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Is it possible to buy a prop of one of the "bitcoins" you often see in pictures? Does anyone actually make physical "bitcoins?" I collect weird iconic things.
Is it possible to buy a prop of one of the "bitcoins" you often see in the pictures?
Answers
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Casascius made physical coins with a private key attached (hidden with similar technology to scratch lottery cards). They were shut down in 2013 by the USA Treasury.
There are other companies who make physical Bitcoins but I cannot vouch for the services personally.
If it's memorabilia then a "used" coin is no problem. However it was possible to use non-polar solvent through an insulin syringe to peel back the Casascius safety seal to see the private keys without showing signs of tampering. This means it may be an issue to pay for ฿1 and find later your coins were stolen since your private key is known. If you buy a coin with ฿ associated with a Casascius coin private key I'd immediately transfer it to a "safe" address.
1Also, to further this answer, those original Casascius coins fetch a pretty penny on eBay. Don't expect to get any of those "props" for cheap because they aren't fake. – RLH – 2014-09-18T12:01:15.063
4What do you mean by "licensed"? – Nate Eldredge – 2014-09-17T12:03:53.510
This shouldn't be closed as "Unclear what is being asked". There was just the misconception that Physical Coins would have to be licensed. I edited for clarity and voted to reopen. – Murch – 2014-10-02T15:28:33.443