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The Beatles Memorabilia

THE BEATLES - THE 10 MOST VALUABLE ITEMS OF MEMORABILIA

A list of the top 10 most expensive pieces of Beatles memorabilia ever sold at auction

A highly rare copy of the band’s seminal 1967 album, bearing the crisp signatures of all four members inside the gatefold sleeve, sold at Heritage Auctions in March 2013 for $290,500 – the highest price ever paid for a signed Beatles album.

9) **John Lennon’s Hoffner guitar - $337,226**

In July 2009 Christie’s sold Lennon’s 1958 Hofner Senator Guitar, used for songwriting during the formative years of the Beatles in the early 1960s, for £205,250 ($337,226)

8) Guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison - $408,000

In May 2013, a VOX guitar played by George Harrison during rehearsals for the Magical Mystery Tour, and by John Lennon during the recording of the video to ‘Hello, Goodbye’, sold at Julien’s in Beverly Hills for $408,000.

7) Handwritten ‘Nowhere Man’ lyrics - $455,000

John Lennon’s original manuscript lyrics to ‘Nowhere Man’ – regarded as an important turning point in the band’s musical evolution which saw them move away from purely romantic songs – sold at Christie’s in November 2003 for $455,000.

6) **Richard Avedon’s Beatles portraits - $464,000**

In 2005 a set of four iconic, psychedelic images of the band taken by celebrated photographer Richard Avedon sold for $464,000 at Christie’s in New York.

5) George Harrison’s guitar - $567,000

Harrison’s cherry red Gibson SG guitar, used extensively during the recording of the band’s 1966 album ‘Revolver’, sold for $567,000 at Christie’s in New York in 2004.

4) Sgt. Pepper drum skin - $1.07 million

The original hand-painted drum skin, as featured in the centre of the iconic cover artwork for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, achieved £541,250 ($1,071,133) at Christie’s in 2008 – smashing the pre-sale estimate four times over.

3) Handwritten ‘A Day in the Life’ lyrics - $1.2 million

Lennon’s original handwritten copy of his lyrics to ‘A Day in the Life’ – voted by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest Beatles song ever recorded – brought $1.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York in June 2010.

2) Handwritten ‘All You Need is Love’ lyrics - $1.25 million

Lennon’s original set of lyrics to the anthemic 1967 song, described as “one of the most important musical manuscripts in existence”, sold for £690,000 ($1.25 million) at a Cooper Owen auction in 2005.

1) John Lennon’s Rolls Royce - $2.23 million

Featuring a truly psychedelic paint job, Lennon’s customised 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom V sold at Sotheby’s in 1985 to Canadian businessman Jim Pattison, for a world-record price of $2.23 million – making it the most expensive piece of music memorabilia ever sold.

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