Damn, and I thought I was cool because I had a Starbucks Gold Card. Turns out, steel is the new gold, and anything before the Metal Starbucks Card is passé. Apparently, the $450 price tag is due to the $50 cost it takes to make each uniquely etched card, which is then loaded with $400. The card automatically gives you all the perks you get with a Starbucks Rewards Gold Level membership, including a free drink on your birthday and a free drink or food item once you chalk up 12 stars. Oh joy, all that jazz for nearly five bills.

As cultural anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff told USA Today, "This is a card for the 1%."

Of course, only 5,000 of these freshly-cut steel cards have been made and will be sold exclusively via Gilt.com -- the site famed for its lux goods. It's the Black Amex of gift cards, the throw it in the thermos kind of deal. Although, I wouldn't be so dramatic as to say the Metal Starbucks Card is for the "1%," as I'm sure a good majority of the nation spends well over $400 a year on double-shot-soy-milk-skinny lattes.

Oh, and if you're a Starbucks member, the sale starts today on Gilt. I now apologize for wetting your coffee-stained panties.

via USA Today