Tiered by Color

What Is Tiered-by-Color?

Tiered-by-Color is a collector mechanic where the same crypto stamp is offered in multiple color variants with tiered mintage. The rarest color is the most valuable — a direct transfer of trading-card-game rarity logic to the crypto stamp format.

Standard Color Hierarchy

Most joint edition crypto stamps use a 5-color hierarchy:

Example LU Artemis 2025 (15,000 pieces): 150 red, 1,005 yellow, 1,995 blue, 4,005 green, 7,845 black.

Application Examples

Joint Edition Standard

All CS 6 Mythology variants (AT, NL, LU, BE, PT) use the 5-color hierarchy. Collectors only learn after activation which color they get — see Mystery Box Mechanic.

CHLI 2.0 (19.11.2025)

The Swiss-Liechtenstein CHLI 2.0 uses a halving mechanic with color tiering: CHF 9.90 green → CHF 499 rainbow. Here, the rainbow variant is the rarest and most expensive — a premium collector highlight.

LU Artemis 2025

With the LU Artemis edition, the exact color shares were publicly published (see table above). This is a transparency premiere — other issuers have often not disclosed the exact distributions.

Strategic Logic

Tiered-by-Color has clear strategic advantages:

• Collector suspense: every activation is potentially a rare variant
• Repeat purchases: collectors buy multiples for rarity hunt
• Secondary market activity: red variants command premium prices
• Premium differentiation: artificial hierarchy formation in a uniform edition

Differentiation from Other Mechanics

• Tiered-by-Color: same edition, tiered color mintages, reveal at activation
• Inverse-Fame-Tiered: different motifs, mintage inverse to fame (Croatian Football)
• Split-Halves: same edition divided into two halves with different logic (CHLI 2.0)
• Mystery Box: collector doesn't know which variant (often combined with Tiered-by-Color)

Collector Strategy

Three classical strategies for tiered-by-color editions:

1. Standard collector: buy 1 stamp, be content with standard color (52% black)
2. Rarity hunter: buy multiple stamps for chance at red variant (1% probability)
3. Premium collector: buy red variant on the secondary market — typically 5-20× retail price

Structural Significance

Tiered-by-Color makes crypto stamps a hybrid stamp-trading-card experience — combining philatelic tradition with the collecting suspense of Pokemon cards or NBA Top Shot highlights. This mechanic is a key driver of the crypto stamp secondary market.