Beatlemania lives on: a rare, signed copy of the Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has raked in $290,500 at an auction in Texas on Saturday.
The final price far exceeded the $30,000 bid estimated by the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions — which ran the sale — and broke the previous record for such an item, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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The copy of the album from the U.K. branch of the record label Parlophone has a high gloss cover and gatefold, and is believed to be autographed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr shortly before it was released in June 1967, Rolling Stone reported. Bidding on the album opened at $15,000, but quickly shot up to $110,000 during the early bidding period, which took place a week before the auction date. An unnamed buyer from the Midwest purchased the album, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Gary Shrum, the consignment director of Heritage Auctions, told Rolling Stone that the bidding had “taken on a life of its own,” possibly because of the high quality of the Fab Four’s signatures on the album.
The previous record for a signed Beatles album cover was $150,000 for a copy of the band’s 1964 album Meet the Beatles.
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