It\u2019s one of the more unusual deals in the art world.<\/p>\n
After more than a decade, an Alberta businessman has finally found a buyer for his prized collection of gold castings of Nelson Mandela\u2019s hand. The final price?\u00a0 Ten million dollars (R116.5 million) – in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n
Attempts by Malcolm Duncan, formerly of South Africa, to sell the hands back in 2007 were scuppered by controversy over provenance and a possible missing charitable donation. This time he\u2019s had better luck, albeit with an unusual buyer.<\/p>\n
Little information is available about Arbitrade, an Ontario-based cryptocurrency company, something Chairman Len Schutzman says is about to change.<\/p>\n
The company is \u201cweeks away\u201d from doing an initial coin offering and is building a facility in Waterloo, Ontario, to mine its own cryptocurrencies and plans to trade others. Its key selling point, he says, is that it will back all its virtual coins with some percentage of physical metal – including gold.<\/p>\n
Nelson Mandela\u2019s solid gold hand would seem to fit the bill, although as a general rule Schutzman says he\u2019ll seek to acquire gold bars or coins rather than art.<\/p>\n
Weighing 20 pounds, the value of the gold is a fraction of the artifacts\u2019 purchase price.<\/p>\n
Their real value is one of publicity, as a means of educating millennials about Mandela – and Arbitrade – through a global \u201cGolden Hands of Nelson Mandela\u201d tour the company plans to launch, he said.<\/p>\n
The hands aren\u2019t the first examples of \u201cMandela Art\u201d to prove tricky to buyers and sellers. After the anti-apartheid revolutionary was released from prison, thousands of pieces of art bearing his name began flooding the market. Various scandals, including allegations of forgery, put a stop to the deluge.<\/p>\n
Under Mandela\u2019s own orders, many works were destroyed and the subject remains a touchy one in South Africa to this day.<\/p>\n
Duncan believes he owns the only four surviving casts of Mandela\u2019s hand, palm and fist, tucked into bespoke imbuia wood boxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe cut his thumb quite badly on Robben Island, his right thumb, and you can see it,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n
Photographs show Mandela sitting for the castings, which were made by a defunct division of Harmony Gold Mining Co in 2002.<\/p>\n
As a condition of being allowed to buy the artifacts, Duncan says he paid double the 1.8 million-rand purchase price with the understanding Harmony would give half to Mandela\u2019s charities. Whether that happened remains unclear.<\/p>\n
Harmony has \u201csupplied Mr. Duncan with the necessary paperwork verifying the provenance as requested by his attorneys,\u201d Harmony Investor Relations Manager Lauren Fourie said by email, declining to comment when asked about the status of the donation.<\/p>\n
So far, Duncan has been paid a bitcoin deposit that has been converted to $50,000. The rest is due to be delivered in quarterly installments of at least $2 million per extremity, starting April 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey take possession when I have the dollar amount in the bank,\u201d says Duncan, who has insisted Arbitrade guarantee the value in US dollars, and handle the conversion. \u201cAt two-and-a-quarter million at a time, they take one hand at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n