Topic: CLOSED: [WTS] Chainsaw's 1 BTC MS-65 Casacius Holo Error (Read 1187 times)

This piece is no longer available.

Bumped, with a new low asking price.

I've lowered the asking price on this as well as all my other collectible Casascius offerings - most graded, some not.
Here's a link to my other listings.
Here's a link to the collectible marketplace thread..

It's not the cost of the grading - that's not bad. You can do it for as low as...$23 IIRC, if you wait for a deal for free return-shipping.
Instead, it is in getting a coin that is certified to be of a high grade, as well as offsetting some security risks.  With collectibles, normalizing is important, for comparison's sake.  All we know right now is that there are < 3600 of these 1 BTC holo errors. We have no idea how many were lost, how many are in hands that have no intention to sell, or how many were circulated.  For a coin to get graded MS-65 or above, it will have to have been stored safely from the time of its creation until its time of offering.  We're still unsure how many of these coins, with this quality, exist.  So there's a pretty huge question mark as to what its price should be.

In the end, the market gets to decide what that premium should be. The more historical price precedent we accumulate, the more predictable these prices will be.
Right now, we have very, very few specimens that have sold.  So we're really still searching for what that right premium is.  For this piece, we know we've sold an MS-65 for 8, an MS-66 for 15, and an MS-67 for 50 BTC.  (However, the MS-67 was also a first-day.)

I could offer the pieces and just say "Make an offer" - but that doesn't move us any closer to determining a true market value.
One alternative would be to post it at 1.1 BTC. It'd get snapped up immediately, and I wouldn't have it for sale anymore. And we'd know the market value is >= 1.1 BTC.
I'm taking the opposite approach. So right now, there's a decent chance that the market value is <= 9 BTC.

I'm in no rush to sell the coins, so as time passes, I can lower the asking price bit by bit, until either:
-Someone buys the coin.
-Someone offers an amount I'm willing to sell for.
-I hit the lowest price I'm personally willing to sell for, which remains above a price the market is willing to buy for.
-Someone offers the same coin, same grade, for a lower price.

I'm just about equally okay with any of those outcomes.

If you (or anyone else) is interested in getting specimens graded, shoot me a message. It's not that tough, but I can tell you what I know.  You can start by checking out ANACS or giving them a call.

I understand some premium... But wow!  How much does it cost to have these tokens "graded"?  I would like to get a series 1 with error, but they just don't seem that rare to command those prices.

Up for sale is a 2011 1 BTC 'Casacius' holo error. (The repeating text in the background of the hologram is misspelled as CASACIUS instead of CASASCIUS.)
Other offerings are enumerated here.

Asking Price: 6.5 BTC 9 7 8 9 10

The coin has been graded by ANACS as MS-65. Such a rating represents an Uncirculated state. Here is the official definition (ANA) of MS-65:
"A coin graded MS-65 shows an attractive high quality of luster and strike for the date and mint.
May have a few small scattered contact marks, or two larger marks may be present.
One or two small patches of hairlines may show.
Noticeable light scuff marks may be seen on the high points of the design. Overall quality is above average and eye appeal is very pleasing..."

As for provenance, this particular coin came directly from Casascius to myself. From there, it was graded prior to the discovery of the pseudo-exploit.
I know of less than 10 other coins that were graded prior to the DefCon failed-but-close security breach.

The front:


The back:


For historical price comparisons, and possibly other same-offerings at lower prices, check the Bitcoin Collectible Marketplace thread.

Here's a link specifically to my other offerings.

List of all First Version Active 1 BTC
Link showing coin balance

A final note on pricing. Most of my offerings do not yet have a well-established market price.
Going first when selling runs a risk - ask too much, you seem greedy. Ask too little, your wares are snapped up, only to be flipped.
I greatly desire to establish a baseline for as many Bitcoin specie as possible...but I do have long-term holding intentions for my collection.

So, my intention is to limit each offering to 1, slowly decreasing the asking price over time, until one is sold.
Anywhere along the way, feel free to ask questions, or make offers! I promise you won't hurt my feelings :-)
Even better, if you have a similar coin...I invite you to undercut me. I'll happily provide a link to your posting from the marketplace thread.

Goal #1 is in establishing market prices. The more sellers we have, the faster we can get there.
Goal #2 is a first-sale of each of these coins.  If we can get to price discovery without a sale of one of my coins, the main objective will still be achieved.

I warmly invite your purchases, offers, and competitive offerings.  
Each data point lowers the barrier to entry into this collectible marketplace, allowing it to grow.

Happy shopping, and by all means, if there are any questions I've left unanswered, feel free to ask below.

-Chainsaw