An NFT version of an arrest warrant for South African icon Nelson Mandela raised $130,550 at auction, with proceeds going to a museum on the history of the fight against 'apartheid.

South Africa's first black president was arrested on August 5, 1962 and imprisoned for twenty-seven years.

The reserve price at Saturday night's auction in Cape Town was 900,000 rand ($61,800), but the non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, "sold for 1.9 million ($130,550) by an online buyer said Ahren Posthumus, CEO of digital auction platform Momint, on Sunday.

“A unique and new way to generate income”

“The proceeds from NFT Mandela will go to the Liliesleaf Museum, to keep its doors open and get back on its feet,” Posthumus said.

Liliesleaf Farm closed in September 2021 due to financial difficulties.

Selling artwork in the form of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, uses the same technology as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

The buyer receives a verified digital token, which proves that the artwork is an original.

“It really is a unique and novel way to generate income,” said Nicholas Wolpe, founder of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum.

The original document dated 1961

The original document, dated 1961, now yellowed and with staple holes on one side, is handwritten in English and Afrikaans.

It has been kept in the archives of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum in Johannesburg since around 2006, according to Nicholas Wolpe.

Between 1961 and 1963, the farm, located in an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg, served as the secret headquarters of the then banned African National Congress (ANC) fighting against white minority rule.

Mandela hid there for a while, disguised as a farmhand, wearing overalls, before setting off to raise funds for his cause abroad.

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  • South Africa

  • virtual currency

  • Culture

  • NFT

  • Nelson Mandela

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