LONDON — A collection of 10 love letters written by Mick Jagger to American singer Marsha Hunt, believed to be the inspiration for the song “Brown Sugar,” sold at Sotheby’s yesterday for $301,000.

“The passage of time has given these letters a place in our cultural history,” Hunt said after the London sale.

Hunt told Britain’s Guardian newspaper she was selling the letters, written in 1969, because she had been unable to pay her bills.

“I’m broke,” Hunt said.