In a move regarded as the world's first, Artentik, the virtual marketplace for Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa (SCML), Portugal's 500-year-old social enterprise organization and the keeper of the Museum and Church of Sao Roque in the city of Lisbon shall be releasing a reliquary that contains what is thought to be a thorn from Christ's Crown of Thorns, as a Non-Fungible Token on the 28thof December 2021.
The relic was originally purchased by the Jesuit College of Brno (now within the Czech Republic) and was handed over to Juan de Borja in 1581. It was contained in a tiny bottle of Bohemian crystal perfume, which showed that it was to be used in private. The special antique was given to the Lisbon Jesuits by Mr. de Borja in 1594 and later moved to the Santa Casa in 1768.
A total of 1 million NFTs will be generated from the Thorn to enable people to connect with the exceptional antique in similar ways in which a commemorative coin is used to celebrate a person, time, or event. In addition, 10,000 NFTs will be dropped for sale this month alone at €300 each.
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Speaking at a press conference following the announcement, the head of Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa's Culture Direction, Margarida Montenegro, mentioned that the Thorn could be used as a talisman because it was touched by Christ and therefore believed to have restorative and healing ability. She also noted that prior to the advent of NFTs, people couldn't own such a special piece of history and enjoy its unique beauty whenever they desired.
Artentik, the digital marketplace where the sale is set to hold, is built on the Polygon Network blockchain, which offers faster transaction speeds and reliability. In addition, Artentik does not charge gas fees for minting NFTs and is a joint enterprise with a New York City-based technology company known as Boloro Global Limited.