A pair of glasses given to a fan by John Lennon have sold for £40,000 after going into auction with a low estimate of £2,000. And the buyer is illusionist Uri Geller,
The glasses are unmistakably Lennon: round, wire framed, and with a blue tint.
The Beatle gave them to a fan in 1968 when he was taken by his girlfriend to visit Abbey Road as a birthday treat.
They were sold at Catherine Southon Auctioneers on July 31.
Ms Southon told the BBC: “In terms of ephemera what everyone wants is the Beatles and anything to do with John Lennon is a premium.
“He made iconic the look of the rounded, blue-tinted glasses and any that are connected with him are hugely sought after.”
Geller intends to put them on show in his Tel Aviv museum
Geller, best known in the UK for his “spoon bending” feats, told Sky News: “John Lennon and I were very good friends while we were living in New York in the 1970s.
“I knew I had to buy these glasses whatever. I would have gone up to £500,000.”
The seller is called Michael, and his then girlfriend, called Penny, who knew many musicians, took him to see the world’s biggest stars at work in Abbey Road.
A snatched photograph showing Paul McCartney was also sold at the auction. Image courtesy Catherine Southon Auctions.
Michael told the auction house: “I picked up a pair of glasses from a piano.
“Penny said, ‘Don’t touch’.
“John Lennon turned around and said, ‘He’s alright. In fact, he can have them. Happy birthday!'”
He added: “They are not John Lennon’s prescription glasses, but he gave them to me and wished me happy birthday, so that is good enough for me.”
Photographs taken by Michael at the time were also sold. They made £2,600.
The Beatles remain the most collectible modern personalities.
Almost anything connected with the band can have value. Even during the band’s 60s heyday, fan hysteria was exploited with the sale of bathwater said to be connected to the foursome.
Today, guitars are a reliably valuable item. In May, a Framus acoustic used on Help! became the most valuable Beatles instrument when it made £2.3 million at auction in New York.
A set of contracts from their 1964 US tour is currently for sale with a $600,000 to $800,000 estimate. The same sale also lists a cymbal from Pete Best’s drum kit with a $200,000 to $300,000 estimate.
While new figures, notably Freddie Mercury and Kurt Cobain, ascend to the heights of the collectibles market alongside them, no-one can yet depose The Beatles.
