The Beatles: George Harrison's iconic Futurama guitar heading to auction, expected to fetch £1m
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George Harrison's Futurama guitar, one of the Beatles legend's most significant and most played guitars in all of Fab Four history, will go to the highest bidder in Nashville in an event by Julien's Auctions next month.
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Hide AdIn 1959, George Harrison purchased this Futurama guitar at Hessy's music store in Liverpool.
Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien's Auctions, told LiverpoolWorld: "It's in very good condition when you think about the age of it, played over 324 times by George Harrison with The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany and numerous shows and right here in The Cavern in Liverpool. It's estimated at US$600-US$800,000, but I think it should break one million. Pretty good for a guitar that cost about £74 including the purchase fees and commissions."
In 1964, George Harrison donated the Futurama guitar to Beat Instrumental Magazine as a competition prize for a contest. The winner, however, decided to take the cash prize rather than the guitar, which stayed with the magazine editor.
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Hide AdBefore it goes under the hammer, an exhibition of the guitar will be on display in The Beatles Story until Thursday, October 17th, before making further stops in Europe. Then, it will appear on the auction stage at Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in November.
General Manager of The Beatles Story, Mary Chadwick, told LiverpoolWorld: "Hopefully, the person who wins the bid will send it back here to The Beatles Story. Where else would you put it on public display?"
Julien's Auctions has broken world records with the sale of Beatles memorabilia, most recently with John Lennon's lost hootenanny guitar, which sold for an unprecedented $2.9M US dollars, making it the most expensive Beatles guitar to ever sell at auction.
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