 of the tif
• Convert it to a Bitcoin Address (using for example bitaddress.org site or the method explained here. You can also import the private keys into a wallet and then take the addresses from the wallet.
• Search for a transaction to that address in the blockchain (you will in this case find this transaction I used for the first 25 coins

Here's why such a proof can be useful in the future:

Currently it's highly likely there are no counterfeits of casascius coins around. It's just not worth the effort yet.

However assume it's the year 2023 and you decide to sell your precious 0.5 BTC coins back from 2013 when the first batch of these was made and the potential buyer is sceptical because there are now counterfeits around. Wouldn't it be great if you could proove that this coin has actually existed back in May 2013? It probably would increase the buyers confidence quite a bit. Well: you can.

Here's Mike himself suggesting resellers could do this:

Cryptography is one of those things that gives me a leg up on every possible counterfeited item in the world.

I assume my product WILL be counterfeited.  But when I start producing digitally signed PDF photos of my own product, I've got the counterfeiters beat.  The more possible I can make it for you guys to authenticate my genuine products, the more value a genuine product will have, and the less lucrative it will be to counterfeit them.

This will only work for products I produce from today forward, but here is an idea you can do right now.  The counterfeiting hasn't happened yet.  Go throw your current stash of Casascius Coins on a scanner, scan a photo of them, take a 160-bit hash of the file, and then work that hash into the block chain somehow.  Convert the hash to a bitcoin address and send a satoshi to it (my Bitcoin Address Utility can do this, for example).  Your photo with its supporting hash in the block chain will be publicly verifiable proof that the coin in your photo existed today.

[molecular]

OMG, I will buy one, can you reserve one for me? I should be getting a few btc within the next few days.

1 reserved for hiddenoreo until June 9th 2013.

[molecular]

Nice, I'm interested  

How many certificates you plan to sell? Can I have an autograph of the issuer, you molecular, if I pay extra?

Please read my previous post what this certificate actually is. I could also write something on the back to the effect that I received the coin "first-hand" (by mail of course) from Mike Caldwel and sign with my real name if you want that.

I plan to produce certificates for all the coins I sell going forward unless people tell me it's not wanted.

[paraipan]

Nice, I'm interested  

How many certificates you plan to sell? Can I have an autograph of the issuer, you molecular, if I pay extra?

Please read my previous post what this certificate actually is. I could also write something on the back to the effect that I received the coin "first-hand" (by mail of course) from Mike Caldwel and sign with my real name if you want that.

I plan to produce certificates for all the coins I sell going forward unless people tell me it's not wanted.

Ok, thanks for clearing it out. Will consider purchasing some of your certificates along with the coins in short time.

[dnaleor]

It's a pitty you don't offer 1 BTC coins. I would have bought one!

[binaryFate]

E-mail and Payment sent!
https://blockchain.info/tx/50124041fb79213035ce28b57feb1f25853dd6f6f63d57db16f235a27881bb29

[Blaztoize]

Ordered a .5 BTC coin and a case from molecular. He's a stand-up guy. Thanks for providing the service.