Mandela’s Gold Hand Being Sold For $10 Million In Bitcoin
The latest unusual buy in the art world was solid gold castings of Nelson Mandela’s hands, which were sold for $10 million in bitcoin.
The four casts were owned by South African businessman Malcolm Duncan, who already tried to unsuccessfully sell them back in 2007.
Mandela is known as an anti-apartheid revolutionary and philanthropist. He ruled South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
“Mandela Art” is a well-known trend in South Africa, which is filled with controversy and accusations of forgery.
According to media reports Mandela ordered to destroy many works, but Duncan is sure that his castings are real.
Bloomberg quoted Duncan saying:
“Mandela cut his thumb quite badly on Robben Island, his right thumb, and you can see it.”
The gold cast of Mandela’s hand was made by Harmony Gold Mining Co. in 2002.
Bloomberg cited Harmony’s Investor Relations Manager Lauren Fourie reporting, that the piece was originally bought by Duncan for 1.8 million-rand ($154,570) and came with paperwork proving authenticity.
The controversy surrounding the original sale is that Harmony was supposed to donate half the money to charity. Whether this happened or not remains unknown.
The new owner of the golden casts is the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange firm Arbitrade.
This was a unique sale. The arbitrade made a bitcoin deposit worth $50,000 and the rest of the money has been scheduled to be paid in quarterly installments with amount of $2 million from the start of 30 April.
