An auction in New York City will be giving wealthy fans of the culture a chance to own some rare artifacts from two indisputable GOATs. The "King Of New York" crown rocked by The Notorious B.I.G and teenage love letters penned by Tupac Shakur will be going up for an auction at Sotheby. These two items will be part of an array of items that will be sold for the first-ever hip-hop auction at an international auction house.
The crown worn and signed by Biggie Smalls was worn in 1997, just three days before his untimely death in Los Angeles. It has been in the possession of the photographer, Barron Clairborne, who photographed the rapper for the cover of Rap Pages magazine. 22 autographed love letters written by Tupac from his teenage years between 1987 and 1988 to a high school peer, Kathy Loy, will also be up for auction.
"I’ve seen the crown. Everybody’s seen the crown. It’s so famous. It’s so iconic. When I was first thinking of doing this sale, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to track that crown down?’” Cassandra Hatton, the Sotheby’s senior specialist who planned the auction, said. “I’ve sold all sorts of wild things. But this is a little different.”
The crown is going for $200,000 to $300,000 while the love letters are $60,000 to $80,000. The auction will be available to the public on Sept. 15th, though due to the pandemic, reservations are required to view the items in person. Otherwise, the exhibition is available for the general public to view on their website.