Antiques find new appeal with young, tech-savvy collectors as galleries mint NFTs linked to ancient artefacts

Name: ‘Merry Christmas’: world’s first SMS sent in 1992 fetches US$121,000 as NFT
Uploaded: 2022-01-27T00:00:21.000Z
Duration: 1 min 36 s
Description: ‘Merry Christmas’: world’s first SMS sent in 1992 fetches US$121,000 as NFT

Art galleries and dealers are using the blockchain to mint NFTs for ancient artefacts, ushering in a group of tech-savvy millennial clients

Hong Kong-based Wui Po Kok Antique is selling 60 tokens linked to two legendary weapons from the Chinese Qing and Han dynasties

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The fusty world of antiques is getting a youthful breath of fresh air, thanks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Photo: Felix Wong

Georgina Lee

Published: 8:00am, 27 Jan 2022Updated: 10:54am, 27 Jan 2022

The fusty world of antiques is getting a youthful breath of fresh air, thanks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

A growing number of art galleries and dealers are using the blockchain to mint NFTs for ancient artefacts, ushering in a group of younger, tech-savvy clients.

Last May, Hong Kong-based Wui Po Kok Antique launched a two-part sale of 60 tokens that are linked to two legendary weapons from the Chinese Qing and Han dynasties.

One batch of 30 NFTs is linked to a bronze, ceremonial sword from the Qing dynasty (1636 to 1912) with gold decorations inspired by the “green dragon crescent blade”, a weapon wielded by the legendary warrior Guan Yu during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China (AD25 to 200).

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‘Merry Christmas’: world’s first SMS sent in 1992 fetches US$121,000 as NFT

While the NFTs do not give their holder a part-ownership of the actual weapons, they confer the right to bid for them within one year of the launch. This effectively caps the demand for the physical weapon at 30 bidders.

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