How secure and safe are physical coins?

[Lethn]

I've been pondering about ways to store any profits I make from Bitcoin offline and the first thing that springs to mind is buying up Gold/Silver bars, I know about storing on a USB stick etc. and backing it up but all that seems tedious and then I've been having a look at the physical coins out there like Casascius.

How good are they? What's the security like, are Bitcoins in the blockchain safe from hackers? I'm not good with hardware and it does worry me a lot that I might accidentally end up wiping the coins that I have by accident or somehow losing the password I need to unlock it all. So I wonder if it isn't worth getting physical coins and then just redeeming or trading those with people locally when I need to spend it as I'm a learning Jeweller I could even melt down the metal and use it for my own purposes as I'm learning how to do basic casting now.

So let me know, what's your experience been with this? I'm aware the holograms aren't tamper proof but that can be dealt with just by exercising caution, what I'm worried about is security of the coins themselves over the internet.

[BlockChainLottery]

The easiest thing to do is just store your private keys on a (or multiple) USB-stick(s).
You can practice with a small amount to make sure you can do it.
It takes some reading into the details though.
Physical coins are a hassle.

[totemITnow]

I've been pondering about ways to store any profits I make from Bitcoin offline and the first thing that springs to mind is buying up Gold/Silver bars, I know about storing on a USB stick etc. and backing it up but all that seems tedious and then I've been having a look at the physical coins out there like Casascius.

How good are they? What's the security like, are Bitcoins in the blockchain safe from hackers? I'm not good with hardware and it does worry me a lot that I might accidentally end up wiping the coins that I have by accident or somehow losing the password I need to unlock it all. So I wonder if it isn't worth getting physical coins and then just redeeming or trading those with people locally when I need to spend it as I'm a learning Jeweller I could even melt down the metal and use it for my own purposes as I'm learning how to do basic casting now.

So let me know, what's your experience been with this? I'm aware the holograms aren't tamper proof but that can be dealt with just by exercising caution, what I'm worried about is security of the coins themselves over the internet.

Physical coins are only as secure as the manufacturer make secure these coins, I mean you can never be sure how the private key was generated and where, or if manufacturer still have the private key stored somewhere

You have just trust the physical coin manufacturer - not a Bitcoin idea (to trust no one)

[Lethn]

Thanks for the information guys, I'm just considering all the options I'm going through a number or what if scenarios right now because I'm starting to roll out products finally.

[torusJKL]

Thanks for the information guys, I'm just considering all the options I'm going through a number or what if scenarios right now because I'm starting to roll out products finally.

Take a look at the offline features of electrum. There is a step by step tutorial for this.

[Erdogan]

I've been pondering about ways to store any profits I make from Bitcoin offline and the first thing that springs to mind is buying up Gold/Silver bars, I know about storing on a USB stick etc. and backing it up but all that seems tedious and then I've been having a look at the physical coins out there like Casascius.

How good are they? What's the security like, are Bitcoins in the blockchain safe from hackers? I'm not good with hardware and it does worry me a lot that I might accidentally end up wiping the coins that I have by accident or somehow losing the password I need to unlock it all. So I wonder if it isn't worth getting physical coins and then just redeeming or trading those with people locally when I need to spend it as I'm a learning Jeweller I could even melt down the metal and use it for my own purposes as I'm learning how to do basic casting now.

So let me know, what's your experience been with this? I'm aware the holograms aren't tamper proof but that can be dealt with just by exercising caution, what I'm worried about is security of the coins themselves over the internet.

You have to trust that the issuer has not kept a copy of the secret key. You can do that with Casascius coins. Still they can be destroyed or stolen. Consider using Bitcoin Armory with offline wallets. It is a bit of a hazzle, but I think it is the best option currently.

[Sergios]

buying up silver and gold isn't a good way to make sure your profits will be safe. First you need to buy gold and silver from a reliable source. You even have to be careful with the renowned jewelers" since I've seen and heard some items that they'd made were of substandard quality. So you need to check for the gold percentage and the best and fastest way is using chemical testers and "touchstone" http://www.livescience.com/29188-how-to-check-gold.html.  A while back there was a scam where gold plated coins were sold as genuine "ancient roman coins". Result most people fell for the scam and got ripped off. The core was iron with a very thin gold layer. Most fakes will show up when used on a "touchstone". I know from experience that the electronic gold testers aren't all that accurate and have to be cleaned on a regular basis when not being used. But I digress.
Anhywho I think that nothing is truly safe even when you got the Physical coins in hand or in a safe/vault. The upside is that you have something physical in your hands and can sell them. What is best? that is something you need to decide for yourself.

[odolvlobo]

Cold storage and paper wallets are the safest way to store bitcoins, especially if they are encrypted. Physical bitcoins are paper wallets that are created by a third party, but the manufacturer is a risk and they can be counterfeited. It is easy to encrypt private keys and store them on a USB stick or a paper wallet, so I don't think there is a good reason to buy physical bitcoins for storage.