Casascius series 2 vs. series 3 hologram - what's the difference?

[Possum577]

What's the difference between the Casascius series 2 and series 3 holograms? What coin denominations and years carry the series 2 hologram? What coin denominations and years carry the series 3?

If there's an existing thread about this that someone knows of, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks very much.

[1715064483]

1715064483

[1715064483]

1715064483

[1715064483]

1715064483

[Melbustus]

The Series-2 holograms are a different design than the Series-3 holograms. Here are some images for each:

Series-2:



Series-3:



And Series-1, for good measure:




Here's a list of denominations and years that carry Series-2 holograms:

2011 1 BTC Brass (most were Series-1, but there are ~500 Series-2)
2012 1 BTC Brass
2012 5 BTC (also found with Series-1 holograms)
2012 10 BTC (both all-silver, and gold-trim)
2011 25 BTC (also found with Series-1 holograms)
2012 1000 BTC
2013 0.5 BTC Brass
2013 0.5 BTC 1/2oz Silver (most were Series-3, but there are ~45 Series-2)
2013 1 BTC Brass


And Series-3 coins:

2013 0.1 BTC 1/4oz Silver
2013 0.5 BTC 1/2oz Silver
2013 1 BTC 1oz Silver (both all-silver, and gold-trim)


I'm releasing a pretty comprehensive site for these coins very soon (tomorrow or over the weekend), so stay tuned!
Edit: Here's the site: http://www.spotcoins.com/bitcoin/casascius

[Possum577]

Nice, can you add me to your distribution list? Thanks for the education!

[Melbustus]

Nice, can you add me to your distribution list? Thanks for the education!

No problem. Here's the site: http://www.spotcoins.com/bitcoin/casascius

Note that I *just* launched it, and I consider some of the info "beta" quality. There are simply a few details that will require specific information from Casascius to resolve (like *which* 0.5BTC Silver coins have the Series-2 holograms, exactly?), but regardless, this site should give a much more detailed picture of the Casascius coin landscape than anything else I've seen.

Thanks for the interest!

[bithalo]

Amazing and informative site.   Great job.

Just an FYI..some of the text appears to run over other text in my Safari Browser on a Mac.

I thought there were 700 instead of 483 of the 1.0 BTC Silver with Gold Trim.   It even mentions 700 on the detailed information.

[Melbustus]

Amazing and informative site.   Great job.

Just an FYI..some of the text appears to run over other text in my Safari Browser on a Mac.

I thought there were 700 instead of 483 of the 1.0 BTC Silver with Gold Trim.   It even mentions 700 on the detailed information.

Thanks for the layout heads up....I do indeed still have to browser-optimize (only verified Chrome on Ubuntu so far).

Yeah, Mike publicly stated that the last 700 of the original batch of 2000 1BTC Silver coins got the gold trim. But my population info is generated by parsing the blockchain against Mike's full-list of addresses, and I only found 483 addresses in the relevant casascius-address-pool having been funded. This would make sense if Mike did not sell out of the gold-trim coins before he shut down. Which seems like the case....I personally ordered a few of the gold-trim coins a mere few hours before he ceased taking orders, so they were indeed available right up until shutdown.

[bithalo]

Thanks for the explanation.  I wonder if it could influence people's perspective of the rarity of that specific coin if there are fewer ones out there than initially thought. 

Anyways, great job on your site.

[Melbustus]

Thanks for the explanation.  I wonder if it could influence people's perspective of the rarity of that specific coin if there are fewer ones out there than initially thought.  

Anyways, great job on your site.

Thanks again.

Yeah, there are a couple rarity surprises in the data - at least to me. For example the 1BTC 2011-dated Series-2 coins are *a lot* more rare than the 1BTC 2011 Series-1 coins, yet the latter consistently sell for much more.