Lost for over 50 years, John Lennon's Gibson J-160E is going under the hammer, and is expected to reach an almighty sum, having been used to write and record a long list of Beatles classics.
Bought from Rushworth's Music House in Liverpool for £161, the guitar went missing in December 1963, but was recently discovered and verified by Andy Babiuk, author of Beatles Gear - All The Fab Four's Instruments From Stage To Studio.
During its time with Lennon, the J-160E was played on recordings of Love Me Do, Please Please Me and From Me To You, while it was also a songwriting favourite of Lennon's, and he used it to write hits including She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand and All My Loving.
The guitar is in its original spec, and expected to reach between $600,000 and $800,000, putting in the league of other fabled instruments sold at auction, such as Eric Clapton's 1964 Gibson ES-335TDC ($847,000) and 'Blackie' Strat ($959,000).
The auction is due to be held on 6 and 7 November - if you fancy a bid, Julien's Auctions has more info.
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