Curio Cards

What is Curio Cards?

Before NFTs took the world by storm by their artistic ways, trading cards ruled the horizon. Taking inspiration from that, four developers came together to create the first art NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain – Curio Cards. Their journey started to aid independent artists, which then became a revolution – changing the face of NFT space forever.

Curio Cards NFT Explained

Curio Cards is a collection of digital NFTs numbered 1 to 30. Featuring the artwork of 7 different artists, they were among the first examples of cryptoart to arrive at the scene.

The developers behind these NFT’s forefathers minted thousands of cards. Currently, a collection of 29,700 cards is available in several marketplaces. However, there used to be more. Initial understanding of the technology was limited, and because the appreciation of the tokens was not as much as it is today, 4000 cards were lost or destroyed.

These NFTs had an artistic impact on the modern Non-Fungible Tokens. Back then, it was not the utility that was the driving force behind them; it was the artistic expression. And thus, these cards gave a platform to the digital artists of that time.

That simplistic approach is reflected in the IPFC-hash standard, an NFT standard that predated the modern ERC721 and ERC155 standards. As a result, while these tokens were popular, their understanding was limited.

It is evident from the explanation of the shared elements that is infused with technical jargon that only those with a background could understand back in the day:

A smart contract was the foundation through which an owner purchased the initial artwork. To ensure unique ownership, every card was integrated with IPFC-hash - a unique user footprint that aided with decentralized storage.

It used non-divisible tokens that came in a finite supply to give the NFTs an air of exclusivity. To ensure maximum minting, the devs leveraged multiple tokens for the same collection. Being the forefather of the NFTs of this age, Curio cards set the tone of what art could be on a digital platform. Each card is unique, and is reminiscent of basketball, and even harry potter cards. The idea behind the collectability factor of these cards was what gave these tokens initial steam when they landed on the market.

An artist's first project, these cards were not the part of the entrepreneurial crowd that NFTs now represent. But instead, they were focused exclusively on valuing the artists – giving them an online-exclusive platform to create, sell and show off their arts.

Who were the founders of Curio NFT?

The founders of this embryonic NFT project that set the stage for the future of cryptoart were Thomas Hunt, Travis Uhrid and Rhett Creighton. Their goal was to create an online art gallery. Thus, the Curio card started as a business venture to cater to digital artists.

Their mission – as their official website puts it – consists of the following points:

Preserving the historical projects of Curio cards Serving the artists and the holders Following dual mandates to create and support the cards Evolving collaboration between Curio and the NFT community

The origins of My Curio Cards

These four founders had the foresight to see the community aspect of NFTs at this early stage of development of the space. And thus, they suggested working with a Patreon-like model to build a community around digital artists – with each artist piggybacking on the community’s contribution to not only generate profit but create art.

With that mission to serve the artists, the four founders minted thousands of cards. And initially, they were priced as humbly as they could be – costing around 0.5 to 1 USD per card. It might seem incomprehensible now, considering even the gas fee for most NFTs is far beyond this.

But back then, NFT-based art came into the picture as an entrepreneurial experiment. And thus, their result could have gone in any direction. Fortunately, the trajectory it took was that of growth. Because what happened till now afterwards is nothing short of fantastical.

Is Curio Cards first NFT art project ever created?

Apart from being one of the very first NFT art projects to surface in the blockchain domain and completely changing the virtual world as we know it, here are the other aspects that contribute to the collectable’s uniqueness:

• Use of IPFC-Hash function: Curio Cards were the first NFT project to use IPFS-hash. Entailing unchangeable metadata, it ensured the original digital print of the owner and the artist can’t be removed from cards.
• Artists focused cards: Emphasizing the artists instead of the market factor, Curio Cards were the first NFT to understand the expressive nature of digital creations.
• Focusing on community: The developers of this NFT understood what the space could become in the future. Hence, adopting a Patreon-like model, they added value to even the simplest among the curio cards.
• A finite number of cards: Thousands of cards were minted originally, but the plan was never to mint perpetually. As it stands, while one can find the cards on the OpenSea, new ones aren’t minted anymore.
• Evolution of cards with each pack of 10: The first ten cards were simple art pieces focusing on everything from an apple to acorn to a fruit bowl to Monalisa and the Thinker. But later, as the bitcoin space and the blockchain technology started to gain steam, cards became quirky – focusing on snarky comments and social commentary.

These NFTs started evolving from within. And that’s why they still hold a unique space within the non-fungible token domain.

Curio Cards traits breakdown

My Curio Cards NFT items feature the following attributes:

• Storytelling cards (1-10, 21-23): these storytelling cards focus on simple to satirical tales of the old and the NFT space.
• Commentary and Parody Cards (11-16): they entered into the fold when the artists embraced the quirky aspects of the sector.
• Charitable Fundraising cards (14-16): the proceeds of these cards were put towards altruistic purposes.
• The first dogs on ETH (cards 17-19): these Curio cards were the first to focus exclusively on animals – and perhaps paved the way for more to come.
• Patreon Style Membership (Card 20): this single card showcases a patron – lending it a stylistic look of an NFT backed by Patreon.
• PFP Avatars (Cards 21-23): the Wizard, The Bard and The Barbarian, these cards were the NFT Profile Pictures – bearing one-of-a-kind utility on social media platforms.
• Hand-drawn Patterns (cards 24-23): attempting to simulate real-world art on a digital platform, three hand-drawn patterns emerged – each painstakingly crafted and glorified the rest of the cards.
• Collective created Generative Artworks (Cards 27-29): as the cards gained ubiquity in the NFT space, the community chimed in to create generative artworks.
• And finally, animated GIFs (Cards 23 and 30)

How to buy Curio Cards?

Do you want to get your hands on these pieces of history that are the Curio cards? The answer is simple for this one. Just navigate to any of the main NFT marketplaces, and the cards will be made available to you.

If you’re merely starting in the NFT space, having these cards might only hold value for you if you have the mindset of a collector. And if you don’t, don’t forget to choose other options.

And remember, if you want to stay updated about the price of Curio Cards NFT and other collections, be in touch with NFT Price Floor. Here, you will have the data you need so that you can go beyond speculation and add an informed weight behind your decision to buy the next trendy non-fungible token.