The 11 Most Expensive Movie Props Ever Sold

There’s a very hot market for movie memorabilia thanks to collectors who want to own a piece of cinematic history. Many of them will drop jaw-dropping sums to become the owner of an iconic prop, including the people responsible for the most expensive ones ever sold.

No movie props have sold for more money than these

Hollywood has produced countless movie props that have played an instrumental role in the production of beloved films, and it’s only natural that people with an affinity for those projects want to get their hands on some of those iconic items.

Auction houses routinely give them the chance to do exactly that, and there have been plenty of sales that have spawned fierce bidding wars that led to a prop being sold for a mind-blowing price.

Here’s a look at the ones that have topped all of the rest (I should note these numbers include the buyer’s premium in situations where that was factored into the final price).

11. R2-D2 from Star Wars: $2.75 million

It’s hard to think of a single film franchise that’s more iconic than Star Wars, which took the world by storm when A New Hope was released in 1977.

That film introduced the droid duo of C-3PO and R2-D2, who appeared in every film in the original trilogy in addition to the prequels that came out around the turn of the millennium.

The R2-D2 unit that appeared in them was comprised of various parts that were swapped out over the course of filming, and in 2017, one that was made up of various components that were used in the production of the first five movies sold for $2.75 million.

This is the first Star Wars prop on this list, but it won’t be the last.

10. The Cowardly Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz: $3.07 million

There are also a couple of props from The Wizard of Oz that managed to earn a spot on this list, and the first one is the costume Bert Lahr donned while stepping into the role of the Cowardly Lion.

The getup was fashioned from the skin and fur of an actual lion, and it fetched $3,077,000 when it hit the auction block in 2014.

9. An X-Wing model from Star Wars: $3.13 million

Anyone who’s watched Antiques Roadshow dreams about being one of the lucky people who stumble upon an item that ends up being worth a fortune.

That was the case with some people who knew Greg Jein, a visual effects artist who worked on the original Star Wars movie. They went through his garage after he passed away in 2022 and came across a box that contained a miniature X-wing model that was used in the filming of the Death Star assault at the end of A New Hope.

It went up for auction in 2023, and it ended up selling for $3,135,000.

8. The piano from Casablanca: $3.4 million

Casablanca is widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time, and there isn’t a single scene that sticks out more than the one where Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa Lund are reunited in the former’s “gin joint.”

That establishment is home to the piano where Sam, the resident musician, plays “As Time Goes By” at Ilsa’s request, and the instrument that had its ivories tickled in the film sold for $3.4 million in 2014.

7. The Maltese Falcon from The Maltese Falcon: $4.09 million

We’ll follow up one pricey prop from a movie starring Humphrey Bogart with another courtesy of the Maltese Falcon from, well, The Maltese Falcon.

The eponymous statue drives the plot of the 1941 film noir that was nominated for three Academy Awards, and it sparked a bidding war that ended with a winning price of $4,085,000 in 2013.

6. Audrey Hepburn’s dress from My Fair Lady: $4.5 million

The black dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is probably the first costume most people associate with the iconic actress, and it’s safe to assume it would get much more than the $800,000 it sold for in 2007 if it was auctioned off today.

However, there’s no way to know if it would be able to match the dress Hepburn donned for a scene at the Ascot Racecourse in My Fair Lady, which garnered a staggering $4.5 million in  2011.

5. Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet: $5.375 million

This is one of the more surprising entries on this list, as Forbidden Planet is not exactly considered a cinematic classic in this day and age. However, the 1956 film is credited with ushering in a new era of science fiction while introducing a number of tropes that remain staples of the genre to this day.

That includes the character of Robby the Robot, which is recognized for the fairly groundbreaking design that helped make it into a bit of a cultural icon (it also appeared in other projects, including The Addams Family, Lost in Space, and The Twilight Zone).

Robby went up for auction in 2017, and he sold for $5,375,000.

4. Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch: $5.52 million

There isn’t a single moment from Marilyn Monroe’s career that sticks out more than the scene where she stands over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch (unlike the famous picture where you can see her entire body, the shot of that fateful moment is isolated on her legs in the film).

It’s only natural that the white dress she was wearing would be a very hot item, and that was certainly the case when it was auctioned for $4.6 million in 2011 at a sale where it was expected to go for around $2 million.

3. The Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger: 6.4 million

The James Bond franchise has featured a bunch of iconic cars driven by MI6’s most famous spy, but none of them have had more of a lasting legacy than the tricked-out Aston Martin DB5 that made its debut in Goldfinger.

Three different versions, which featured gadgets including an ejector seat, tire slashers, and machine guns hidden in the fenders, were produced for the film, and one of them went to a bidder who paid $6.4 million in 2019.

2. The “Rosebud” sled from Citizen Kane: $14.75 million

Citizen Kane is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and there isn’t a single prop from Orson Welles’ magnum opus that is surrounded by more mystique than “Rosebud,” the name of the sled that the title character utters with his dying breath.

There are three sleds used in the production of the movie that have survived the test of time, including one Steven Spielberg purchased for $60,500 and another a buyer scooped up for $233,000 in 1996.

They both got one heck of a bargain, as the one that was up for grabs in 2025 sold for $14.75 million.

1. Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz: $32.5 million

I told you The Wizard of Oz would be making another appearance, and it caps off this list courtesy of the ruby slippers Dorothy tapped together to get back home to Kansas.

Four pairs were whipped up for the movie that are still around today, including the shoes on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

A collector named David Elkouby paid $660,000 for another in 2000, while Leonardo DiCaprio teamed up with some other aficionados who paid an unknown sum for the ones that ended up at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

As for the fourth? They were displayed at the Judy Garland Museum before being stolen in 2005, and it took 13 years for the FBI to track them down. That pair ended up being auctioned in 2024, and it set a record no other prop has come close to beating at a whopping $32.5 million.