New Auction: Bitcoin Casascius Coin (mint) RARE 5 BTC - 2013 - w original email

[hovden]

Hey bitcoin talk, I'm selling an original 5BTC Casascius coin. I purchased it direct from Casascius as a graduate student. It is a rarer coin, and I have the original emails and documentation of purchase—including the manila envelope Mike packaged it in.

The unredeemed 5BTC Casascius coin is available for direct sale until Thursday, after which I will crack it for educational YouTube content. It was purchased in 2013 for 6.43 BTC.

I'm planning to crack my 5BTC on YouTube next week: https://youtu.be/R2EyXERPQMM

More information is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184285557253

Other questions:

(1) What would you like to see in a YouTube video cracking a coin? I'm an educator and want to provide a chance to include useful information.
(2) Any advice? I haven't mined / used crypto in 7 years (Lost all but this 5BTC coin to Mt Gox).

[hovden]

I'm asking a premium around 10BTC. I will consider all offers received before Thursday. Collectors should appreciate the original purchase price for the 5BTC was 6.43 BTC. In this sense, it is worth 1.43BTC for the coin alone. I believe an unloaded coin has collectable value >2x, but the numismatic value is just being realized by collectors—we will see.

Here is a timestamped twitter post I made for historical confidence: https://twitter.com/hovden/status/405861216276324354?s=20

There are few coins this well documented.

Why open: If what I feel is a fair value is not realized, I want to develop educational content. For the mainstream, it will be an opportunity to talk about intrinsic and extrinsic value placed on objects and currency, and a brief discussion of new monetary technology offered by cryptocurrency. For the crypto community, it will be the only high-denomination and high-quality video content of a Casascius coin being redeemed (to date). I'm open to hear your ideas.

If sold I will roll resources into some other offbeat educational effort, possibly hire summer students to produce interesting videos. The COVID situation has shifted part of my focus toward experience in digital educational content.

Regards.

[teeGUMES]

I'm asking a premium around 10BTC. I will consider all offers received before Thursday. Collectors should appreciate the original purchase price for the 5BTC was 6.43 BTC. In this sense, it is worth 1.43BTC for the coin alone. I believe an unloaded coin has collectable value >2x, but the numismatic value is just being realized by collectors—we will see.

Here is a timestamped twitter post I made for historical confidence: https://twitter.com/hovden/status/405861216276324354?s=20

There are few coins this well documented.

Why open: If what I feel is a fair value is not realized, I want to develop educational content. For the mainstream, it will be an opportunity to talk about intrinsic and extrinsic value placed on objects and currency, and a brief discussion of new monetary technology offered by cryptocurrency. For the crypto community, it will be the only high-denomination and high-quality video content of a Casascius coin being redeemed (to date). I'm open to hear your ideas.

If sold I will roll resources into some other offbeat educational effort, possibly hire summer students to produce interesting videos. The COVID situation has shifted part of my focus toward experience in digital educational content.

Regards.

You're quite far off in your thoughts on premium here. We have quite a few resources including the search bar that you can search for Casascius coins (tenths, halves, 1, 5, 10 , and 25s) and see recent premiums. Someone with a little more time today can probably pull up recent Casascius sales to give you a better understanding of what you may be able to achieve in premium on this coin. Fair market price is oftentimes realized right here on the Collectibles board.
A rich billionaire with no idea how bitcoin works but wants something shiny and "old" in bitcoin terms might blindly pay 10BTC but that would be like fishing in your bathtub and expecting to catch a blue marlin.

However your experience goes here I will be sure to watch your cracking/peeling as I have yet to see a 5 peeled. Good luck.

[anonymousminer]

I'm asking a premium around 10BTC. I will consider all offers received before Thursday. Collectors should appreciate the original purchase price for the 5BTC was 6.43 BTC. In this sense, it is worth 1.43BTC for the coin alone. I believe an unloaded coin has collectable value >2x, but the numismatic value is just being realized by collectors—we will see.

Here is a timestamped twitter post I made for historical confidence: https://twitter.com/hovden/status/405861216276324354?s=20

There are few coins this well documented.

Why open: If what I feel is a fair value is not realized, I want to develop educational content. For the mainstream, it will be an opportunity to talk about intrinsic and extrinsic value placed on objects and currency, and a brief discussion of new monetary technology offered by cryptocurrency. For the crypto community, it will be the only high-denomination and high-quality video content of a Casascius coin being redeemed (to date). I'm open to hear your ideas.

If sold I will roll resources into some other offbeat educational effort, possibly hire summer students to produce interesting videos. The COVID situation has shifted part of my focus toward experience in digital educational content.

Regards.

Good luck with your sale, however, you may want to do a bit of research first.  That coin would sell for around 6BTC today.  Sorry for the bad news.  On the plus side, there will be a video of of bitnickel getting peeled out there.

[gentlemand]

You won't get 10 BTC for it. You won't earn whatever premium you can get for it on here from Youtube earnings either.

It IS a rare coin. I haven't seen many for sale at all here. I'd auction it and you may be pleasantly surprised, if not having your original expectations met.

If this is your final BTC why throw away the prospect of one or two more vs making a vid? There are already videos of that nature. You're chucking away thousands of dollars.

[ChiBitCTy]

You won't get 10 BTC for it. You won't earn whatever premium you can get for it on here from Youtube earnings either.

It IS a rare coin. I haven't seen many for sale at all here. I'd auction it and you may be pleasantly surprised, if not having your original expectations met.

If this is your final BTC why throw away the prospect of one or two more vs making a vid? There are already videos of that nature. You're chucking away thousands of dollars.

They are correct ^

I’d try and sell it whole for a while longer before peeling. Utilize social media too. Throw it up on Reddit/Twitter/Imgur/Facebook Marketplace.  You’ll have to way overvalue it on eBay to recover your 15% worth of fees but worth a shot.

Videos I’ve seen on YouTube peeling Cas coins are older. It would be nice to see a new video showing the most up to date ways to peel/programs to use.

[gentlemand]

It would be nice to see a new video showing the most up to date ways to peel/programs to use.

If his heart is truly set on Youtube fame OP can use the extra money he makes selling the 5 BTC coin to buy a 0.5 BTC coin and peel it on camera. He'll still get his vid plus an extra amount of BTC from selling the original.

[K-Paxian]

hovden, just for the price reference (and exactly as anonymousminer wrote you), the Coblee (Charlie Lee) is offering here on this forum two of his last Casascius coins - the 5 BTC ones with MS-68 and MS-69 grades for 5.9 BTC and 6.1 BTC.

And these coins are for sale for a while already...

Good luck with your sale/whatever action you decide to do with the coin, though!

[owlcatz]

More information is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184285557253

You posted that your pricing is 10btc, yet here on your listing, you have it for about 0.5 btc, thus making your price 5.5 btc, which is reasonable.

Why the price discrepancy?

In the details of the listing, it says that it will be peeled before shipping, so it's basically for a peeled 5 btc coin...

edit - Modification Description:   Physical Coin only, No digital BTC

[gentlemand]

So, 0.5 btc for a redeemed coin? :O

Hey, it's Ebay. Anything is possible there. It's the place where dreams come true.

I'm pretty sure he'd get more here selling it intact, or a similar amount, I guess it's down to how badly he wants to make his vid.

[sweeteye]

So, 0.5 btc for a redeemed coin? :O

Hey, it's Ebay. Anything is possible there. It's the place where dreams come true.

I'm pretty sure he'd get more here selling it intact, or a similar amount, I guess it's down to how badly he wants to make his vid.

I keep thinking, "You only get one take to get it right, don't fuck it up!" lol

[gentlemand]

I keep thinking, "You only get one take to get it right, don't fuck it up!" lol

This is very true.

I think a vid showing how you do it in modern times could be useful. The first one I came across used Mt Gox to redeem it.

I'd get permission from someone who's already recorded it on video to update the redeeming part. We can already see the peeling part elsewhere.

[hovden]

Thanks everyone for the information. I've drafted this response as a form of encouragement for your collecting efforts and also explain my view (from a family of coin collectors).  My primary goal is not to [revised] alter, or deny, the present day market value [\revised May 10, 2:25PM].

Here is my take on the Casascius coins:

The crypto coin community is not taking numismatic value seriously. Face value of collectable coins are often <1% the value of face value for traditional currency. Even for highly collectable gold, the spot price of the gold <1% the collectable value.

The rarity of this coin can be compared to the rarest of traditional coins. If cryptocurrency survives, the collectors value of these coins will not be realized by the BTC community, but rather traditional collectors. Casascius coins will be auctioned and not traded on cyrpto forums that are primarily concerned with the BTC value. It may take 5-10 years to before serious collectors jump on board.

This also is true for redeemed coins. The collectors value will remain high in the distant future—there are only 800 in the world! Many collectables are rare when print runs are <100,000. For comparison there are ~20,000 Black Lotus collector cards printed in the world and they currently auction for $10k-$150k per piece of cardboard!

Anything less than 6.43 BTC would be a loss for anyone that purchased the 5BTC from Mike Caldwell. If these coins are undervalued at this point in time, I'm more interested in the novelty and educational opportunity to redeem this coin for others to watch—I'd appreciate your support of the video.

There may only be a dozen 5 BTC coins with this level of documentation. I believe collectors value will skyrocket for Casascius coins in the future. It is the original physical Cryptocoin and a historical / philosophical link between tangible and intangible currency.

I encourage collectors to continue their hunt while the price is low. My advice: don't overlook the opened / redeemed coins, they are still extremely rare. Get as much documentation you can at purchase, as history is important for rare collectables.

Regards,
Robert

[gentlemand]

Your choices are weird. Either empty the coin or insist on a value you won't get at present. And you won't get $5000 for it peeled either.

Future values are exactly that - values in the future.

You'll get more keeping it intact, selling now and not making the video but that's the one choice you appear to be refusing. You finish up with no coin, less money but a vid to show for it. Your choice of course but it's an odd one.

[iBitcoinHongKong8]

Well I'd love to see you peel it personally. Full disclosure I own atleast 1 of these exact coins. I also would recommend using a Trezor or Ledger HW wallet connected with Electrum to sweep the BTC off of it first then scan the private key with the Ballet wallet and app as that will magically prompt you to sweep and snag all other worthwhile and relevant forks that this coin still holds. Ballet blew me away with how easy the process was when I did it. Not only would that be an excellent opportunity to educate others on how to do it the exact way I described but I'd personally just love to see it happen incase I ever reached a point of needing to peel my own.To date I've only taken the liberty to repeat this exact process described above and albeit I did it for a pre-forked Satori coin that only held .001BTC and that went extremely smoothly with the method described above(paired HW wallet then scanning with Ballet). So I'd love to see it done on a higher value/rarer item and no doubt it would make my own coin even rarer. I say this because the premiums are not nearly as high as you're thinking and I don't blame you for wanting what you want. The fact remains however this coin would likely fetch 5.75BTC to 6.2BTC if things went extremely well in an auction. Just giving you a range. Either way good luck with whatever way you choose to go!
I also have respect for your desire to educate others so either way do whatever makes you happiest! All the best.

iBHK8

[geophphreigh]

Just my 2 sats.

While I am confident that all collectors in this space would love to see the value of loaded coins to be exponentially higher than face value, that is just not true currently. Traditionally the value of the item comes from a combination the cryptocurrency loaded, how much is loaded, the material made from, number produced, trust of maker, and condition/grade of item etc. It is not as simple as gold coin is rare. Maybe this will change in the future as you suggest. For now I know two things:

1. Potential future value does not translate into current value.
2. It really doesn't matter how much you feel it is worth, only way to know is what someone is willing to pay for it. An auction would decide this.

Like I said, just my 2 sats, and not trying to stir the pot. Would love to see it peeled for educational purposes too. These collectables are well out of my range, but still wonderful to admire for all the reasons you listed that make it rare.

Geo

[rxalts]

Well I'd love to see you peel it personally. Full disclosure I own atleast 1 of these exact coins. I also would recommend using a Trezor or Ledger HW wallet connected with Electrum to sweep the BTC off of it first then scan the private key with the Ballet wallet and app as that will magically prompt you to sweep and snag all other worthwhile and relevant forks that this coin still holds. Ballet blew me away with how easy the process was when I did it. Not only would that be an excellent opportunity to educate others on how to do it the exact way I described but I'd personally just love to see it happen incase I ever reached a point of needing to peel my own.To date I've only taken the liberty to repeat this exact process described above and albeit I did it for a pre-forked Satori coin that only held .001BTC and that went extremely smoothly with the method described above(paired HW wallet then scanning with Ballet). So I'd love to see it done on a higher value/rarer item and no doubt it would make my own coin even rarer. I say this because the premiums are not nearly as high as you're thinking and I don't blame you for wanting what you want. The fact remains however this coin would likely fetch 5.75BTC to 6.2BTC if things went extremely well in an auction. Just giving you a range. Either way good luck with whatever way you choose to go!
I also have respect for your desire to educate others so either way do whatever makes you happiest! All the best.

iBHK8

This advice to the OP is pristine!

Also, just to add I don't believe it is common practice to futuristic value in present day (let alone less than 10 years since release). A 1967 Corvette wasn't worth millions in 1977 just like a 1933 Double Eagle wasn't worth $7 million in 1945. Hope this makes sense, best of luck with your decision!

[iBitcoinHongKong8]

Hi,
Any update to this situation? Did you indeed peel the coin? Do you have a link?


iBHK8

[selassiesoildier]

Hi,
Any update to this situation? Did you indeed peel the coin? Do you have a link?


iBHK8

The link to his YouTube channel is in the first post of the op.

While I am not one to criticize, I will offer my two sats.

While you did get some views, no one even subscribed to the channel.
I do laud the act of peeling it for educational content, are you willing to take one for the team
and give up possibly one whole bitcoin for a channel that didn’t even fetch one single subscriber?

That extra bitcoin could not only provide an extra generation or two of wealth for your family, it will also leave a key piece of history intact for someone else to truly appreciate and enjoy.

You may think you don’t need an extra bitcoin but it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[iBitcoinHongKong8]

Hi,
Any update to this situation? Did you indeed peel the coin? Do you have a link?


iBHK8

The link to his YouTube channel is in the first post of the op.

While I am not one to criticize, I will offer my two sats.

While you did get some views, no one even subscribed to the channel.
I do laud the act of peeling it for educational content, are you willing to take one for the team
and give up possibly one whole bitcoin for a channel that didn’t even fetch one single subscriber?

That extra bitcoin could not only provide an extra generation or two of wealth for your family, it will also leave a key piece of history intact for someone else to truly appreciate and enjoy.

You may think you don’t need an extra bitcoin but it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Hi,
Actually I had already checked that YouTube link and it appeared to be the same one that he posted with the op where he's just showing the coin in question but without any peeling of the coin etc.... Are you seeing a different video where he's actually peeled it?



iBHK8