Tupac Shakur's crown ring — the one he wore in 1996 — is now Hip-Hop's most valuable artifact ever after selling for for $1 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
According to CBS News, the winning bid was well above Sotheby's pre-sale estimate of between $200,000 and $300,000, making it the most valuable Hip-Hop artifact ever sold, the auction house said. Pac wore the ring during his final public appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 4, 1996, just days before his untimely death.
Sotheby's said 2Pac designed the ring over the course of a few months and its engraved "Pac & Dada 1996," a reference to his girlfriend Kidada Jones. The ring was inspired by Machiavelli and features gold, diamonds, and rubies. His godmother, Yaasmyn Fula, put the ring up for sale.
In other Pac news, the stellar five-part docuseries, Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur, directed by Allen Hughes, has earned two Emmy nominations.
In an interview with Roxanne Shanté for Rock The Bells radio, Hughes detailed why it was so important for him to make the documentary series, saying he was driven by a need to understand the enigmatic rapper/actor.
"I wanted to understand him and I didn't understand him even though I knew him and I worked with him," Hughes admitted. "Me and my brother did his first three music videos and we had a complex relationship."