I have completed the first small batch of 2013 1BTC coins and used them to fill orders. The 2012’s are all gone.
Highlights for plans for 2013 coins:
- 8000 1BTC token blanks with the year 2013 have been made (I may make more if they run out mid-year)
- I’m adding a 0.5 BTC coin. This coin is the same style in every way, but is 1 inch instead of 1.125 inches in diameter. This is being added due to the rise in bitcoin value. The pricing will be the same as the 1BTC coin (other than being 0.5BTC less).
- 8000 0.5BTC token blanks are expected to be on their way soon
- The sticker for the 0.5BTC coin is the same design, scaled a little bit smaller
- Both of these coins have a slightly different shape for the private key paper. A lobe has been added to the top edge of the circle to help with orientation.
- I have securely generated 19800 new addresses intended for these two sets of coins, all starting with a prefix of “12” or “13”
- The “13” prefix addresses are slated for 1BTC coins. The “12” prefix addresses are slated for 0.5 BTC coins.
casascius 
Changing the design of the coin every year would improve the value as a collectible more than just changing the date. Several mints change the design of their gold bullion coins every year and it has worked very well for them. The Perth Mint Lunar coins and the Chinese Panda coins sell at a higher premium than other gold coins and they always sell out every year.
I look forward to the half coin denominations, though with the price hike the current 1btc coins are expensive as hell compared to what they used to be when I ordered 2 prefilled and 5 blank coins a year or so ago. Talking about $20 of bronze at this point! xD
I’d like to see you code the shop page to take the flat bitcoin value and then have variable cost of bitcoins added based on the current rolling average rate of fiat if you’re going to charge such a large % for a service, especially if you’re trying to have so much authority and confidence in bitcoins a 50% taxation on physical item is silly. Something like 1.1 would be reasonable at this point and should still cover coin cost and labor by comparison to what they were back then.
I can totally understand it seems like a high price for such a little coin. The price I’ve been charging lately is more reflective of my ability to produce the quantity being demanded and the time I have available to do it, and less so the material cost. One of the important attributes of Casascius Coins to date is that the only person who has handled the private key has been me. I’ve also raised the price for small quantities to make it profitable for resellers to resell them, as time not spent shipping individual orders translates to time available for making coins.
I recently looked carefully at a pack of gum that cost less than a dollar at 7-Eleven, pretty in every way, had a magnet in it so that the pack snaps shut with a satisfying click. I noted it must have required a lot more elaborate manipulation to assemble than my coins, and it cost much less. The beauty with the gum is that somebody somewhere has a machine that does all of that, as if it had to be done by hand, it wouldn’t be economically feasible to sell the gum for that price. I wish I had that.