If I were to answer whether "Collecting BTC equivalent to collecting Real Coins of Historic Value?" I would say no.
Reason being real coins are considered antiques because time is a variable that effects real coins and not a bitcoin.
A bitcoin is a bitcoin and although some might have been around longer making them older it doesnt change any property of the bitcoin. Physical coins get new mints and what not, they change, different just about every year, thus making the ones that are less in or even out of circulation more valuable to a collector.
I mean I guess in theory you could have a bitcoin collector but what are you paying for? Say you could put two bitcoins in your hand, one old and one brand new. There wouldnt be a single difference because every bit coin old or new is exactly same as each bitcoin.
Its part of what makes a digital currency a digital currency right?
Maybe we could assign value to the bitcoin based on a few factors.
Say you have a factory and it makes t-shirts. Lots and lots of t-shirts.
The value of each t-shirt is worth 1btc
Now say Elvis wears a t-shirt and gives it to a fan. It is still a 1btc t-shirt but.... it was worn by ELVIS! I will give you 5btc for that t-shirt!
Same thing as bitcoin. A btc is a btc. But, maybe they HISTORY associated with that bitcoin or that TRANSACTION is of significance. Or perhaps a private address that was funded by another address where you KNOW that address is linked to, say Satoshi. That would mean a lot of value to.
Thoughts?
But how do you assign factors like that to such an anonymous currency? And to prove you elvis did give you his bitcoin then you would have to make the currency not so anonymous anymore kinda defeating the purpose of bitcoin right? But hey, I guess you could do it!
Anonymity only goes so far. The anonymous nature of a bitcoin goes out the window once it is traded.
Take the market places for example. Joe Shmoe wants to trade some bitcoin. Well then! All he needs to do is send btc to a mtgox address linked to HIS account and then place an order. Well now we know that these coins that mtgox has in their hot little hands belong to Joe Shmoe. Well now someone wants to buy bitcoin and the system fullfils it. Sends this new guy some coins that Joe has deposited. Now if you want to look at any coin that you have gotten from MtGox you can trace back the transactions to beyond MtGox and then you can use that as a starting point to see what other addresses funded that origional address before it was sent off to MtGox.
It could take a little time and effort but I betcha you could end up linking the coin you have with a real person.
Bitcoin is anonymous. The people that are attached to the transactions are NOT.
Sure someone could use a disposable address and only use it once, but give it time and someone will mess up. It is all public knowledge.
Okay, well then the only factor you can apply to a coin is what address it comes from and is sent too? And unless you witness him doing it or have proof that he actually did it than you cant be sure. You can authenticate a written signature, you cant really authenticate a mouse click.
Edit: I mean, as I see it your paying for the right to say I have "special bitcoin" because it was made special by "insert reason" but does that make it collecting? Every penny changes the exact same as any other penny over time. A penny from 1805 would be worth the same as any other penny in 1805 in close to the same condition. The bitcoin was only worth what it was because it had something done too it too make it different but that doesnt change the bitcoin itself, just the value it holds to certain people. Since something like that is considered a sentimental you cant put a price on it so you cant really have a market for it then can you? I mean I guess if a bunch of important well known people started using bitcoin you could try and get all the coins theyve used but when you try and calculate the worth of what your collection is valued at you cant because its not the same to the guy next to you. So bitcoins collectable? I dont really see it.
Time to don our thinking caps.
Quick aside: I came across this quote from the page I gleaned the following image:
http://scottbarrykaufman.com/allan-snyder/“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” ― Chuck Palahniuk
Firstly, consider the following.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NumismaticsNumismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods. Early money used by people is referred to as "Odd and Curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes in prison). The Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins.[1] The lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horse is not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals and gems.
We may need to consider first coining
a new word for this hobby (for lack of a better word). Cryptomatics (crypto
mathics) being my first attempt. Others are welcomed and encouraged.
I feel we are very close on one aspect of this endeavor: Valuing one coin (address) more than another, although their true value remains the same. The Elvis t-shirt example above drives that point home nicely. I was going to pen a similar post using book signing events as an example.
http://www.booksigningcentral.com/2011/04/13/mika-brzezinski-book-signing-tour-knowing-your-value/Note the website of which the image above came from.
http://www.booksigningcentral.com/ An entire website dedicated to bringing to its readers the various upcoming book signing events. For what? For a fan to go to a bookstore and pay, probably, full price for a book, then have it signed by its author. What a bunch of fruitcakes! I wouldn't be surprise to learn these same people pay for their purchases with money printed out of thin air (think about that for a second--I'm sure you'll get it).
Caution: Another Justin Bieber analogy from yours truly (sorry 'bout that, but it's the best example known to boykind).
Referring you again to this page
http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/2052-justin-bieber, I will use
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals for example purposes.
Let's say that some young fan of JB had only so long to live (something like this did happen recently). That kid just so happens to be in a Children's Miracle Network Hospital. The story somehow touches JB or, as the case sometimes is, the other way around--the crisis is sought after, and he announces to his fan base that he has a special offer for them to help raise funds for CMNH, thus helping Timmy (made it up). The special offer will only cost $5.00 and it will go a long way in helping this fan of his when mulitplied by the tens of thousand Beliebers.
For only $5.00 USD (or Canadian via MintChip), a JB fan will receive .01
BTC from the personal BVA (
Bitcoin Bieber Vanity Address) 1Bieber........... to your personal BCA (Bitcoin Collector Address) where it can be screenshot, printed out, and placed in their physical scrapbook. (example below)
I believe there are online scrapbooks as well where the image could be stored for the world to see.
No matter how JB (or his handlers) opt to accept the $5.00 USD, it's safe to say that way over $4.00 USD will go to CMNH via this promotion of sorts. And his fans would have a token of appreciation from none other than Justin Bieber. They would know 100% that the 1Bieber...... address belongs to JB. And that craze fan will show his/her unique memento to other fans.
This idea is not that far-fetched, if you think about it and, of course, a sleek looking website with a proper marketing campaign is in place. And it would work in conjunction with the other ideas outlined in this thread on the same site, for sure.
~Bruno~
Now that's an idea. a Bitcoin collectors address that stores ONLY collected bitcoin addresses. Either that or a wallet with vanity addresses that you where given based on the private key.
