Quote from: European Central Bank on January 01, 2017, 10:54:17 PM

still ain't too pretty though. and if you'd paid a big premium then you'd feel a little sore. i wonder if casascius coins are gonna make a comeback. they seem a little quiet right now.

Yeah, they may be ugly, but as collectibles they have a bunch going for them:
1) They are hugely recognizable, thanks to being on the cover a hundreds of Bitcoin related articles over the years.
2) They are directly associated with Bitcoin's rise/history given the 2011 issue date and #1 above.
3) Mintage, of both types, was quite low.
4) Given that the stored value is high, a large percentage were redeemed.

I believe there are various now-desirable government-issue coins and so forth that were considered ugly in their day, and as such, did not become sought-after collectibles quickly, but when they did, they were especially scarce and valuable. We'll see.

As to the broader question of Casascius collectibility, it'll be interesting. If/when goldbugs really start to "see the light" and flood into Bitcoin, I can see Casascius coins getting a huge premium bump. Those guys love coins, and no other coin will ever be as quintessentially bitcoin as a Casascius issue.