Physical Bitcoin Worth Over $1 Million Presented At Auction Houses
Well-known auction houses that typically offer rare coins, famous artworks, and other popular assets for collectors to bid on have started capitalizing on physical Bitcoin (BTC).
Both Stack’s Bowers Galleries and Heritage Auctions are presenting “physical cryptocurrencies” as part of their upcoming showcases, highlighting collector interest in tangible coins representing popular digital assets.
James McCartney, Director of Consignments and Numismatics at Stack’s Bowers Galleries, told Cryptonews that the gallery recently announced its “Bitcoin Halving Sale,” which will be featured as part of their Spring 2024 Showcase Auction.
McCartney shared that the Bitcoin Halving Sale will consist of more than 200 physical cryptocurrency coins with a combined market value of more than $1 million (all values based on $60,000 BTC value).
“This is the firm’s first physical crypto sale of the year and certainly one of the most significant they have put together since entering the category in 2021,” said McCartney. “It is also the very last dedicated crypto auction to be held before the Bitcoin Halving event predicted for mid-April, which has been subject to tremendous excitement and speculation.”
According to McCartney, physical Bitcoins are essentially cold wallets that resemble specific cryptocurrencies. He added that some of these physical collectables can contain a public address that is unique to each coin, which may be loaded with cryptocurrency at the time of sale.
“This format was made popular by the Casascius and Lealana series produced from 2011 through 2013, but many more producers have since made coins of their own,” he said.
For context, Bitcoinwiki.org notes that “Casascius Physical Bitcoins” – also known as Casascius coins –
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