Ring worn by Tupac sold for $1 million, considered the “most valuable hip-hop artifact ever sold”

A gold, ruby and diamond crown ring worn by Tupac in his last public appearance before his death has sold for more than $1 million at an auction. 

People reports the 1996 Tupac-designed jewel sold for $1,016,000 after multiple back-and-forth offers on Sotheby’s, a major fine arts brokerage.

“This one-of-a-kind, custom ring was meticulously designed by Pac and is among the final products of his boundless creative energy — a unique artifact from a period of time that is a testament to his enduring influence on Hip Hop,” Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture Cassandra Hatton said, per People.

Now considered “the most valuable Hip Hop artifact ever sold at auction,” the special ring was worn during Tupac’s attendance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. The show became the rapper’s last public appearance before he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. 

The ring isn’t the first of the beloved rapper’s items to be offered up at an auction. A few years back, his famous breakup letter to former flame Madonna was expected to sell for triple or quadruple the amount of its starting bid of $100,000.