The fedora worn by Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark is now the most valuable hat in the world.
On Thursday, Prop Store held an auction in London with some very rare movie props on sale. Among them was the hat Harrison Ford wore in character in the very first Indiana Jones movie. Originally, experts were estimating the prop would retrieve between £200,000 and £300,000 (or $263,000 to $394,000). Today’s auction of the prop blew that estimate completely away, proving just how desired the fedora really is.
Just Collecting News reports a final price of a gargantuan £393,600, or $521,362, for the legendary hat. Could you imagine having that kind of spare cash to burn on random movie props? It’s noted that the previous record held for the highest-selling Indiana Jones memorabilia was for Harrison Ford’s Raiders of the Lost Ark script with handwritten notes, which sold for $100,000 in 2010.
Interestingly, two other Indiana Jones props were on sale at the auction. This includes a revolver from Raiders of the Lost Ark and a bullwhip from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Apparently, neither of these items sold, which is strange considering how much people were willing to spend on Indy’s fedora. I guess simply holding a prop doesn’t quite make one feel as much like Indy as wearing the hat does, and we can only assume this was the buyer’s motivation.
According to Steven Spielberg, the fifth Indiana Jones movie will begin filming in the UK in April 2019. If everything goes according to plan, the untitled sequel will premiere in theaters on July 10, 2020, with Harrison Ford reprising the role. We won’t exactly be seeing Indy crack the whip again anytime soon, but clearly, Ford’s hat-wearing days aren’t over just yet.
You can see more of the interesting movie memorabilia which has been sold over at PropStore.com!