Notorious B.I.G.’s Plastic Crown Sells for Nearly $575,000

Six dollars goes a long way these days.

At Sotheby’s first-ever hip-hop auction, a crown purchased for $6 for a Notorious B.I.G. photoshoot by photographer Barron Claiborne sold for a whopping $574,750. The photoshoot took place on March 6, 1997, three days before B.I.G. was murdered in Los Angeles in 1997.

The iconic “King of New York” crown was estimated to be worth $200,000-$300,000, but it eclipsed it by nearly double.

Here’s the description of the item from the auction house:

Plastic crown, adorned with multi-colored plastic gemstones; SIGNED BY BIGGIE SMALLS, AND SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY CLAIBORNE “Crown from Biggie KONY Shot. 3-6-97.” Remnants of interior foam cushioning, one point broken off, some general light wear and abrasions.

See the item here.

Other items for sale included an archive of 22 autographed love letters written by a 16-year-old Tupac Shakur to high school sweetheart Kathy Loy, a pair of Salt-N-Pepa “Push It” jackets and Slick Rick’s diamond eye patch.