Description
The Osborne Mint markets itself as the oldest private
mint in America, dating back to 1835, making it by
far the oldest mint to produce anything with a cryptocurrency
theme. This round is part of a series called
‘Safety in Numbers’, with other rounds in the series
bearing statements such as ‘Guns and Gold’ and ‘Food
and Shelter’ in a ‘survivalist’ theme. The statement
‘Bullion not Bits’ suggests that bullion provides this
‘safety’ while Bitcoin does not. The image on the front
supports this sentiment; the Bitcoin symbol is shown
to have less ‘weight’ on a scale compared to a precious
metal coin (which happens to be a ‘Walking Liberty’
coin) issued by the U.S. Mint. The backside is the
same as for other coins in the series, and the statement
‘Real Metal, Real Value’ is prominent. The mint offers
an explanation for its negative views toward Bitcoin,
which while not unique, are rather misinformed.
“Baby, when the lights go out, the Internet goes out, and
what does that mean? Bitcoins vanish like they never
even existed. Who knows how secure Bitcoins really
are? They’re created by anonymous masterminds. Is
there a back-door in the software? Do their Minions
have a plan to empty the coffers? Is there a virus to
delete all the ownership records? Bullion in a secure
and accessible location is a whole lot more useful than
a bunch of bits and bytes.”