Mandelas hands sell for $10m
News & Trends •
mr mandela was jailed for 27 years for fighting white minority rule in south africa1 solid gold castings of the hands of south africas first black president nelson mandela have been sold for 10m 7m in bitcoin1 canadian crypto-currency exchange firm arbitrade bought four casts from south african businessman malcolm duncan according to a report by bbc africa1 the firm said it planned to launch a global golden hands of nelson mandela tour to educate young people about the anti-apartheid icons life1 this is the first time artefacts of mr mandela have been sold in bitcoin1 the castings of the late former south african presidents hand palm and fist are believed to be the only ones left in the world1 he was released in 1990 and served as president from 1994 to 19991 mandela died in 2013 at the age of 95. he had turned into a global brand with businessmen and artists cashing in on his name1 mr duncan who now lives in canada bought the casts from mining group harmony gold in 2002 for about 310001 half of the money paid to harmony gold was meant to go to charity but it remains unclear as to whether that happened bloomberg news agency reports1 harmony said it had supplied mr duncan with the necessary paperwork verifying the provenance as requested by his attorneys but declined to comment on what happened to the donation bloomberg reports1