Quote from: Stack on May 08, 2013, 01:09:36 AM

Quote from: BitPappa on May 08, 2013, 01:02:35 AM

I often see physical Bitcoins pictured in various news articles and blog posts. They don't always look the same, sometimes they look all-metal, sometimes they appear to have a hologram image. I was wondering, what the heck are they showing pictures of? Are there physical Bitcoins (even if they are just for show)? Or is everything I'm seeing just good 3D renderings?

There are indeed physical bitcoins. There are different shells for different values. And I believe there has been a couple of style changes too along the way.

The originals are by Casascius

It's a metal coin, and on one side has a holographic seal to prove it hasn't been opened. Inside is an encrypted shorthand key that can be used to withdraw the value of the coin from the network into your wallet, a specialised utility is required to do so.

Recently, there have been tools released to allow anybody to forge their own physical bitcoins and upload values into the network, so there might be completely new styles coming out later.

These physical coins could become very valuable collectors items in the future, even today they are worth much more than their BTC digital value.

I see what your saying, there may be commercial use for it as the general public may enjoy having something they can physically hold and touch, for me im fine with just virtual Cheesy