1. Physical bitcoins should be durable to be change hands daily as a currency and a hologram isn't.
2. Physical bitcoins should not rely on a database that can be destroyed.
I devise my solution starting with an observation.
There is no need for the private key to be recoverable, only verifiable! If I need a Bitcoin private key, I can exchange the physical coin for another addresses where I know the private key.
Now can we devise something from that observation?
For example, could we place a signing circuit embedded in the coin that can be accessed electromagnetically?
Then we need a change to the blockchain to enable addresses to be declared unspendable.
I also hope we can make Bitcoins from sterling silver possibly Argentium. It is silly to make copper-nickel coins at the 1 BTC price. Copper-nickel should be for small change. Also copper-nickel is highly volatile in price especially if we go to war.
Hey who says we can't have anonymity like we do now with cash? Porc?
This is EXACTLY how we feel. Seriously, we've been working on a solution for a while and that checks these boxes. The currency needs to be durable and convertable into fungible BTC without relying on any central point.
Durability is an issue, but can be a "hardware" problem. We'll solve it with materials selection or similar.
Convertibility without relying a central database that tracks ownership probably needs to rely on blockchain info. The protocol has the capabilities. We're working on building a custom client (interviewing another programmer this morning hopefully) that will allow redemption and ownership tracking to be done by the blockchain seamlessly.
ON material choice...The cost of the currency production will ALWAYS be a factor. Ideally I want physical bitcoins that look good but are also obtainable for an extremely low premium over spot value. There's always room for dual value coins/currency that are minted from precious metals, but less expensive physical currency will have more utility in my opinion.
Great ideas, Anonymint. Seriously.