The Plastic Crown Worn by the Notorious BIG Sold for $600,000 at Hip-Hop Sale

A $6 plastic crown worn by the Notorious BIG during a now iconic photoshoot three days before his death sold for $594,750 last night at Sotheby’s in New York, far surpassing it’s $200,000 to $300,000 pre-sale estimate.

The object highlighted the auction house’s inaugural hip-hop sale, an event that featured other historic objects from the genre and its most famous figureheads, including Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” jackets, Fab 5 Freddy’s custom MTV ring, and a set of Public Enemy action figures.

Altogether, 91 percent of the lots sold, bringing in a total of $2 million.

“We are thrilled with the results from tonight’s historic Hip Hop auction in New York, the birthplace of Hip Hop,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice president and senior specialist in books manuscripts, said in a statement. “Since the idea of this sale first began taking shape more than seven years ago… it has been a labor of love to organize an auction of this magnitude and significance at Sotheby’s.” Read more in ArtNet.