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Julien's Auctions said on Monday that Presley played the
piano at his Graceland mansion. He bought it in 1955 as a gift
for his mother. After she died, Presley's wife Priscilla decided
to adorn its original walnut finish with 24 karat gold-leaf as a
gift for the couple's first wedding anniversary in 1968.
The piano has been on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame
in Nashville for years. Julien's estimates it will fetch between
$500,000 - $700,000 at the Nov. 7 auction. It is being sold by a
man who obtained it years ago from Graceland and wishes to
remain anonymous.
The auction house has put no estimate on the skin from the drum
kit played by Ringo Starr when The Beatles performed live on
"The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York in 1964 for some 73 million
TV viewers.
The drum head also was used for The Beatles 1964 concerts in
Washington D.C. and New York's Carnegie Hall. It then passed
onto the late Beatles manager, Mal Evans, before making its way
to a private collector.
A spokeswoman said the drum skin, which bears The Beatles
signature logo with a dropped "T," was so unique that it was
difficult to put a price on it. Only the skin is up for auction,
not the entire drum.
Elvis and Beatles memorabilia is among the most sought after by
rock music collectors but prices don't compare to those paid for
movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, whose iconic white "subway
dress" from the 1955 movie "The Seven year Itch" sold for $4.6
million in 2011.
(This story corrects name from Mal Davis to Mal Evans in
paragraph 5)
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Gregorio)
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Elvis
Presley's gold grand piano, Beatles drum skin up for auction
