- An NFT of Nelson Mandela’s 1962 arrest warrant has sold for $130,000
- The document is a symbol of Mandela’s fight for freedom and equality in South Africa
- The NFT was sold as part of South Africa’s biggest such auction, with $560,000 raised in total
An NFT of Nelson Mandela’s arrest warrant, issued in 1962, has sold for $130,000 as another historic artefact gets the digital treatment. The NFT, which was auctioned on the Momint NFT marketplace, was created and sold on behalf of the Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site, which calls itself “a site of memory that keeps the history of liberation alive.” The headline-grabbing sale was the highlight of a Momint-backed NFT event that took place last weekend and has been heralded as the biggest on African soil.
Momint Auction Raises $560,000 for Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site
The Momint event, which was held in Cape Town, saw a total of 8.1 million South African rand ($560,000) invested in NFTs of all types, half of which went towards a single Bored Ape NFT. The Mandela arrest warrant was of course the highlight of the evening however, something that Momint CEO Ahren Posthumus noted in a recent interview:
…it’s so incredible that we can bring it into a virtual space in incredible high definition, where people can learn about these things and have access to our history without that barrier (physical location). In fact, the buyer from the UAE is rumoured to be an expat. It’s always good to see some patriotism coming through.
NFT Auction Was Africa’s Biggest Yet
The reserve price for the piece was R900,000 ($61,800), but it sold for R1.9 million ($130,550), showing the high esteem in which it, and Nelson Mandela’s legacy, is held.
Posthumus heralded the event as being Africa’s biggest NFT event in terms of attendee numbers, size, and the value of pieces sold, beating the same event last year. The funds raised will help Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site get back on its feet after nearly folding due to the impact of COVID-19, with the physical piece still remaining there for visitors to see.
