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The
auctioneers said Lennon played the guitar, which is expected to
exceed its estimate of $600,000 to $800,000, on the Beatles'
1965 album "Help!".
The guitar was lying in an attic and was rediscovered by the
current owners during a house move.
The founders of U.S.-based Julien’s Auctions said they travelled
to Britain to verify the guitar and found the original case - a
Maton Australian-made guitar case - in the trash.
Martin Nolan, executive director and co-founder of Julien's
Auctions, told Reuters the owners knew they had the instrument
at one point, but thought it had been lost.
The guitar is believed to have ended up in their hands through
British musician Gordon Waller, a member of the 1960s pop duo
Peter and Gordon.
"Gordon was gifted it from John Lennon, then Gordon gifted it to
his road manager, and that's where the guitar stayed for all
these years," Nolan said.
The guitar will be auctioned on May 29 at the Hard Rock Cafe in
New York and on the auctioneer's website.
Earlier this year, a stolen Hofner bass guitar belonging to Paul
McCartney was found and returned to Lennon's fellow Beatle after
51 years following a global hunt.
Musical instruments belonging to prominent members of the
Beatles have fetched a high price at previous auction.
In 2015, a guitar stolen from Lennon in the 1960s sold for $2.41
million at an auction in California.
(Writing by Farouq Suleiman; editing by Michael Erman)
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