Recover wallet from 2013

[jjoyce1973]

I've got around 4.5K USD stored in an old wallet. Last transaction dates back to 2013.

I don't remember where I created that wallet, but I think it was in blockchain.info.

I still keep the 12 word seed, but I tried to recover it in blockchain.com an it didn't work. I am sure the seed is ok as I copy-pasted the entire thing, including the address.

The seed contains words like 'reveal' and 'believe' which I haven't found in any "modern" dictionary.

Any idea where I could recover a seed from 2013?

TIA

-JJ

[LeGaulois]

You can use Electrum to recover your wallet. https://electrum.org/#home
It's a Bitcoin wallet

You basically need to create a new wallet and write the seed you have from blockchain.info

- click File > New/Restore, enter a name and click next
- select "Standard Wallet" and click next
- select "I already have a seed" and click next
- enter the 12 words seed
- click the "Options" button and enable BIP39
- check the "BIP39 seed" box

If you're asked the type of addresses you want, chose legacy (p2pkh) or p2psh-segwit (p2wpkh-p2sh) depending on what you were using on blockchain.info. Otherwise, you won't see your bitcoins in your wallet

(Adress starting with 1 is a legacy address, with 3 a p2psh-segwit)

[hosseinimr93]

The 12 words you are referring to seems to be a BIP39 seed phrase and as explained by LeGaulois, you can import them into electrum.

But I'm pretty sure the seed phrase you have isn't for the blockchain wallet you had in 2013.
In 2013, there was no BIP39 seed phrase in blockchain wallet.

The seed contains words like 'reveal' and 'believe' which I haven't found in any "modern" dictionary.

Both words exist in BIP39 words list.

Word number 166: believe
Word number 1476: reveal

[jjoyce1973]

Both words exist in BIP39 words list.

Word number 166: believe
Word number 1476: reveal

I found the dictionary: it is an Electrum 'old style'

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/1.9.8/lib/mnemonic.py

ALL my 12 words are there.

I followed the recovery process in Electrum, but my wallet has no funds. Any idea why?

[bob123]

I followed the recovery process in Electrum, but my wallet has no funds. Any idea why?

Is electrum connected to the network (green circle in the bottom right) ?

A wrong derivation path might be the issue.
Can you confirm that you have recovered a legacy wallet (addresses starting with 1..) and not nested or native segwit (address starting with 3.. or bc1..) ?

[jjoyce1973]

I followed the recovery process in Electrum, but my wallet has no funds. Any idea why?

Is electrum connected to the network (green circle in the bottom right) ?

A wrong derivation path might be the issue.
Can you confirm that you have recovered a legacy wallet (addresses starting with 1..) and not nested or native segwit (address starting with 3.. or bc1..) ?

1. yes, network is green. I can retrieve the funds of my 2013 address (1G*) in watch-only mode
2. when I try to restore, I don't get the option to recover legacy or any other type of wallet

I do:

File > New/Restore > Standard Wallet > I already have a seed > paste my seed and next

Version of Electrum is 4.0.9

[plen]

I'm not sure but maybe you want to use the Sweep feature and not just open that wallet?

[hosseinimr93]

1. yes, network is green. I can retrieve the funds of my 2013 address (1G*) in watch-only mode

So, you have a watch-only wallet including an address with balance. But when you use your seed phrase, you don't see the balance?
If so, you are importing a wrong seed phrase or the address you are looking for is beyond the gap limit.

Go to "Addresses" tab and check whether you see the address in question or not.
If you don't see the address and you are sure that you have imported a correct seed phrase, you can try generating more addresses using the command below in "console" tab.

Code:

[wallet.create_new_address(False) for i in range(50)]

This command will generate 50 addresses.

Note: If you don't see any of "Addresses" or "Console" tabs, you can make them available by clicking on "View" button at top of the window.