Would you buy a 0.1 BTC Casascius Physical Bitcoin as a giveaway?

[P4man]

Just a thought, as a promotional tool I think of the handing out at large gatherings scenario like occupy movements.  Being that the private key is not hidden, they could be coins or they could be printed on cards.  I think some people will really get it, some will kinda get it and some won't get it at all and throw them away.  This being the case I think it might be a good idea to print/mint up a version that has an expiration date and if the btc hasn't been spent by that date the btc will be redeemed by the issuer.  If this is printed on the coin or card it is understood and not dubious considering this is for promotional use anyway.  The card could also have more information on it.  Thoughts?

There is already such a project that does more or less that. BUt honestly, how many people are going to redeem 0.1 BTC?
And then what, they have 0.1 BTC in their wallet, only took them a day to download the blockchain and/or 20 minutes to setup a mt gox account,  12 attempts to get the numbers right. What can they do with it? Nothing. I just dont see it.

0.1 BTC might have some purpose if you speculate on long term appreciation. It might one day become worth enough to bother, but making them expire in x weeks, you might as well save yourself the trouble.

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[coblee]

Just a thought, as a promotional tool I think of the handing out at large gatherings scenario like occupy movements.  Being that the private key is not hidden, they could be coins or they could be printed on cards.  I think some people will really get it, some will kinda get it and some won't get it at all and throw them away.  This being the case I think it might be a good idea to print/mint up a version that has an expiration date and if the btc hasn't been spent by that date the btc will be redeemed by the issuer.  If this is printed on the coin or card it is understood and not dubious considering this is for promotional use anyway.  The card could also have more information on it.  Thoughts?

There is already such a project that does more or less that. BUt honestly, how many people are going to redeem 0.1 BTC?
And then what, they have 0.1 BTC in their wallet, only took them a day to download the blockchain and/or 20 minutes to setup a mt gox account,  12 attempts to get the numbers right. What can they do with it? Nothing. I just dont see it.

0.1 BTC might have some purpose if you speculate on long term appreciation. It might one day become worth enough to bother, but making them expire in x weeks, you might as well save yourself the trouble.

I think it's perfectly okay for people to toss them right now. It would be a 20 cents conversation starter. It would do a lot to help promote Bitcoin IMO. And if they do toss them, so what? It's just 0.1 btc lost forever. But imagine the day when 0.1btc is worth something and people started finding them in couches. That would be funny.

[SgtSpike]

Just a thought, as a promotional tool I think of the handing out at large gatherings scenario like occupy movements.  Being that the private key is not hidden, they could be coins or they could be printed on cards.  I think some people will really get it, some will kinda get it and some won't get it at all and throw them away.  This being the case I think it might be a good idea to print/mint up a version that has an expiration date and if the btc hasn't been spent by that date the btc will be redeemed by the issuer.  If this is printed on the coin or card it is understood and not dubious considering this is for promotional use anyway.  The card could also have more information on it.  Thoughts?

There is already such a project that does more or less that. BUt honestly, how many people are going to redeem 0.1 BTC?
And then what, they have 0.1 BTC in their wallet, only took them a day to download the blockchain and/or 20 minutes to setup a mt gox account,  12 attempts to get the numbers right. What can they do with it? Nothing. I just dont see it.

0.1 BTC might have some purpose if you speculate on long term appreciation. It might one day become worth enough to bother, but making them expire in x weeks, you might as well save yourself the trouble.

I think it's perfectly okay for people to toss them right now. It would be a 20 cents conversation starter. It would do a lot to help promote Bitcoin IMO. And if they do toss them, so what? It's just 0.1 btc lost forever. But imagine the day when 0.1btc is worth something and people started finding them in couches. That would be funny.

Yes, exactly this.

The point of them is, it's a cheap conversation piece.  Even if they were worth 5 BTC each, some people would never bother to redeem them.  But the fact that it has SOME value, regardless of the AMOUNT of value, piques people's interest.  Those people will be interested whether it's only 0.1 BTC or whether it is 5 BTC.

And people who want to give away 1 BTC coins can just buy the "real deal" casascius coins and give those away.  There's no reason those coins couldn't be used in the same manner.

[P4man]

But imagine the day when 0.1btc is worth something and people started finding them in couches. That would be funny.

I wouldnt be amused finding out the coin expired years ago, as suggested in the post I replied to

[TTBit]

What about a 0.01 BTC dabloon to be thrown out at Martis Gras parade? People collect them like crazy.

What's the cheapest we could get a token for?

[Technomage]

The point of them is, it's a cheap conversation piece.  Even if they were worth 5 BTC each, some people would never bother to redeem them.  But the fact that it has SOME value, regardless of the AMOUNT of value, piques people's interest.  Those people will be interested whether it's only 0.1 BTC or whether it is 5 BTC.

And people who want to give away 1 BTC coins can just buy the "real deal" casascius coins and give those away.  There's no reason those coins couldn't be used in the same manner.

+1

[P4man]

Just to be clear; I dont really oppose the idea of 0.1 BTC coins (though I think the 'full option' 1BTC coins make more sense, but choice is good), I just oppose the idea of making those coins expire , particularly if they expire long before they've had any chance to appreciate in value enough to make redeeming more than just an exercise in futility.

[SgtSpike]

Just to be clear; I dont really oppose the idea of 0.1 BTC coins (though I think the 'full option' 1BTC coins make more sense, but choice is good), I just oppose the idea of making those coins expire , particularly if they expire long before they've had any chance to appreciate in value enough to make redeeming more than just an exercise in futility.

I disagree with them expiring.  It might introduce someone to Bitcoins if they find a discarded coin years down the road, and think, "hey, I wonder what this is?", then find out that they now own 0.1 BTC.

[Vandroiy]

I clicked "Depends on price", but I wouldn't want a lot of them. the hologram seal really is the cool feature of these coins, making them valuable.

I'm really waiting for the new series of 1 BTC coins. I wanted to buy a lot of the old ones at 1.20+shipping, but the price was raised and I ended up waiting for the new series. Even if Bitcoin should rise by quite a bit again, they're valuable enough to be cool but cheap enough to give away every now and then (though not at 1.80 a piece, that's too much for me).

So if the choice is to either do a cheap one or focus on the new 1 BTC series, please focus on the new 1 BTC series! That's what people are waiting for. And that's what I would use to get people into Bitcoin, given that they are reasonably priced.

[btc_artist]

I think the private key should be covered by a hologram or a scratch-off label or something, and they should have no expiry.

[casascius]

I think the private key should be covered by a hologram or a scratch-off label or something, and they should have no expiry.

I would cover them with a hologram, but they would be too easy to read with any kind of ray that is reflected by the metal.  The engraving would change the shape of the metal and would be detectable.  So the hologram would be poor assurance that the key has not been read.

Compare to my regular coins - I am using inkjet on paper - which I think would be much more difficult to read from the outside.

[btc_artist]

I think the private key should be covered by a hologram or a scratch-off label or something, and they should have no expiry.

I would cover them with a hologram, but they would be too easy to read with any kind of ray that is reflected by the metal.  The engraving would change the shape of the metal and would be detectable.  So the hologram would be poor assurance that the key has not been read.

Compare to my regular coins - I am using inkjet on paper - which I think would be much more difficult to read from the outside.

Hmmm.  Would some type of metallic hologram help with that?  How about printing the privkey on the coin somehow instead of engraving it?

[SgtSpike]

I think the private key should be covered by a hologram or a scratch-off label or something, and they should have no expiry.

I would cover them with a hologram, but they would be too easy to read with any kind of ray that is reflected by the metal.  The engraving would change the shape of the metal and would be detectable.  So the hologram would be poor assurance that the key has not been read.

Compare to my regular coins - I am using inkjet on paper - which I think would be much more difficult to read from the outside.

Interesting, didn't know you used inkjet on paper.  Does that mean the coins aren't waterproof, or does the hologram hold a seal good enough to assure that the paper doesn't get wet?

On the upside, it means that the hologram couldn't easily be floated off the coin without leaving a trace - you'd also ruin the private key on the paper!

I still think cheap coins (0.10 or 0.25) with a simple protection (gold scratch-off) would be best.

[casascius]

Interesting, didn't know you used inkjet on paper.  Does that mean the coins aren't waterproof, or does the hologram hold a seal good enough to assure that the paper doesn't get wet?

I believe an intact hologram will keep water off the paper for quite a long time.

[deslok]

They do make waterproof adhesive lables that can be run through an inkjet(i do need to get that up in my thread) if waterprofing is desireable. Did you give the coins a test in your laser yet?

[pc]

Eh, good point.  You'd have to send them at least a satoshi before they have firstbits...

Not quite true; they just have to be in the blockchain.

http://firstbits.com/1ecdsa

But sending an address 0 coins is at least as hard as sending it any other value…

[blueadept]

I'd probably buy 24 if they were reasonably priced and I could get them before Hanukkah. 8 days, 3 kids... plus they could play dreidel with bitcoins. Awesome!

[casascius]

OK, here is a random thought...

What if I sold rolls of 50 of the bitcoin brass coins?  The exact same 1 BTC coin, but just the metal part.  I could offer this today.

I have like 6,000 of ones with year 2011 left, and have already ordered some with the year 2012 printed on them.

A roll of 50 1BTC blanks, I could sell for as little as 10BTC.

[SgtSpike]

OK, here is a random thought...

What if I sold rolls of 50 of the bitcoin brass coins?  The exact same 1 BTC coin, but just the metal part.  I could offer this today.

I have like 6,000 of ones with year 2011 left, and have already ordered some with the year 2012 printed on them.

A roll of 50 1BTC blanks, I could sell for as little as 10BTC.

0.2 BTC / coin isn't too bad a price.  I probably couldn't buy 50 of them though.  But it does sound like a good idea...

[btc_artist]

A roll of 50 1BTC blanks, I could sell for as little as 10BTC.

So that would basically be 50 blanks like the "Broken 1 BTC" that you currently sell?