<p>The genesis block is a special case. Among other quirks, its coinbase transaction doesn't actually create any spendable outputs, which is why the <code>getrawtransaction</code> RPC treats it as if it doesn't exist.</p>
<p>You can still display the transaction as part of the genesis block using <code>getblock</code>:</p>
<pre><code>$ bitcoin-cli getblock 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f 2
{
  &quot;hash&quot;: &quot;000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f&quot;,
  &quot;confirmations&quot;: 799215,
  &quot;height&quot;: 0,
  &quot;version&quot;: 1,
  &quot;versionHex&quot;: &quot;00000001&quot;,
  &quot;merkleroot&quot;: &quot;4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b&quot;,
  &quot;time&quot;: 1231006505,
  &quot;mediantime&quot;: 1231006505,
  &quot;nonce&quot;: 2083236893,
  &quot;bits&quot;: &quot;1d00ffff&quot;,
  &quot;difficulty&quot;: 1,
  &quot;chainwork&quot;: &quot;0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100010001&quot;,
  &quot;nTx&quot;: 1,
  &quot;nextblockhash&quot;: &quot;00000000839a8e6886ab5951d76f411475428afc90947ee320161bbf18eb6048&quot;,
  &quot;strippedsize&quot;: 285,
  &quot;size&quot;: 285,
  &quot;weight&quot;: 1140,
  &quot;tx&quot;: [
    {
      &quot;txid&quot;: &quot;4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b&quot;,
      &quot;hash&quot;: &quot;4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b&quot;,
      &quot;version&quot;: 1,
      &quot;size&quot;: 204,
      &quot;vsize&quot;: 204,
      &quot;weight&quot;: 816,
      &quot;locktime&quot;: 0,
      &quot;vin&quot;: [
        {
          &quot;coinbase&quot;: &quot;04ffff001d0104455468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73&quot;,
          &quot;sequence&quot;: 4294967295
        }
      ],
      &quot;vout&quot;: [
        {
          &quot;value&quot;: 50.00000000,
          &quot;n&quot;: 0,
          &quot;scriptPubKey&quot;: {
            &quot;asm&quot;: &quot;04678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5f OP_CHECKSIG&quot;,
            &quot;desc&quot;: &quot;pk(04678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5f)#vlz6ztea&quot;,
            &quot;hex&quot;: &quot;4104678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5fac&quot;,
            &quot;type&quot;: &quot;pubkey&quot;
          }
        }
      ],
      &quot;hex&quot;: &quot;01000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff4d04ffff001d0104455468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73ffffffff0100f2052a01000000434104678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5fac00000000&quot;
    }
  ]
}
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T21:40:33.320Z
ok.. I was hoping to see it as its raw hex representation.  Is there any way to do that?
patrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T21:43:20.060Z
The `hex` field of the transaction is its hexadecimal representation.
Vojtěch Strnad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-18T08:56:00.520Z
2023-07-18T08:56:00.520Z
Vojtěch Strnad
<p>If I try to look at the txn in the genesis block, I get:</p>
<pre><code>root@0eef0ed7601c:/home/bitcoin# bitcoin-cli getrawtransaction 4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b
error code: -5
error message:
The genesis block coinbase is not considered an ordinary transaction and cannot be retrieved
</code></pre>
<p>Is another way to get it to display?</p>

<bitcoin-cli><coinbase-transaction><genesis-block><getrawtransaction>
How can I look at the genesis block raw txn?
patrick
# How can I look at the genesis block raw txn?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-18)

If I try to look at the txn in the genesis block, I get:

```
root@0eef0ed7601c:/home/bitcoin# bitcoin-cli getrawtransaction 4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b
error code: -5
error message:
The genesis block coinbase is not considered an ordinary transaction and cannot be retrieved

```

Is another way to get it to display?

**Tags:** bitcoin-cli, coinbase-transaction, genesis-block, getrawtransaction


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-07-18. Score: 2

The genesis block is a special case. Among other quirks, its coinbase transaction doesn't actually create any spendable outputs, which is why the `getrawtransaction` RPC treats it as if it doesn't exist.

You can still display the transaction as part of the genesis block using `getblock`:

```
$ bitcoin-cli getblock 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f 2
{
  "hash": "000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f",
  "confirmations": 799215,
  "height": 0,
  "version": 1,
  "versionHex": "00000001",
  "merkleroot": "4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b",
  "time": 1231006505,
  "mediantime": 1231006505,
  "nonce": 2083236893,
  "bits": "1d00ffff",
  "difficulty": 1,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100010001",
  "nTx": 1,
  "nextblockhash": "00000000839a8e6886ab5951d76f411475428afc90947ee320161bbf18eb6048",
  "strippedsize": 285,
  "size": 285,
  "weight": 1140,
  "tx": [
    {
      "txid": "4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b",
      "hash": "4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b",
      "version": 1,
      "size": 204,
      "vsize": 204,
      "weight": 816,
      "locktime": 0,
      "vin": [
        {
          "coinbase": "04ffff001d0104455468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73",
          "sequence": 4294967295
        }
      ],
      "vout": [
        {
          "value": 50.00000000,
          "n": 0,
          "scriptPubKey": {
            "asm": "04678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5f OP_CHECKSIG",
            "desc": "pk(04678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5f)#vlz6ztea",
            "hex": "4104678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5fac",
            "type": "pubkey"
          }
        }
      ],
      "hex": "01000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff4d04ffff001d0104455468652054696d65732030332f4a616e2f32303039204368616e63656c6c6f72206f6e206272696e6b206f66207365636f6e64206261696c6f757420666f722062616e6b73ffffffff0100f2052a01000000434104678afdb0fe5548271967f1a67130b7105cd6a828e03909a67962e0ea1f61deb649f6bc3f4cef38c4f35504e51ec112de5c384df7ba0b8d578a4c702b6bf11d5fac00000000"
    }
  ]
}

```

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: ok.. I was hoping to see it as its raw hex representation.  Is there any way to do that?  
> **username_1**: The `hex` field of the transaction is its hexadecimal representation.  

---

