Kept In A Drawer for 2 years, $4,905 Gold Bitcoin Physical Coin Now $48 Million, According to GreatCollections

Not seen for a decade and kept forgotten for several years in a desk drawer, a one-ounce gold coin with a denomination of 1,000 Bitcoins (BTC) purchased in December 2011 for $4,905 is now worth $48 million at the BTC value as of Monday morning, October 4, 2021.

The owner of the world’s most valuable numismatic item admits it “was definitely a stretch to make the purchase” a decade ago, but he’s not tempted to sell it now even after its astounding increase in value.

“This is the greatest return on investment for any numismatic item, a staggering 9,786 times the purchase price in just ten years. It may be the world’s greatest investment in that time span,” stated Ian Russell, President of GreatCollections of Irvine, California whose client owns the gold 1,000 Bitcoin physical coin.

“It was definitely a stretch to make the purchase in 2011, as I didn’t really know what Bitcoin was or how I was going to redeem it one day,” the coin’s anonymous owner said in a written statement. “I remember trying to decide whether to buy this one piece for $4,905 or whether to buy two gold bars — about $4,000 at the time — but thankfully decided on the ‘Gold Cas.'”

The cryptocurrency community refers to the 1,000 BTC coin as “the Gold Cas.” That is a reference to “Casascius,” the brand of BTC coins produced from 2011 to 2013. The company was created by Mike Caldwell to create physical “Casascius coins” in increments of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 25, 100 and 1,000 BTC units. Caldwell also produced some BTC ingots.

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Only six 1,000 gold BTC Casascius coins were made and four of them have not been redeemed including the one owned by Russell’s client.

“I was looking to buy gold and at the time in 2011 it hit a record high and was being reported almost daily in the newspapers, alongside stories about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency,” recalled the coin’s owner. “Most of the stories were negative about Bitcoin back then, but since the newspapers were giving it space, I thought there might be more to it. The ‘Gold Cas’ got my attention since it had gold and Bitcoin combined.”

He added: “When I bought the coin for $4,905, I really had no idea what the potential was, otherwise, I would have bought more than one! After the purchase, I forgot about it, leaving it in a desk drawer. That changed in late 2013 when I saw a headline about Bitcoin being worth $1,000, and it hit me that the coin I purchased for $4,905 was suddenly worth $1 million. It prompted me to work out what Bitcoin was all about, and since that time I’ve been watching it closely. Since the value of the coin increased to $1 million, there were other milestones I remember, such as when it hit the $10 million mark and then again at $25 million.”

“The value of the ‘Gold Cas” eclipses classic rare coins, such as the gold 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle recently auctioned by Sotheby’s for $18,872,250 and owned by another GreatCollections client, or the Sultan of Muscat 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar we recently purchased at auction for $7,680,000 on behalf of a client,” Russell said.

“It’s the ultimate 21st century collectible, merging gold with cryptocurrency; a cultural phenomenon considering the vast numbers of people under 30 who own some cryptocurrency as investments,” he stated.

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Russell said the current owner of this 1,000 gold BTC is not the presumed founder of the digital currency Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. There have been suggestions that the founder of Bitcoin owns iconic Bitcoin items such as the “Gold Cas.”

The 1,000 BTC coin now resides in an overseas bank vault and is not for sale because the owner is optimistic about the long-term prospects for Bitcoin. However, Russell announced that a gold-plated 25 BTC coin will be offered without reserve by GreatCollections in an auction that closes on November 14.

“Bidding will start at $1, although I anticipate this 25 BTC will sell for more than $1 million,” predicted Russell.

Russell submitted the 1,000 and 25 BTC coins under armed guard for certification to Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana, California. The gold 1,000 BTC coin is graded a perfect PCGS Proof 70 (on a numismatic grading scale of 1 to 70) Deep Cameo, and the 25 BTC is certified PCGS Mint State 67.

Regarding the “Gold Cas,” PCGS Interim President Stephanie Sabin stated: “This coin is set apart in its cultural significance in merging the worlds of cryptocurrency and traditional numismatics. Combine this with the staggering value of the Bitcoins it contains and we have a new Goliath.”

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