According to PANews, a collector known as John Galt on the Bitcoin Talk forum has redeemed over $10 million in Bitcoin from a solid gold Casascius Bitcoin bar purchased for $500 in 2012. Casascius physical Bitcoins, first minted by Mike Caldwell in 2011, are among the most iconic collectibles in cryptocurrency history. These bars and coins, embedded with real BTC, range in value from 0.1 BTC to 1,000 BTC. Each Casascius Bitcoin is a collectible coin containing real Bitcoin, featuring its own Bitcoin address and a redeemable 'private key.'
Production of these coins ceased in 2013 after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) classified Caldwell's business as a money transmitter service. Despite this, the monetary and historical value of these coins continues to rise. According to casasciustracker.com, over 10,000 Casascius coins have been redeemed to date, with more than 18,000 still in use or unclaimed.
