Topic: Casascius coins - minor design flaw (Read 1410 times)

Maybe you could just send me cut hologram stickers and I could test on some metal plates of my own.

Maybe I will have time next time I buy some coins from you and I will let you know if I'm up to it.

Immersing one in alcohol for days I was able to get the clear plastic layer off, but that would not have been sufficient to compromise the coin as the hologram itself stayed behind with the adhesive. If you would like to seriously experiment, I could make you some clearly marked bogus coins to test with, which contain no BTC. (Better this way - finding you trashed a private key with acetone or something would be no fun)

I am not worried about the product value nor am I in any way disappointed with it

When I was a kid though we would dissolve post stamp glue using warm water steam and gently lift them intact off the letter. Is this possible with your holograms or have you taken steps to prevent it?

(Warm water steam might not be the only way, heated alcohol or acetone steam might also work with even better glues.)

I might, honestly I was just joking around - the ideas of JoelKats might work just fine too.

How about using clear nail varnish ?

I wouldn't say priceless, but every time I discontinue a coin I will get orders with the notes saying "please send me the series 1 if you have any left".  I'll even swap it for a series 2 if you'd prefer it

Hmm yes, but according to Casascius I am now a coin collector holding priceless treasure, such crude measures might decrease the value of my coin

You might be able to find a clear lacquer or enamel that could protect the firstbits.

Firstbits printed on the surface is true of the series 1 5BTC coins, but not of the series 2.  Series 2 coins have a window in the hologram and the firstbits are behind the hologram.

I recently ran out of the series 1 coins and started shipping series 2.  There's plenty of interest in the series 1 coin now that it's no longer available and you'll have no problem finding someone to buy it off you if you'd prefer series 2.

So I recently received two 5 BTC coins and I plan to buy some 1 BTC coins and use them all for a board game as tokens.

But back on topic; after playing around with them I realized that the tamper-proof hologram on the back is very thin and has the first-bits printed directly on top of it.

While this is fine for souvenir BTC coins I believe this design would be worn beyond readability in 4 years or less if used as say a BTC local currency. In fact in this time my last credit card had lost any trace of originally printed account numbers and was also starting to loose basic back color.

Since both the 1 and 5 BTC casascius coins cost ~0.2btc each it would be hugely expensive to use them as real coins as they would have to be replaced very often.
A 10.000 people small town using these coins might have to spend 3000 BTC/year just to maintain their coins.


When I look at these coins I think to myself "this is what scifi/future money looks like" - I want this to work. So I am thinking; could a clear plastic membrane/cover/spray be applied to the back or the hologram stickers themselves include a protective layer over the address?

In this way the cover would be worn first and the coin potentially last more than 10 years.


I realize most BTC transaction are and will remain electronic and that anyone with a mobile phone can accept BTC; still these coins could make sense in rural areas for the next 20 years and as a statement that fiat cash is never necessary.