Physical Cryptocurrencies Prove Hot Collectables

It consisted of a loaded, unpeeled, and unredeemed 2013 Lealana Gold B 1 BTC. 

That was an all-time world record for that denomination. At the time non-physical or virtual BTCs were selling for $45,200 each. [All prices and values are given in USD.]

The same auction offered an example of the first fully funded physical BTC ever produced – an unpeeled and unredeemed Series 1 of 2011 Casascius 1 BTC that showed the infamous CASACIUS error on the reverse. It realised $78,000 – a record for its type. 

That price was matched in March this year when Heritage sold a second 2011 unpeeled and unredeemed Series 2 (error-free) Casascius 1 BTC. Importantly, this latter coin came from The Otoh Collection.

In a previous account of physical cryptocurrencies, I referred to their collecting as being somewhat arcane. As the examples above show this is clearly no longer the case. BTC collecting has become mainstream. It is now a serious business – highly popular in the USA and growing elsewhere.

While there are quite a few collectors in Australia, you won’t catch many attending regular coin auctions seeking BTCs. 

The reason is simple – our main Aussie auction houses, like the majority of Aussie dealers, have yet to include serious numbers of physical cryptocurrency in their stock.

Stateside, those days have long come and gone. Physical BTCs and associated physical litecoins (LTC) are now commonplace in regular coin auction catalogues. They are not tucked away at the back. They are right up front, either integrated into formal listings, as in rarity night sales, or given a dedicated section of their own. Further, several major US numismatic auction houses now hold regular sales, 100% devoted  to physical cryptocurrencies.

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Physical examples of cryptocurrency are the flipside of non-fungible tokens. The latter proved popular at auction…