WEBVTT - Nelson Mandela’s Hands, An Art World Albatross

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Jason Kelly. It's time for another feature in this

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<v Speaker 1>week's edition. In two thousand three, while Nelson Mandela was

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<v Speaker 1>still alive, several gold castings were made of the South

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<v Speaker 1>African icons hands. They were meant to be symbolic show pieces. However,

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<v Speaker 1>he soon regretted his participation in the project and most

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<v Speaker 1>of the hands were destroyed. Most enter Malcolm Duncan, an

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<v Speaker 1>entrepreneurial art collector, who managed to find the four remaining

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<v Speaker 1>works and assemble them as a set, which he valued

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<v Speaker 1>in the millions. Despite their uniqueness and providence. For years,

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<v Speaker 1>he struggled to find a buyer. Finally, in March, Duncan

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<v Speaker 1>settled on auctioning them off in Manhattan. It's hard to

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<v Speaker 1>believe this story could get more interesting, what with gold

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<v Speaker 1>reaching an all time high and all, but that auction

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<v Speaker 1>just days before New York City's lockdown is right when

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<v Speaker 1>things would take yet another turn in a time of transformation.

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<v Speaker 1>Ul knows that trust is necessary for innovation and business success.

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<v Speaker 1>We use science and data driven insights to help you

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<v Speaker 1>build the trust stakeholders manned. The future relies on trust,

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<v Speaker 1>and you ll empowers it. Learn more in access free

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<v Speaker 1>research at Uel dot com slash trust Hands of a God.

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<v Speaker 1>How a gold casting of Nelson Mandela's hands became an

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<v Speaker 1>art world albatross by Danielle but Cove. In May two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand three, Nelson Mandela, former South African President, winner of

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<v Speaker 1>the Nobel Peace Prize and hero to millions, sat down

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<v Speaker 1>at the dinner table of his house in Johannesburg and

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<v Speaker 1>laid his right hand, palm side down into a lump

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<v Speaker 1>of cold dental putty. A team of technicians from the

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<v Speaker 1>precision casting division of Harmony Gold Mining was present to supervise,

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<v Speaker 1>and Mandela chatted amiably with them as they worked, pausing

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<v Speaker 1>to sip coffee with his free hand. The silicon based

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<v Speaker 1>putty had been chilled to make it harden more slowly,

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<v Speaker 1>but the men had only six minutes of malleability to

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<v Speaker 1>work with time they used to get the material into

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<v Speaker 1>every wrinkle increase almost perfectly, capt shuring Mendela's fingerprints as

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<v Speaker 1>well as the scars from his hard labor on Robin Island.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they poured more on top to encase his knuckles

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<v Speaker 1>and fingernails. Harmony would use the molds from that day

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<v Speaker 1>to create resin replicas. Then a casting of Mandela's hand

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<v Speaker 1>in ninety nine pure gold. This prototype was to be

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<v Speaker 1>the first in a series at least twenty seven gold

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<v Speaker 1>hands weighing five point seven pounds to eight point eight

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<v Speaker 1>pounds each to mark the years of his imprisonment, followed

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<v Speaker 1>by silver versions for each month, and finally thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>bronze copies to mark each day. They would be sold

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<v Speaker 1>to raise money for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the

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<v Speaker 1>charity to which he devoted much of his time in retirement,

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<v Speaker 1>and serve as advertisements for harmonies casting expertise in the process.

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<v Speaker 1>Throughout the making of the moldings, Mandela was amazingly helpful,

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<v Speaker 1>patient and funny, and he kept everyone entertained with stories.

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<v Speaker 1>According to an account in the company newspaperman Ize, that

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<v Speaker 1>may well have been the happiest that Mandela ever felt

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<v Speaker 1>about the project. Not long after the castings were made,

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<v Speaker 1>he became concerned that too many people were profiting from

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<v Speaker 1>Mandela Art, a cottage industry that included selling sketches he'd

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<v Speaker 1>purportedly drawn and putting his face on dishes, teapots, and

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<v Speaker 1>commemorative chokes. After Mandela dispatched a team of lawyers to

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<v Speaker 1>shut down, the trade harmony stopped producing hands, leaving only

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<v Speaker 1>a tiny initial badge. The project was largely forgotten, except

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<v Speaker 1>that is, by Malcolm Duncan, then a forty seven year

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<v Speaker 1>old auto parts entrepreneur. Duncan had met Mandela a few

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<v Speaker 1>years before during an event at a cancer clinic in

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<v Speaker 1>the township of Soweto. Like many who came face to

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<v Speaker 1>face with the legend, Duncan was overcome. I couldn't talk

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<v Speaker 1>because he was so humble, he recalls, I had such

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<v Speaker 1>a lump in my throat. When Duncan learned about the hands,

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<v Speaker 1>he had to have them. Not long after the castings,

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<v Speaker 1>he managed to buy four gold examples. He'd wanted two more,

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<v Speaker 1>but couldn't get them before the project was shut down.

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan says he intended to make the hands the centerpiece

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<v Speaker 1>of a collection of Mandela memorabilia, both for personal inspiration

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<v Speaker 1>and to show to friends and family. He described them

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<v Speaker 1>as objects of reverence, near supernatural totems of Mandela's legacy,

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<v Speaker 1>like secular versions of the supposed saintly relics that inspired

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<v Speaker 1>pilgrimages in medieval Europe. The castings were the closest thing

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<v Speaker 1>to a literal piece of South Africa's post apartheid hero.

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<v Speaker 1>Not unrelatedly, Duncan also figured they'd make a good investment.

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<v Speaker 1>None of that came to be. Instead, the castings became

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan's proudest possessions, but also a source of enduring distress,

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<v Speaker 1>an almost too neat illustration of the perils of getting

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<v Speaker 1>what you wish for and of the uncomfortable questions that

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<v Speaker 1>arise when veneration meets commercial gain. I've been to hell

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<v Speaker 1>and back with these hands, he says, to hell and back. Duncan,

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<v Speaker 1>who has silver hair, thick black eyebrows, and a face

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<v Speaker 1>that frequently breaks into an animated puppyish grin, spent most

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<v Speaker 1>of his childhood in Pingae, a remote village where his

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<v Speaker 1>father was an electrical engineer at an asbestos mine. He

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<v Speaker 1>completed his military service mandatory in those days for white

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<v Speaker 1>South Africans in nineteen seventy seven, entering the workforce as

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<v Speaker 1>the apartheid system was beginning to buckle under the weight

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<v Speaker 1>of internal protest and economic isolation. It was also a

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<v Speaker 1>time of rising international interest in African culture, a trend

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<v Speaker 1>whose commercial potential wasn't lost on Duncan. In nineteen eighty six,

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<v Speaker 1>the same year Paul Simon released Graceland, Duncan flew to

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<v Speaker 1>Miami with a suitcase full of masks, soapstone carvings, and

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<v Speaker 1>wooden jewelry sourced from roadside vendors. Finding buyers was initially

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<v Speaker 1>slow going. After weeks driving from state to state, he

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<v Speaker 1>pulled into Los Angeles with only forty three dollars to

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<v Speaker 1>his name, But Angel Leno's proved receptive to what he

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<v Speaker 1>was selling, and within a week Duncan had unloaded all

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<v Speaker 1>his items. He returned to South Africa with four thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars in profit, hardly a fortune, but enough to help

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<v Speaker 1>him get started. He ended up selling running boards for cars,

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<v Speaker 1>importing them from a company in Indiana before setting up

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<v Speaker 1>his own factory. Duncan's admiration for Mandela was late blooming.

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<v Speaker 1>Like many whites of his generation, he had been raised

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<v Speaker 1>to view the African National Congress, the resistance movement and

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<v Speaker 1>political party in which Mandela was a senior leader, as

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<v Speaker 1>something like a terrorist organization, the opinion of the apartheid government,

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<v Speaker 1>which convicted Mandela of sabotage in the infamous Ravonia trial

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen sixty four, but his grace when he was

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<v Speaker 1>released from prison. In pursuing reconciliation with his persecutors and

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<v Speaker 1>laying the groundwork for a multi ethnic democracy changed to

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan's views, and by the time Mandela became president, he

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<v Speaker 1>was a convert. When he happened to meet a bus

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<v Speaker 1>driver who knew men Della's private secretary, it seemed like fate.

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan got to know the secretary and negotiated with her

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<v Speaker 1>to help fund the Sweto Clinic, which Mandela was also supporting,

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<v Speaker 1>giving him the chance to meet his hero. Duncan wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>in attendance when the prototype hand went up for auction

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<v Speaker 1>in June two thousand three. The sale went well, with

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<v Speaker 1>an unidentified private buyer paying four hundred and twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>thousand Rand then about forty six thousand dollars. Duncan made

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<v Speaker 1>his move a few months later. The four hands he

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<v Speaker 1>bought included a clenched fist symbolic of nineteen sixty four,

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<v Speaker 1>and a three part set corresponding to nine, consisting of

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<v Speaker 1>another fist, an outstretched hand, and a palm imprint. Unlike

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<v Speaker 1>the prototype, they were hollow, like chocolate easter bunnies to

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<v Speaker 1>prevent excess weight from deforming their shape over time. Half

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<v Speaker 1>the two point seven million rand that he says he

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<v Speaker 1>paid was to be donated via harmony to the Children's Fund,

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<v Speaker 1>a condition that Duncan says won him Mandela's blessing. The

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<v Speaker 1>Children's Fund didn't respond to requests for comment, while the

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<v Speaker 1>Nelson Mandela Foundation, which functions as the primary custodian of

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<v Speaker 1>Mandela's legacy, didn't provide one. Before the deadline for this story,

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan secured the hands in a bank vault, figuring he'd

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<v Speaker 1>decide later how to display them, but attitudes about objects

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<v Speaker 1>honoring the former president soon changed dramatically. In two thousand five,

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<v Speaker 1>Mandela filed a suit against his former lawyer, Ismael Ayob

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<v Speaker 1>and Ross Calder, a publisher who'd worked with Ayob on

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<v Speaker 1>what buyers assumed was officially sanctioned Mandela art, accusing them

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<v Speaker 1>of exploiting his image. Mandela was eighty six at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>and the implication of the suit was clear that the

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<v Speaker 1>pair had been taking advantage of an increasingly frail legend.

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<v Speaker 1>Later that same year, Mandela expanded his legal fight, going

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<v Speaker 1>after dozens of companies selling similar paraphernalia. The legal action

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<v Speaker 1>against Ayob and Calder was never concluded. Both denied wrongdoing.

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<v Speaker 1>The market for Mandela Art collapsed. For Duncan. This presented

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<v Speaker 1>a problem. Not long after buying the Hands, he decided

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<v Speaker 1>to relocate to Canada, spurred by a home invasion in

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<v Speaker 1>which his eleven year old son was held at gunpoint.

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<v Speaker 1>He needed capital to set up an autoparts company there,

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<v Speaker 1>and selling the Hands seemed like an obvious way to

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<v Speaker 1>obtain it. But the controversies around Mandela Art meant buyers

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<v Speaker 1>were scarce, and any one willing to contemplate a purchase

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<v Speaker 1>wanted proof that Mandela had authorized their casting and sailed

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<v Speaker 1>to Duncan, Assurances, in other words, that he wasn't just

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<v Speaker 1>another profit here. Duncan couldn't offer any. He had no

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<v Speaker 1>formal ownership papers, only metal plates that Harmony supplied and

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<v Speaker 1>called or signed. He had no way to get in

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<v Speaker 1>touch with the ailing Mandela to clear things up, nor

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<v Speaker 1>could he prove the Hands were among only a few

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<v Speaker 1>in existence. In twenty fifteen, he thought he was near

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<v Speaker 1>a sale to a Saudie family he says was willing

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<v Speaker 1>to pay twenty seven million dollars, only to have it

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<v Speaker 1>fall apart. When he couldn't produce the necessary paperwork. With

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<v Speaker 1>no buyer willing to write a check, Duncan was increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>fearful that someone would steal the hands. At one point

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<v Speaker 1>he painted them black. I thought, if nobody knows their gold,

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<v Speaker 1>who's going to steal a hand, he says, and buried

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<v Speaker 1>them under his garage in Calgary. It took Duncan years

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<v Speaker 1>to establish the Hands providence to the standards expected by

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<v Speaker 1>the international art market, just in time for a boom

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<v Speaker 1>in a commodity that arguably has even less real world

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<v Speaker 1>utility than gold. In eighteen he met Len Schutzman, a

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<v Speaker 1>former PepsiCo executive who was running a cryptocurrency start up

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<v Speaker 1>in Waterloo, Ontario, the home of the BlackBerry. The company, Arbitrade,

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<v Speaker 1>had an unconventional pitch for investors. It would back every

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<v Speaker 1>virtual coin it mented with physical gold. When Shutzman learned

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<v Speaker 1>about the Hands, he made duncan an offer ten million

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<v Speaker 1>dollars for all four. The shiny appendages, Shutzman said would

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<v Speaker 1>become the centerpiece of an arbitrated promotional tour and symbols

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<v Speaker 1>of the gold backed stability. The company offered a longer

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<v Speaker 1>run plan of questionable taste, even by crypto world standards,

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<v Speaker 1>would see the hands back a Mandela themed digital currency.

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan loved the idea of putting the hands on tour.

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<v Speaker 1>He wanted them to be seen providing the same inspiration

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<v Speaker 1>to others that he'd drawn from them over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>but he didn't have a way to display them to

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<v Speaker 1>the public himself, and Arbitrde seemed to be good for

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<v Speaker 1>the money, paying about five point eight million dollars according

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<v Speaker 1>to legal filings, to take possession of two hands and

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<v Speaker 1>pay for part of a third. The others would follow

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<v Speaker 1>once the balance was settled, but Arbitratee's dream of uniting

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<v Speaker 1>crypto enthusiasts and gold bugs was not to be and

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<v Speaker 1>the company ran into trouble in the hands Arbitratee had

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<v Speaker 1>paid for went to one of its backers. Duncan was dejected.

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<v Speaker 1>As an esthetic manner, he had always thought the four

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<v Speaker 1>hands should be displayed as a set. From a financial perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>he was all so certain they'd have more value sold altogether,

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<v Speaker 1>but there seemed to be no way that would happen.

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<v Speaker 1>And then he got a call from Arlen Ettinger, Guernsey's

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<v Speaker 1>The New York Auction house Anger, founded with his wife

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<v Speaker 1>Barbara mintz In, has many of the trappings of the

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<v Speaker 1>high end art market, an upper East side address, a

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<v Speaker 1>rolodex of deep pocketed buyers, and a lengthy catalog of

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<v Speaker 1>prior sales, but it's a rather different animal than Sotheby's

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<v Speaker 1>or Christie's. Instead of Picassos and Monai's, Guernsey's specializes in memorabilia,

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<v Speaker 1>with past auctions for items such as Jerry Garcia's guitar,

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<v Speaker 1>a Rolls Royce driven by Elizabeth Taylor, and, on one

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<v Speaker 1>unusual occasion, a house owned by Rosa Parks, originally on

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<v Speaker 1>a lot in Detroit. An artist had restored and disassembled it.

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<v Speaker 1>Ettinger says he heard about the hands from a lawyer

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<v Speaker 1>involved with arbitrade and thought they were perfect for Guernseys,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if they could be reunited as a group. Duncan

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<v Speaker 1>was supportive of the ida, so, he says, was the

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<v Speaker 1>person who had taken the other hands, an investor in

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<v Speaker 1>Utah named Max Barber. Barber didn't respond to requests for comment.

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<v Speaker 1>Early this year, Guernsey's booked a room for the auction

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<v Speaker 1>at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and Duncan

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<v Speaker 1>flew up from Austin, where he now lives with his wife, Jackie.

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<v Speaker 1>Ettinger informed him there were already two potential buyers. The auction,

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<v Speaker 1>Duncan told me shortly before it began could be a

0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:31.080
<v Speaker 1>quick one. Ettinger revealed the hands to the public on

0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.680
<v Speaker 1>March first, the day before they would go on the block.

0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.640
<v Speaker 1>In person, they were marvels. The black paint had long

0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.680
<v Speaker 1>since been removed. Each was set in a box made

0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.200
<v Speaker 1>from kiyot, a rare South African wood, and lit from above,

0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.080
<v Speaker 1>shimmering under the stage lights in every imaginable shade of gold.

0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:53.520
<v Speaker 1>The detail was extraordinary, capturing calluses, wrinkles, and bones with

0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:58.439
<v Speaker 1>perfect clarity. But they also looked faintly creepy, like amputated

0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.679
<v Speaker 1>souvenirs kept by a on villain, not to mention. Lonely,

0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.400
<v Speaker 1>except for Ettinger's team and a few security guards, the

0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.960
<v Speaker 1>room was deserted. When I asked whether he'd advertised the sale,

0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:16.000
<v Speaker 1>Ettinger responded with barely disguised irritation that Guernsey's usually counts

0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.440
<v Speaker 1>on journalists for that appoint his public relations team had

0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.320
<v Speaker 1>made by pushing for a pre auction story that would

0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:26.320
<v Speaker 1>stimulate wide global interest He also bristled when I asked

0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:30.520
<v Speaker 1>if the past controversies around Mandela art or Duncan's difficulties

0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.720
<v Speaker 1>establishing that he'd bought the hands with Mandela's blessing made

0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:38.600
<v Speaker 1>him hesitant about selling them meaningful works. Attnger said, rarely

0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.480
<v Speaker 1>made it to his auction block without some drama, whether

0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:45.480
<v Speaker 1>a divorce, a soured transaction, or a family feud. Why

0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.360
<v Speaker 1>should I focus on what transpired? As long as things

0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.960
<v Speaker 1>aren't stolen, As long as things are what they claim

0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:55.000
<v Speaker 1>to be, he continued, that's all I care about. I

0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:58.200
<v Speaker 1>do not want to know the details. As the day

0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.800
<v Speaker 1>went on, only a few people turned up to view

0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.680
<v Speaker 1>the hands. One was g Lynn Thorpe, a lawyer and inventor.

0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.560
<v Speaker 1>His latest project is a portable folding tray, who was

0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.520
<v Speaker 1>representing Barber. Thorpe took a philosophical view of the objects,

0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:15.200
<v Speaker 1>describing himself as honored to be involved with a piece

0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:19.160
<v Speaker 1>of Mandela history, especially as a black man. When Nelson

0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.520
<v Speaker 1>Mandela went into jail, that was just a spike in

0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:24.360
<v Speaker 1>all our hearts, he said. It was a shame. He

0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.880
<v Speaker 1>added that other historical figures hadn't cast their digits in

0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.280
<v Speaker 1>precious metal. If Gandhi, for example, had had it done,

0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.040
<v Speaker 1>if Jesus Christ had had it done, it would be

0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.600
<v Speaker 1>the Holy Grail. Thorpe wasn't alone in ascribing profound meaning

0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.880
<v Speaker 1>to the hands. Almost no public figure of the past

0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:46.280
<v Speaker 1>one years attracts such unreserved adulation as Mandela, a degree

0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.920
<v Speaker 1>of reverence usually reserved for deities or their offspring. Abby Goldman,

0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.760
<v Speaker 1>an Upper West Side resident who stopped by the viewing

0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:55.960
<v Speaker 1>towards the end of the day, couldn't make it through

0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.520
<v Speaker 1>a sentence without choking up. I don't know why I'm crying,

0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 1>but it's very emotional, she said. She lifted her own

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.920
<v Speaker 1>hand just above the imprint of Mandela's palm, as though

0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.760
<v Speaker 1>imagining what it would be like to touch him. He

0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:13.000
<v Speaker 1>represents human rights and freedom and equality, she said. In

0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:18.480
<v Speaker 1>the current political climate, it definitely resonates. Another onlooker, Brianna McLaren,

0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.080
<v Speaker 1>had come during a break in her waitressing shift at

0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.560
<v Speaker 1>a bar across the hall. I'm getting chills, she said

0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.800
<v Speaker 1>when she saw the hands. Neither of them, however, was

0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.600
<v Speaker 1>about to put down ten million dollars or more, the

0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.320
<v Speaker 1>number Duncan hoped to get for the set. As the

0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.000
<v Speaker 1>viewing closed, a Guernsey staffer pulled on white gloves and

0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.560
<v Speaker 1>carefully covered each hand in bubble wrap, tearing off lengths

0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.480
<v Speaker 1>of tape with his teeth. For some reason, he had

0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.640
<v Speaker 1>only three black pouches, so the fourth hand was crammed

0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.120
<v Speaker 1>into a fed X envelope and loaded with the others

0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:55.360
<v Speaker 1>into a sturdy suitcase. Ettinger wheeled it away. The next morning,

0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.400
<v Speaker 1>Duncan texted to say he was talking to a perspective

0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.040
<v Speaker 1>buyer from the Middle East might be massive. The auction

0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.920
<v Speaker 1>was scheduled for that evening, with the hands still available

0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.879
<v Speaker 1>for viewing until then. As the day wore on with

0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 1>few people turning up, Ettinger snapped that having a reporter

0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:15.320
<v Speaker 1>and photographer just sitting there was scaring off business. He

0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.520
<v Speaker 1>later apologized, pivoting to a story about an auction in

0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:21.200
<v Speaker 1>which he'd sold the entire contents of an ocean liner.

0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.159
<v Speaker 1>At dinner in a restaurant a few floors down, Duncan

0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.800
<v Speaker 1>seemed to be preparing himself for the possibility that the

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.480
<v Speaker 1>hands wouldn't sell. It might even be a blessing in disguise.

0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.679
<v Speaker 1>He speculated, why not buy back the whole set and

0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.840
<v Speaker 1>find a celebrity endorser to give them the prominence they deserve.

0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.000
<v Speaker 1>You've got Bono who loves Mandela. You've got Elton John

0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:46.399
<v Speaker 1>who loves Mandela? He said, why not Bill Clinton? With

0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.960
<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes to go, the room finally started filling up.

0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.080
<v Speaker 1>Ettinger's aids took up their positions, with two deputies at

0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.879
<v Speaker 1>desks prepared for phone and online bids. Thorpe was back,

0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.080
<v Speaker 1>along with an Orthodox rabbi, numerous friends and associates of Barber,

0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:05.720
<v Speaker 1>and Faye Wattleton, the former president of the Planned Parenthood

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.440
<v Speaker 1>Federation of America, who had been helping Attinger druma buyers.

0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.240
<v Speaker 1>I had expected that there would be greater interest in

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.720
<v Speaker 1>them from wealthy African Americans. I reached out to Waddleton said.

0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.200
<v Speaker 1>She noted it was difficult to understand the hands impact

0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.760
<v Speaker 1>without seeing them in the flesh, as it were. What

0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:25.119
<v Speaker 1>would you say if somebody called you up and asked,

0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:27.800
<v Speaker 1>would you give me twelve million dollars for some gold

0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:32.920
<v Speaker 1>hands of Nelson Mandela. At seven forty pm, Ettinger asked

0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.679
<v Speaker 1>everyone to take their seat. He opened at twelve million

0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.920
<v Speaker 1>dollars for all four hands. No takers, he dropped the

0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.920
<v Speaker 1>ask to ten million dollars, than eight million dollars, then

0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:49.040
<v Speaker 1>seven point five million dollars. I'm not allowed to, nor

0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.720
<v Speaker 1>should I go any lower than that, so I'll hold

0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:57.520
<v Speaker 1>another minute silence. It was time for Plan B, selling

0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.960
<v Speaker 1>the hands one at a time, with the nine sixty

0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.439
<v Speaker 1>four fist the first to go. This time, Edinger started

0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:08.000
<v Speaker 1>at four million dollars, quickly dropping from there three point

0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:16.520
<v Speaker 1>five three, two point five two point five. One of

0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:18.560
<v Speaker 1>his staff cut in to say he had a remote

0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.760
<v Speaker 1>bid for one million dollars, but Ettinger rejected it as

0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:25.160
<v Speaker 1>too low. He soon withdrew the fist, though the same

0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.240
<v Speaker 1>anonymous bidder agreed to pay two point three million dollars

0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.840
<v Speaker 1>for the impression of Mandela's palm. When the third hand

0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.280
<v Speaker 1>came up, the staffer said he had a one million

0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.439
<v Speaker 1>dollar offer from the same buyer. Trying to push up

0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.280
<v Speaker 1>the number, Ettinger turned to another aid with a potential

0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.679
<v Speaker 1>buyer on the line, Susan, tell your bidter there are

0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.760
<v Speaker 1>only two hands left. I'm supposed to tell you there

0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.960
<v Speaker 1>are only two hands left. Tell him life is short.

0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:55.240
<v Speaker 1>Arlen says, life is short. No luck. That hand, too,

0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.040
<v Speaker 1>had to be withdrawn. The fourth went to the same

0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.520
<v Speaker 1>buyer as the second for two twenty five million dollars.

0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:05.399
<v Speaker 1>The whole auction was over in fifteen minutes. In the

0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.919
<v Speaker 1>front row, Jackie had her hand on Duncan's knee. I

0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.399
<v Speaker 1>hope he gets what he needs, she said softly. The

0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.160
<v Speaker 1>room began to empty out, but after a few minutes

0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.320
<v Speaker 1>it became apparent that Ettinger wasn't finished. He was still

0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.440
<v Speaker 1>on the phone, seemingly with the two hand buyer. Suddenly

0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.119
<v Speaker 1>he put down the receiver to make an announcement. The

0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:26.800
<v Speaker 1>buyer had agreed to take the remaining hands for a

0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:31.320
<v Speaker 1>total of nine million dollars. Duncan's face lit up. Guernsey

0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.879
<v Speaker 1>staffers shook their heads in disbelief. Ettinger said he needed

0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:39.159
<v Speaker 1>to sit down before I collapse. The buyer wished to remain, anonymous,

0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.840
<v Speaker 1>anger said, offering an unconvincing explanation of why this person

0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.600
<v Speaker 1>would pay nine million dollars for all four when they've

0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:47.879
<v Speaker 1>been available at the start of the auction for seven

0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.960
<v Speaker 1>and a half million dollars. To try to imagine what

0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.760
<v Speaker 1>they're thinking is impossible, Edtinger offered. You get into a mood,

0:20:55.160 --> 0:21:00.480
<v Speaker 1>you get things happening. I can't say why Duncan and

0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.600
<v Speaker 1>Jackie flew back to Austin the next day, assured by

0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.880
<v Speaker 1>Guernsey's that the deal would be finalized soon, but then nothing.

0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.399
<v Speaker 1>Ettinger told Duncan the mystery buyer needed more time to

0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.119
<v Speaker 1>gather the cash because of the financial turmoil of the

0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.359
<v Speaker 1>coronavirus pandemic, and a May first deadline to make the

0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.919
<v Speaker 1>transfer came and went. A few days later, Duncan received

0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:23.679
<v Speaker 1>an email from Inger with what seemed like great news.

0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:26.360
<v Speaker 1>The buyer would be willing to throw in another one

0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.520
<v Speaker 1>million dollars if he could have some time to get

0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.959
<v Speaker 1>the money together. Duncan was still optimistic. Let's give him

0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:35.680
<v Speaker 1>the benefit of the doubt, he said, the buyer must

0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.439
<v Speaker 1>really want it. A week afterward, there was still no

0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.840
<v Speaker 1>sign of the cash, and Duncan was getting anxious. It

0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:45.800
<v Speaker 1>all felt like deja vu, a version of the checks

0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:48.840
<v Speaker 1>in the mail assurances he'd received right before the ARBITRTE

0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:52.760
<v Speaker 1>deal fell through. He'd asked Ettinger repeatedly to connect him

0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.240
<v Speaker 1>with the buyer directly, to no avail. He was starting

0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.159
<v Speaker 1>to wonder, he said, whether there was really anyone on

0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:01.760
<v Speaker 1>the other side of the own at the auction. In

0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:06.040
<v Speaker 1>a mid July interview, Ettinger rejected that speculation, saying he'd

0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:08.720
<v Speaker 1>been in regular contact with the buyer who was hit

0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:12.160
<v Speaker 1>broadside as many many people have been by the virus

0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.560
<v Speaker 1>and its effects. The sale is still alive, he said.

0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.800
<v Speaker 1>We're hoping for the best and remain optimistic. Despite Duncan's

0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:23.160
<v Speaker 1>difficulty closing a deal and his insistence that the hands

0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.640
<v Speaker 1>deserve to be seen by as many people as possible,

0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:28.280
<v Speaker 1>he says he has no plans to donate them to

0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:31.399
<v Speaker 1>a museum or charity. For one thing, He's counting on

0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:34.560
<v Speaker 1>the cash to expand his latest venture, a company that

0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.280
<v Speaker 1>converts shipping containers into off grid shelters for disaster zones,

0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:42.000
<v Speaker 1>and he says he sees no contradiction between admiring Mandela

0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:45.240
<v Speaker 1>and seeking a prophet from selling the hands, as even

0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:49.080
<v Speaker 1>the most dedicated collector might if the opportunity arose. I

0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:52.960
<v Speaker 1>knew it was a safe investment, but I admired Mandela passionately,

0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.840
<v Speaker 1>he said of his purchase. If Mandela had asked me

0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.280
<v Speaker 1>to go to war without thinking, I would have done

0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:02.439
<v Speaker 1>what he asked. Meanwhile, Duncan is still convinced that his

0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:05.600
<v Speaker 1>big score is on its way, Like a rubber ball.

0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.240
<v Speaker 1>He's unsquashable. In June, he said that an old friend

0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:11.159
<v Speaker 1>had put him in touch with a possible buyer in

0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.880
<v Speaker 1>Italy in case the Guernsey sale never happens. What did

0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:19.199
<v Speaker 1>he know about this new lead? Absolutely nothing. He'd been

0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:21.199
<v Speaker 1>on a conference call with someone who said he was

0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:25.040
<v Speaker 1>representing the Italian but no more than that. We expect

0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:29.240
<v Speaker 1>to call from him any day now with Michael Cohen.

0:23:29.960 --> 0:23:32.760
<v Speaker 1>Find that story and much more from the latest edition

0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:35.560
<v Speaker 1>of Business Week on business Week dot com and at

0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:38.760
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg dot com. I'm Jason Kelly. Catch me and Carol

0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.520
<v Speaker 1>Masser every day on the radio for Bloomberg business Week

0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.680
<v Speaker 1>two to six pm Wall Street Time. This is Bloomberg