2Pac’s crown ring that he wore back in 1996 has become the most valuable Hip Hop artifact ever after selling for $1 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
According to CBS News, the sought-after piece of jewelry sold for well over Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of between $200,000 and $300,000 on Tuesday (July 25).
The auction was held to celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop, and included a plethora of other rare items such as RZA’s E-mu SP-1200 sampler and drum machine that he used to produce Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), a custom-made De La Soul jacket that belonged to the late Trugoy the Dove, and Fab 5 Freddy’s original sign from the set of Yo! MTV Raps.
2Pac wore the ring — which comprises of gold, ruby and diamonds — during his last public appearance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, soon after which he was fatally shot at the age of 25. It bears an inscription that reads: “Pac & Dada 1996,” referencing his fairy-tale engagement to sweetheart Kidada Jones.
According to the auction house, the “California Love” hitmaker designed the ring soon after his release from prison. He expressed to his godmother and manager, Yaasmyn Fula Fula, that he wanted a piece to serve as “an act of self-coronation” and symbolize the next phase of his career.
“Sitting atop a diamond-encrusted gold band is the ‘crown’ itself: a gold circlet studded with the three largest jewels in the entire piece—a central cabochon ruby, flanked by two pavé-cut diamonds,” the listing reads.
“Tupac’s selection of the ruby as the principal stone in his crown is a continuation of this royal narrative, as rubies have long been symbolically tied to the imagery of monarchy and wealth in our cultural imagination.”
In addition to 2Pac making auction history nearly three decades after his untimely demise, the rap legend’s murder investigation unexpectedly kicked back into life last week as Las Vegas police executed a search warrant on a home in connection with…
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