Oliver Tambo’s spy ‘pen gun’ to be auctioned as NFT in Cape Town
A spy “pen gun”, once owned by anti-apartheid icon and former ANC President Oliver Tambo has been tokenized into a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), and is due to be auctioned on November 11 in Cape Town.
The spy pen gun is believed to have been gifted to Tambo by the East Germans, to help protect him from any would-be assassins during the mid 1980s.
Hosted by NFT exchange Momint, the live NFT auction event will host high net-worth individuals from around the world at an auction of unique assets. Blockchain company Virtual Nation Builders has tokenized the spy pen NFT and its uniqueness has been independently certified with a crypto asset number, while all net proceeds of the sale will be used to help save the Liliesleaf Museum.
The Liliesleaf Farm and Museum is one of South Africa’s foremost national heritage sites. Between 1961 and 1963, Liliesleaf served as the secret headquarters of the ANC, SACP, Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Congress Alliance. Today, Liliesleaf is home to several extraordinary exhibitions that tell the story of the journey to democracy in South Africa.
“Liliesleaf is a treasure trove of amazing apartheid struggle stories and items. Being able to unlock the value of the unique assets held by Liliesleaf through the exponential power of blockchain technology is quite simply phenomenal. We’ll be making history by transforming South Africa’s painful past into a current, technological asset to experience that history” says Nicholas Wolpe, Founder and CEO of the Liliesleaf Trust.
The auction of the spy pen gun NFT, which is a digital photorealistic image of the actual spy pen gun, is a significant new development for the preservation of South Africa’s heritage. “If we can successfully leverage the power of NFTs to preserve our rich heritage, we will put South Africa on the global map in terms of innovation through crypto asset use and management” shares Maurice Crespi, CEO at Virtual Nation Builders.
“South Africa will be a pioneer in this field – no one else has really thought about unlocking the true asset value of our historical artefacts using NFTs. NFTs are stored safely and digitally on the blockchain, so there is absolute peace of mind” added Ahren Posthumus, CEO of Momint.
The live auction will take place at 19:00 on November 11, at the Radisson Blu Rooftop Deck, at 22 Riebeek Street in Cape Town. Private and confidential bidders are also welcome to register their bids ahead of the auction. Participants, bidders and the media are welcome to register to attend the live auction using the registration link here (venue capacity is limited). The proud owner of this NFT will obtain the right to experience and view the Pen Gun at the Liliesleaf Museum for life.
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Picture: Supplied
