A guitar bought by George Harrison for about £58 is expected to fetch more than 1 million US dollars (£753,000) at auction.
The Futurama electric guitar was bought by The Beatles star when he was a 16-year-old apprentice electrician in 1959 and was paid for in 44 instalments after his mother signed a hire purchase agreement at Frank Hessy’s music shop in Liverpool.
Next month, it will go under the hammer in Nashville, Tennessee, in the US, at Julien’s Auctions’ Played, Worn & Torn sale.
Unveiling the instrument at The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, where it will be on display until October 17, Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said: “We know he played this guitar in over 324 shows at the Cavern and numerous times in Hamburg in Germany in 1960 and 1961.”
The guitar was originally priced at 55 guineas, which would have been about £58 but was £74 with the hire purchase agreement, Mr Nolan said.
He said: “We’re estimating, conservatively, 600,000 to 800,000 US dollars but I think it should sell for more than a million.”
The auction house sold John Lennon’s Hootenanny acoustic guitar for 3 million dollars (£2.3 million) earlier this year and has previously sold an acoustic guitar of Lennon’s for 2.4 million dollars (£1.8 million).
Harrison’s Futurama guitar is being sold by a collector who bought it in 2019, but the instrument almost had a different owner when it was offered in a competition for Beatles fans in Beats Instrumental magazine in 1964.
The competition was won by an AJ Thompson, who lived in Saltdean near Brighton, East Sussex, but, when offered the chance to have money instead of the guitar he took the cash, Mr Nolan said.
He told the PA news agency: “He probably took about £100 at most, because that would be the intrinsic value of the guitar at the time.
“He probably took his friends and family out for a nice evening and a good dinner and some drinks and then went on with his life. If only… Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve!”
Items linked to the Fab Four are among the most popular of the celebrity items which go up for sale, Mr Nolan said.
He added: “They take centre-stage time and time again. You would mention Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and The Beatles may be number one in that listing. They’re so collectable, they’re recognised all over the world.”
– The Played, Worn & Torn sale will take place from November 20-22 at The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville and online at www.juliensauctions.com
