Beatles memorabilia worth an estimated £6m goes for auction
An archive of material from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 peace protest is among the items to be sold this month at one of the most expensive Beatles auctions ever held.
Memorabilia will go under an online hammer with an upper estimated value of $8m (£6.3m). It includes a section of TV set wall that formed the backdrop to the Beatles’ breakthrough Ed Sullivan show appearance, clothes, speakers, signed contracts and a curious birthday card from George Harrison to his caretaker signed “Adolf Schinkengruber”.
The auction will be hosted by Gotta Have Rock and Roll auctions in New York. The archive of the peace protest material will be sold on 22 September and has an estimated value of between $200,000 and 300,000.
There are 119 lots in total. They also include a greetings card that will play into theories that George Harrison had an unhealthy interest in Hitler.
Harrison successfully sued a US tabloid that carried extracts from a biography that said he was fascinated by Hitler. The headline was “Beatle George is a big Nazi fan”.
The greetings card being sold is from Harrison to the caretaker of his Hawaii estate. Written in German, it reads “peaceful birthday my friend”, and is signed as “from Adolf Schinkengruber [the birth name of Hitler’s father was Schicklgruber] – George, Olivia and Dhani”. It includes a drawing of Hitler.
The auction house says it could suggest “a certain degree of intrigue” that led to the legally contentious reports. Or, it says, “perhaps it was simply a reference to the house caretaker’s strict rule over Harrison’s Hawaiian manor?”
It will be up to the buyer to make their own conclusion. The card will cost them an estimated $20,000-$30,000.