What’s Being Sold
According to the Stack’s Bowers Galleries announcement shared with Bitcoin.com News, the token is graded MS-66 by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Only 15 examples exist at that grade. Just 11 coins have been graded finer, all at MS-67. The token remains funded, meaning the 0.5 $BTC loaded onto the blockchain at creation is still intact and redeemable.
The coin was produced by Mike Caldwell, a Utah-based software engineer who began minting the Casascius series in 2011. Each physical coin holds a private key beneath a tamper-evident hologram, with real bitcoin loaded onchain at the time of minting.
Why Casascius Coins Are Scarce
Caldwell halted production after regulators flagged the operation as a potential unlicensed money transmission business in 2013. The short production window left a finite supply. Attrition has narrowed that supply further: some owners have “peeled” their coins to claim the bitcoin, destroying the collectible and erasing its numismatic value in the process. Funded examples in high grades are now rare by any measure.
The Auction Context
The June 18 sale is not a one-lot showcase. Stack’s Bowers has assembled more than 120 crypto collectibles with a combined intrinsic value exceeding $500,000. The sale includes coins from the Casascius, BTCC, and Lealana series, alongside lower-mintage modern issues from producers including Mybits, Satori, Denarium, Ballet, and Freedom Bitcoin.
The auction also marks the firm’s first offering of crypto trading cards from Topps’ Allen and Ginter series, a crossover expected to draw interest from sports card collectors who track that product line separately from the crypto space.
Early Bitcoin Magazine issues round out the sale, including a copy of Issue No. 1 and a consecutive run of Issues 9 through 15.
Who’s Behind the Gavel
Stack’s Bowers Galleries has operated for more than 90 years and is a wholly owned subsidiary of A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRK), which acquired parent company Spectrum Group International in early 2025 for $92 million. The firm is a PCGS Authorized Dealer, a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild, and the official auctioneer for major numismatic events, including ANA World’s Fair of Money conventions.
“American coinage and commerce have always been a mirror to the nation’s journey toward liberty and success,” James McCartney, Director of Numismatics at Stack’s Bowers Galleries, remarked.
The Stack’s Bowers Galleries executive added:
“There is no greater context in which to offer this historic Fourth of July funded 0.5 bitcoin.”
What Buyers Should Know
Bidders should account for buyer’s premiums, which typically run above 20% at premium auction houses. The token’s collectible value operates separately from its bitcoin spot value, and both factors are relevant to the final price. The auction is open for bidding through the Stack’s Bowers platform.
The firm is also accepting consignments for its Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, which will hold in-person previews at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Specialists will also be available at the FUN Show in Orlando, Florida, running July 9 through 11.
With America’s 250th anniversary two weeks out and bitcoin trading actively, the timing places a 13-year-old physical token at an intersection that few collectibles have occupied before. Whether that intersection holds lasting value is a question the market will answer on Thursday.
