Explained: What are Casascius Bitcoins?
TLDR;
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- Casascius Bitcoins are physical coins or bars that represent Bitcoin
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- The coins come in different denominations
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- The production of loaded Casascius Bitcoins ceased in 2013
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In the early Bitcoin days, educating people about Bitcoin was hard because the concept of virtual money without a central controlling entity was new. This prompted the creation of physical metallic coins with a Bitcoin logo. These coins were baptized Casascius Bitcoins. Unfortunately, their production was halted in 2013, leaving those in current circulation to be metallic coins without the actual Bitcoins embedded in them. Here, we dig deeper into the world of Casascius Bitcoins, its creator, and why its production was halted.
What are Casascius Bitcoins?
Launched in 2011, Casascius Bitcoins are physical metallic coins or bars symbolizing Bitcoin. They may or may not contain real Bitcons. They were first created by Mike Caldwell, aka Casascius. Two years into their production, the United States government, with Caldwell being a Utah resident, intervened and asked him to either cease their production or register the project as a money transmitting business.
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Caldwell opted to stop creating more loaded Casascius Bitcoins in 2013. In a post, he wrote, �as of November 27, 2013, I suspend sales of items that contain digital Bitcoins. Current items for sale do not contain Bitcoins.� This marked the end of Casascius Bitcoins with real digital gold tied to them. Between 2011 and 2013, Caldwell created 27,938 coins and bars holding 91,262.8 Bitcoins.
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Caldwell made the physical Bitcoins as a proof of concept and to help Bitcoin preachers have an easy time explaining Bitcoin to people rooted in government-issued currencies like the U.S dollar. Apart from physical coins, the physical representations of Bitcoin also took the form of gold bars.
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According to Casascius Bitcoin Analyzer, a website that tracks Casascius Bitcoins, only slightly over 34% of the coins have been peeled or their value claimed. Most of the coins were peeled before 2013.
What differentiates Casascius Coins of different denominations?
Caldwell differentiated loaded the coins using colours. Coins with 1 BTC had the colour of solid brass. The coins were bigger than a US quarter but smaller than a half-dollar. 1 BTC coins also had a mix of gold and silver. Coins holding 0.5 and 0.1 BTC came in the form of fine silver, with 0.5 BTC coins weighing half an ounce and 0.1 BTC coins weighing a quarter of an ounce. Larger denominations like 100 BTC were available as gold-plated metal alloy bars.
How do Casascius Bitcoins work?
Casascius Bitcoin coins and bars contained private keys hidden in a hologram attached to them. Peeling the hologram revealed a section of the private key or the wallet holding the real BTC. The other section of the wallet address was found on the outside of the coin itself, with the other section being decrypted using a preselected passphrase.
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After joining all the pieces of the private key, you can then verify the coin�s content using a Bitcoin blockchain explorer.
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Apart from being peeled and helping Bitcoin crusaders spread the word, Casascius Bitcoins also acted as collectible items holding significant value due to their historical attachment and scarcity. These coins have more value than what�s actually stored in them or their �peel value.�
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Since caldwell halted minting loaded Casascius Coins, their have been a rise of other similar coins going by different names. Some of the names include Lealana coins, Cryptmint coins, Satoshi coins, CoinedBits, and Antana coins.
Key features of Casascius Coins
- They are �physical� BTC - Casascius Coins are physical representations of Bitcoin. They give holders a tangible evidence of BTCs existitense.
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- They act as collectibles - Apart from physically representing Bitcoin, Bitcoin diehards hoard them due to their rarity and special connection to BTC�s history.
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- They have different denominations with different values
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- They can be loaded or unloaed - They may or may not contain redeemable Bitcoins.
Conclusion
The first Casascius Bitcoins or Coins were meant to help Bitcoin crusaders to spread the word about BTCs. Over time, Causascius Coins evolved to become collectibles that Bitcoin diehards collect to keep a close connection with Bitcoin and its history. Although Caldwell stopped minting loaded Casascius Coins in 2013, unloaded Casascius coins continue making rounds and often pop up for sale on online marketplaces like eBay.