John Lennon guitar sells for over $2.4 million at California auction

A guitar stolen from the late John Lennon in the 1960s sold for $2.41 million on Saturday at an auction in Beverly Hills, California, and a Beatles drum head went for $2.1 million, fetching some of the highest prices ever for items of rock and roll memorabilia. The 1962 J-160E Gibson acoustic guitar - used on Love Me Do and I Wanna Hold Your Hand - had for decades been in the possession of John McCaw, a novice musician who bought it in the late 1960s without knowing it had been stolen from the legendary Beatle several years before, said auctioneer Darren Julien. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer.

It’s such an important part of Lennon’s career and Beatles history.

Auctioneer Darren Julien

The auction house said the guitar was one of only two of its type flown from America to England in 1962 for Lennon and fellow Beatle George Harrison. Lennon used the guitar for about a year before swapping it with Harrison; it later went missing in 1963. The drum head, which was used by The Beatles when they made their historic appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, sold for $2.1 million, Julien said.

I knew it would go over $1 million; I had no idea it would go over $2 million.

Darren Julien

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