CASASCIUS PHYSICAL BITCOIN - In Stock Now! (pic)

[mjcmurfy]

Presenting: Uberbills.com Casascius Bitcoin Analyzer! 

+1

Very cool.

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[MemoryDealers]

I posted a 25BTC Casascius coin for bid on http://www.mokimarket.com/

The current Bid is $0.06   

I think this auction site may be very popular once a few changes are made.
I posted the suggest changes here:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52412.msg627005#msg627005

[btc_artist]

Out of curiosity, and since I know nothing about how gold-plating works, what is the approximate weight/value of the gold on the $25 BTC coin?

[btc_artist]

I posted a 25BTC Casascius coin for bid on http://www.mokimarket.com/

The current Bid is $0.06   

I think this auction site may be very popular once a few changes are made.
I posted the suggest changes here:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52412.msg627005#msg627005

Which one of you is PokerFace? Congrats to you on winning a 25BTC casascius coin for ~$20.

[casascius]

I posted a 25BTC Casascius coin for bid on http://www.mokimarket.com/

The current Bid is $0.06   

I think this auction site may be very popular once a few changes are made.
I posted the suggest changes here:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52412.msg627005#msg627005

Which one of you is PokerFace? Congrats to you on winning a 25BTC casascius coin for ~$20.

Just curious, is that $20 as a final bid price, or $20 total cost with the bid and whatever per-bid fees there were?

BTW, to answer your question, gold has the nifty property of being able to be made very, very thin, so the value of the coin is going to be in its looks and the BTC, the coins are not a huge store of metal commodity value.

[btc_artist]

I posted a 25BTC Casascius coin for bid on http://www.mokimarket.com/

The current Bid is $0.06   

I think this auction site may be very popular once a few changes are made.
I posted the suggest changes here:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52412.msg627005#msg627005

Which one of you is PokerFace? Congrats to you on winning a 25BTC casascius coin for ~$20.

Just curious, is that $20 as a final bid price, or $20 total cost with the bid and whatever per-bid fees there were?

BTW, to answer your question, gold has the nifty property of being able to be made very, very thin, so the value of the coin is going to be in its looks and the BTC, the coins are not a huge store of metal commodity value.

It was: $9.69 (winning bid) + $4.53 (credits used to bid) + $5 (shipping).  http://www.mokimarket.com/auction_details/248

And about the gold content-- I know it's an extremely small amount, but I was just curious if it was 10c or $1 worth of gold, or some other amount.

[naypalm]

That was one tough auction! Congratz to the pokerface 

[julz]

It was: $9.69 (winning bid) + $4.53 (credits used to bid) + $5 (shipping).  http://www.mokimarket.com/auction_details/248

So is there any way to see roughly how much the merchant got? 

[btc_artist]

It was: $9.69 (winning bid) + $4.53 (credits used to bid) + $5 (shipping).  http://www.mokimarket.com/auction_details/248

So is there any way to see roughly how much the merchant got? 

I'm not sure if the bid credits go to the website or to the seller.

[kjlimo]

Series 2 dropped to 1.65 BTC!  ZOMG, buy buy buy!

[naypalm]

The 1000 BTC Bar looks nice! Is that a newer v1 laser etched hologram?

[casascius]

It is the same v1 hologram, but me using the laser to engrave a denomination into it.

Normally I use a special fluid for laser engraving metal.  The hologram doesn't need this fluid - on low power, it literally just melts a little bit when hit with the laser, and turns nice and sparkly at the same time.  I sort of discovered this by accident, but will be a part of every laser-denominated bar I do in the future.

[casascius]

Order update: I am completely caught up on orders as of this evening.  Woohoo!  (Was low on 1 BTC coins, we had a coin making party today and got a ton done.)

[Gabi]

The 1000 BTC Bar looks nice! Is that a newer v1 laser etched hologram?

Someone should tell memory dealers to stop using .gif for photos of items

[naypalm]

Someone should tell memory dealers to stop using .gif for photos of items

lol i was thinking the same thing

[Vandroiy]

I just wrote a comment in another thread that might be on-topic here. It made me remember some opinions on the Casascius coins I'd like to share, hopefully to make future coins even cooler! In the post, which is not really worth quoting here, I called Casascius coins "a little conservative" and called for avant-garde design, listing extreme ideas like rectangular coins or a modified yin-yang disc as examples for what I mean by "avant-garde". Let me explain what I'm being negative about, then use the opportunity to compliment what I like.

A gold bar imitation instead of a high-value coin? It uses the form of a gold bar as emphasis for value. That's not the Bitcoin statement. 100 BTC, let alone talk about 1000, should be worth more than a <5 ounce gold bar if the project succeeds. It feels like coating my coins with a downgrade. The same goes for the silver coin; it's cool, but its classical design draws attention away from the novel concept of Bitcoin. The hologram saves it from looking like just any coin from just another funny minting project. And holding one might convey the thought "hey, if Bitcoin fails, it's still silver". Almost a symbol of doubt in Bitcoin, at least until the silver value of the coin is significantly below the face value.

Don't get me wrong, the silver coins and gold bars look cool, I'm not saying they're ugly. But in my opinion, they don't live up to memory-stored Bitcoins, so I don't buy any. However, I don't feel that way for all of the products...

Here's my personal best-of-Casascius-design, the reason I love importing from Casascius:

• 1st place: Backside of the 25 BTC coin. The photos on the wiki do not do it justice. The different-size bit-string rings with gold surface give a mystic texture and reflection of light. they almost, but not quite match color and structure density of the hologram, making both fit together yet marking them different. The result is awesome. Just totally awesome. At first glance, it looks like gold from a pirate movie, but at another look it might be Sci-Fi instead. Did I say awesome? I need more of these coins.
• 2nd place: New holograms, a.k.a. backside of the second series 1 BTC coin. Futuristic hologram with 3D-effect, window with the identification key, denomination in black bars, I love it all. Admittedly, I only saw the changes for 2nd series on photos so far, but unless something was downgraded from the first series that isn't visible on photos, this will look epic.
• 3rd place: Front of the 1 BTC coins. Brass is a beautiful, yet inexpensive material; the whole design speaks "merger of the old and new". The Latin motto and the different structure between the inner disc and outer ring give the coin a very sophisticated look.

One special mention: on the 25 BTC front, the black text against the gold surroundings is very cool. Ah, the 25-coin; just had another person who wants one, time to resupply.


On my wish for avant-garde: the examples given were probably too extreme, and I see that something from my speedy brainstorming would just look stupid. But my gut feeling tells me there's another step up possible; something to distinguish higher-value Casascius coins from ordinary coins around the world. But maybe not so much the "heavy gold thing" way, but emphasizing complexity and beauty of design, just the way the Bitcoin protocol does (in the parts I don't complain about ).

Remember you are the dominant minting facility of the dominant currency of the future! This is the "feel" customers ask for. It's quite justified to add some sort of trademark design element. The backside has the holograms, and these serve the purpose very well; but the shape itself... mh, I dunno. Maybe it's time for me to realize I've produced a sufficiently large wall of text on pointless and subjective thoughts.

[casascius]

A gold bar imitation instead of a high-value coin? It uses the form of a gold bar as emphasis for value. That's not the Bitcoin statement. 100 BTC, let alone talk about 1000, should be worth more than a <5 ounce gold bar if the project succeeds. It feels like coating my coins with a downgrade.

Thanks for your feedback.  You have probably heard I'm doing a real gold coin.  So if you'd like to dress 1000 Bitcoins in an ounce of gold, and can afford the cost of the coin, the real gold is a real option!

Second to that, the imitation gold bars are serving an important purpose in the Bitcoin economy right now.  They are enabling MemoryDealers to sell bulk Bitcoins for PayPal and credit cards and to ship them a plausible valuable object so they are selling a "thing" instead of "virtual money".  Because of that, anybody with a credit card has an easy way to get into Bitcoins, if they would rather pay a premium than hassle with the exchanges.

Look at the 46 gold bars on Casascius Bitcoin Analyzer (http://www.uberbills.com).  All but 2 (I tested a couple) have all been sold to real customers, I will be funding BTC to another batch of bars shortly.  I find it interesting that 26% of the gold bars have been redeemed, versus less than 2% of the 1 BTC coins.  It means a healthy chunk of people buying the bars...just want the bitcoins... and I guess the rest are being saved, or given as gifts.

[BurtW]

This means you should probably set up a recycling system for the redeemed bars

It should be cheaper for you to get them back than to make new ones, right?

[likuidxd]

  Check Out What Came In The Mail Today!

[Mushroomized]

Check Out What Came In The Mail Today!

Very nice, I might have to pick one up