Thank you for the kind words.  As the project matures, we are very interested in the input from this, our community, so that we may refine and improve.  This thread is not self-moderated and so we also look forward to criticisms and healthy debate.  The best solutions are those that are based on the desires of the group they are designed to serve.  In this case that is you who are reading this now.  We have taken input from many here already (you know who you are!) and looking forward to more.

The goals of this project are many.  Here are some of the top items on our bucket list of what we hope to accomplish with this offering:

• Create a durable and attractive specie for Bitcoin.
• Provide a floor backing in hard physical asset for Bitcoin as a global currency with a distributed decentralized bank, all the holders of specie.
• We wanted this to be a pocket-friendly piece, for easy daily carry as pocket change.
• Pieces ought to be easily carried and useful for trade at point of sale without worry about damaging the piece, or waiting for confirmations.
• Offer low-priced intrinsically-valuable high production volume quality piece that would be numismaticly attractive and innovative.
• Provide options for the collector community without pulling any Bitcoins out of circulation in the blockchain.
• Provide a means to swiftly and assertively present an accurate current value as both precious metal and bitcoin can suffer price volatility
• Support both completely anonymous and non-anonymous transactions through total fungibility (most previous physical bitcoins are individually unique and serialized) just like paper currencies.
• Support a definitive unit of account.
• Provide a bridge to non-bitcoin users so that the bitcoin economy may expand through the use of this innovative project.
• Global attractiveness, there should be something for everyone within the design, to encourage the peaceful prosperity that common units of trade have done through out the ages.
• Sold at volume, these should be available at a slight discount to displayed trade value so as to engender an organic distribution network of folks naturally compensated for providing that distribution service to their local community.
• Provide a commensurate but better value for money than was traditionally offered by the strongest specie offered by nations of old (US silver coins were 90% silver and 80% weight yielding 72% value for seigniorage).  Ours are starting at 75% and projected to increase.
• Support the capability of conversion to any currency, crypto or fiat that a recipient of a trade may chose to honor, globally.

We do not seek to compete with any of the other physical crypto-currency available, but to provide a complementary offering.  We owe a debt of gratitude to the previous offerings that have helped to foster the Bitcoin economy from early days.  These are fundamentally different in an important way, they do not have any bitcoins embedded within them, they are fine gold and silver pieces denominated in Bitcoin.

The advantages of bitcoin and bullion are relatively opposite, but by unifying them, each gain strength from the other.
Bullion pieces are most useful in person and locally.  Shipping them is costly, requires security, and delay.
Bitcoin is less useful at point of sale, requires time to confirm, but Bitcoin is the best there is for long distance transactions.
Bitcoin's value is consensus based, not backed, and not intrinsic.  Bullion is the opposite.
The hope is that by providing this offering we create a way to unify these, and in so doing make each better than they could be alone.  


The idea is that these specie can be used at a point of sale for trade value (barter money) in the same way that a crypro currency can, but with folks that have never used or wanted any bitcoin...  It is a physical object, valuable to everyone, and as silver and gold are great conductors it will be warm out of your pocket but cold as it quickly offers up its heat.
Drop it into someone's palm and it will glisten with a nice BTC on it.  Flip it over and scan the QR code and show the current value of it in bitcoin (or dollar/euro/litecoin/yen...) and make your trade.

The recipient of it will be enticed to scan it to show it to their friends, and they will see the price of bitcoin change over time.  They may wish that they had taken the bitcoin instead of the silver.  They may also be happy that they took the silver instead of the local fiat.    So they won't be entirely disappointed.


We hope you will let us know how we are doing after you learn more about this project.

First, please understand that these are not like the Casascius coins in that these do not contain bitcoins.  These are silver pieces denominated in Bitcoin.

They will be far less expensive, closer to one ounce silver spot price in BTC + a small premium based on quantity to compensate for those of you who will engage in distribution.  (You should be able to make money by spending these.)
Though if they are at all like the New Liberty Dollar sales, most sales will be in quantity >100.  

If you just want one, chances are that you can get it for less from someone near you who bought a lot more than one.

These pieces are not really made primarily for the collectors, but to be USEFUL commercially with easily determinable barter value (just like Bitcoin has with its exchanges).  They are designed to be trade-worthy, and pocket-friendly rather than sitting on a shelf.  We don't want you to fret if they accidentally go through the washing machine, they should still work just fine.

Looks really nice. Thanks for doing this. Interesting approach.

Also thanks for the mention in the article. Much appreciated.

Aloha 

Thank you for the kind words!  

Edit: No more waiting!  Now for immediate delivery, you can order by PM or any of our other order communication channels.

Just to clarify - these coins do not have any actual BTC value in them at all - they are silver rounds only, deriving their value from being made of silver.  I like the QR code concept on the coin, but everyone should know if you buy these, you're not investing in BTC, you're investing in silver.

Great concept!!! Any idea if we are, roughly speaking, days vs. weeks vs. months from release?  I'm eager to buy before silver gets too crazy 

We have had some requests for purchasing some of the first strike pieces made for the marketing phase. Typically we have reserved these to be awarded to those that are assisting in the project development.  Some few have already been committed for this, and there will be more needed for that.

We recognize that we have done precious few sales through the BitCoinTalk forum, and have not engaged in any auctions through this site.  So if you are interested in getting one of these early released pieces, and would be willing to help us test this process out by doing so through an auction here, let us know and we will work to arrange an auction swiftly.

id be in if an auction was afoot

I will wait for gold or gold-plated.