John Lennon's jacket expected to sell for £700k at Liverpool auction

The Beatles icon wore the suit in the 1971 film Imagine and during a number of social occasions during the decade. The black velvet jacket, sized men's medium, was bought as a present for Lennon by music producer Tony King.

The jacket still retains the star lapel badge, a souvenir from the Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band, album, released in 1967, at the height of Beatle-mania. It is to go on sale in Lennon's home city of Liverpool on Thursday with a pre-sale estimate of £500,000 to £700,000.

Auctioneer Adam Partridge said: “This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to offer an item owned and made famous by one of the most important figures of the 20th century.

"Having had an auction house in Liverpool for 15 years, it is an honour to be selling such an iconic piece in the city that created the ‘band that changed the world,. There is no more fitting place than Liverpool to see the jacket come to market."

Tony King said the jacket didn’t quite meet Lennon's “high standards” initially, but he went on to wear it many times throughout the early 70s. He eventually gifted it to Harry Nilsson's wife Una while they were all staying at the Pierre Hotel in 1974.

The jacket was in turn gifted to a business colleague of Harry Nilsson in 1992, where it was displayed alongside John's famous army jacket in the Hard Rock Café. In 2000, it was then offered at auction during the annual Beatles Convention to celebrate the opening of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

The current, unnamed owner purchased it at this event, and it has been on display at the Beatles Story in Liverpool for over 20 years. He will now be donating the proceeds to the Lennon Imagine Trust, as well as to support new musical initiatives in schools in Liverpool.

The auction will be held on Thursday (December 5) at Adam Partridge’s Liverpool Saleroom in Jordan Street. The jacket will go under the hammer at 2.00pm.