The top lot of the “The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell” sale was this gelatin silver print, numbered 1 of 1, which sold for $68,500.

NEW YORK – All 46 lots of unpublished and never-before-seen photographs of the Beatles’ first hysteria-inducing visits to America in 1964, taken by a teenager, sold at auction at Christie’s on July 20, with the top lot garnering nearly 22 times the original high estimate.

The photos, taken by photographer Mike Mitchell when he was just 18 years old, have been filed away for nearly 50 years. The complete rediscovered collection was expected to realize in the region of $100,000 in the sale titled “The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell.” When all the bidding was over, the total was $361.938.

The top lot of the sale was the final photograph offered, a silhouette of the Fab Four, with right-side profiles of John Lennon and Ringo Starr. It was taken Feb. 11, 1964, when the Beatles performed their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. A gelatin silver print, measuring 16 x 16 ¼ inches and numbers 1 of 1, was estimated to bring between $2,000 and $3,000 but realized $68,500.

All 46 photos were similarly numbered.

The collection included dozens of intimate photographs capturing the excitement of the first British Invasion. Mitchell had exceptional access to the events, including their arrival at Union Station, the press conference preceding the performance and unrestricted, stage-front access for the entirety of the historic Coliseum concert. Mitchell then snapped additional photographs when they performed during their first U.S. concert tour at the Baltimore Civic Center on Sept. 13, 1964.

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From Bloomberg:
Model Trains Among $10 Million in Sotheby’s 27,000 Antique Toys

Jerry Greene, then 18, stuck a sign in his record-store window saying he was looking for train sets. Almost 60 years later, Greene’s collection contains 3,500 antique locomotives, along with train stations, figurines in 19th-century outfits, Ferris wheels and Prussian soldiers. Sotheby’s is estimating the collection, which will be sold as a single lot, will bring in $10 million. Noel Barrett, an appraiser and president of Noel Barrett Antiques & Auctions, is predicting more on the line of $40 to $50 million. Green is selling because he says he has collected “everything I could collect. The fun is in the search. I want to sell it, so that I have a clean basement. After this, I will collect something else.”

From The Herald Sun:
JFK ambulance going on the auction block in Arizona

Those who can remember that tragic November 22, 1963, also remember the sight of the Pontiac Bonneville ambulance transporting the casket containing the body of John F. Kennedy from Air Force One to Bethesda Naval Base. The ambulance and 16 other classic cars will be auctioned by Barrett-Jackson Auction January 17 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Carnegie Museum of Art auctions 5 George Romney portraits

The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh kept five portraits by George Romney (the 18th-century painter, not the Michigan politician) stashed from public view for 80 years. Running out of storage space, the museum has turned the paintings over to Christie’s, which will put them on the block this month. One portrait, that of a Mrs. Bruce, was discovered to be altered. Someone must have found her décolletage too risqué and gave her a higher neckline.

From The Wall Street Journal:
John Lennon’s 1965 Ferrari 330 Up For Auction

The 1965 330 GT 2+2 Ferrari hasn’t proved to be very high on collectors’ wish lists. Maybe that will change with the blue 330 that Bonhams in London will be auctioning in February. The difference is John Lennon was a previous owner. The auction is hoping it will bring in between $155,000 and $220,000 even though highest price to date for the model has been $100,000. The lack of popularity is credited to it being a pretty ugly car.

From Bloomberg:
Gauguin Flowers to Top $169 Million Sale; Hirst Skull: Art Buzz

Far from ugly is Paul Gauguin’s “Nature morte a ‘L’Esperance,’” still life, which could bring is as much as $15-plus million at a Christie’s auction of Surrealist, Impressionist and modern art. Also on the block are works by Andre Derain and Georges Braque.

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From The Orange County Register:
$5 Sinatra shirt fails to excite bidders

With William Shatner’s kidney stone going for $25,000 and Marilyn Monroe’s X-ray for $45,000, one might expect a Frank Sinatra tuxedo shirt would be a hot item. Not so. It wasn’t even lukewarm. The owner of the auction house ended up shelling out $1,200 for it. He’s hoping that there will be more interest at Sotheby’s or Christie’s for it.

From AFP:
Ahmadinejad’s old Peugeot sees million dollar bid

A 1977 Peugeot 504 would usually sell for about $2,000. The Iranian president’s Peugeot went for several zeros more. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set up a website to take bids. An unidentified buyer offered to cough up $1 million. The proceeds are said to be going to build 60,000 homes for disabled, poor women taking care of their families.

From CBC News:
Lennon’s Abbey Road suit gets $46K US at auction

John Lennon wore it on the cover of the “Abbey Road” album. That provenance was enough for an unidentified bidder to put up $46,000 for the white Ted Lapidus suit. Another piece of Lennon-bilia, a brown velvet blazer worn in the “Imagine” video, fetched $18,000. This was a fire sale for the previous owner who paid $120,000 for the two items in 2005, but now faced financial difficulties.

From The Associated Press:
Dennis Hopper art collection up for auction in NYC

Vincent Price gave a fellow actor a bit of advice in the 1960s—put your money into collecting art. And Dennis Hopper took it to heart, amassing an impressive collection. He bought works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Wallace Berman and many others. Hopper added his own touch—two bullet holes—to a Warhol portrait of Mao after being startled by it one night. Christie’s auctioned 30 pieces from Hopper’s collection in November with a Jean-Michel Basquiat bringing in almost $6 million.

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From the New York Times:
Before Auction, Lennon Has Brush With the F.B.I.

John Lennon died almost 30 years ago, yet the FBI still has him on its radar. Lennon was fingerprinted in 1976 when he was applying for U.S. citizenship. The card was set to be auctioned when a G-man showed up outside Gotta Have It! in New York City. The FBI wanted the card pulled and finally got a subpoena and the fingerprints. “If it was anybody else’s fingerprint card,” the owner of the store said, “I wouldn’t hear from anybody.”

From The Associated Press:
Roman helmet auctioned for more than $3 million

A guy in his 20s was out in the English countryside with his metal detector last May. The detector did its thing indicating something was buried. The something turned out to be a 2,000-year-old Roman cavalry helmet. The payout for the lucky find? $3.6 million.

From Bloomberg:
Chinese Battle for $32.6 Million Vase Lifts Sotheby’s to Hong Kong Record

When you’re the director of multiple Chinese companies, you can afford to satisfy a whim or two. For instance, going after—with wallet wide open—a Chinese vase you remember from your childhood that belonged to a family friend. So it was with Alice Cheng at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction. She wanted the vase and paid five times more than the presale estimate.

From The Chicago Tribune:
Sammy Sosa’s corked bat barrel found, up for auction

Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa maintained he never meant to use that illegal bat in the 2003 game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He had it to put on a hitting display before the game and picked it up accidentally. Be that as it may, Sosa had the misfortune of the bat cracking during the game, exposing cork in the barrel. The barrel then went missing. It turns out that Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger picked it up and kept it all these years. Remlinger is now selling the infamous keepsake, and the auction house is guessing it may go for more than $10,000.

From Bloomberg:
Daimler May Make $16 Million From New York Sale of Koons Balloon Sculpture

Daimler AG, which gives us Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, is now giving us a Jeff Koons sculpture. Giving to us who can afford to bid on the piece from Daimler’s corporate collection. Christie’s is including “Balloon Flower (Blue)” in its November contemporary-art sale.

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From USA Today:
A 1931 Detroit Electric car heads to the auction block

As the old saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. Case in point: electric vehicles. People living in Brooklyn in the 1920s and ’30s fondly remember electric delivery trucks. And then there were the Detroit Electric cars. The first Detroit Electric was manufactured in 1907. Some drivers preferred them because, unlike gas cars, you didn’t have to crank—a shoulder-wrenching task in the early years—to start it. A 1931 Old Sparky was up for auction last weekend. The beautifully restored blue vehicle comes with tiller steering and a passenger seat that swivels.

From The Washington Post:
White House crasher Michaele Salahi to auction off dress she wore to state dinner

Groan. Will Michaele Salahi’s 15 minutes of fame never end? That sari-like, red lengha worn by the she half of the couple who thought it was a good idea to attend a White House state dinner without an invitation will be auctioned. Michaele Salahi, now the hated one on (groan) “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” is apparently keeping a promise to put the dress on the block and donate the proceeds to charity. It’s thought it will go for between $2,000 and $3,000.

From AFP:
Michael Jackson auction ‘not against his wishes’: report

Another auction of the King of Pop’s memorabilia, another controversy. Julien’s Auctions will be selling some 100 Jackson items in Macau. The singer’s former lawyer is protesting, calling the sale an “outrage” because his client “never wanted this material to be auctioned.” Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien’s, fired back that the lawyer is “only seeking publicity.”

From artdaily.org:
Bonhams to Sell Elvis Presley’s Mercedes-Benz 600 in December

Lucky for Bonhams, no one is protesting the December sale of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll’s Mercedes-Benz 600. Elvis gave the car to a friend who later sold it. Expected sale price? From $200,000 to $310,000. The rock star probably paid more in the range of $20,000. Other owners of the 600 included John Lennon, Hugh Hefner, Aristotle Onassis and yes, Fidel Castro.

From The Boston Globe:
Worcester auction has historians and collectors abuzz

Andrew Haswell Green (1820-1903) accomplished a lot in his life. Considered the 19th-century Robert Moses, he was instrumental in many New York City projects—Fort Washington Park, Riverside Drive and Central Park. He worked for the consolidation of the five boroughs into one city. He battled the corruption of Boss Tweed. And with his downtime, he collected. Did he ever collect. A copy of George Washington’s will. An 1810 letter from James Madison to James Monroe. A virtual trove of artwork, handwritten letters, toys, you name it. After he was shot to death, Green’s vast collection was passed from family member to family member and was never uncrated until after the death of his great-great-grandniece last summer. The items will be auctioned over four days this week and are expected to fetch $1 million, if not more.

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From the New York Times:
‘A Day in the Life’ Lyrics Sell for $1.2. Million

I read the news today, oh boy. The lyrics to the song, “A Day in the Life,” handwritten by John Lennon, sold for more than $1 million. Sotheby’s predicted it would go for between $500,000 and $800,000. It was bought by an unidentified person whose bid was phoned in. Then name of the American collector who purchased the lyrics in 1992 for $93,000 was also not revealed.

From CBC News:
Mark Twain’s tribute to daughter brings $242K

The manuscript of “Family Sketch,” which Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) wrote after his daughter died at 24 from spinal meningitis, was part of a collection of 200 items of Clemens papers that sold for more than $936,000. The creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn died in 1910 and requested his papers be kept from public view for 100 years.

From Bloomberg:
Picasso, Monet to Top $518 Million Auctions as Confidence Grows

The two-week auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Phillips de Pury & Co. of Impressionist and contemporary art are expected to bring in three times as much as similar sales last year. Sellers are being told that there will be multiple bidders. Among the big-ticket items being sold are Monet’s “Nympheas” and Picasso’s “Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto.”

From Auction Central News:
London court: ‘Tome Raider’ guilty of stealing antique library books

William Jacques earned the nickname “Tome Raider” (groan) in the 1990s for stealing rare books. Serving several years in prison apparently did not rehabilitate Jacques. He was arrested at the end of last year for allegedly making off with books from the Royal Horticultural Society’s library. Found guilty, the former Cambridge student is facing a long sentence. Don’t think he’ll be featured in any Cambridge alum publications.

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The Times of London
Armed thieves steal Magritte painting in daylight raid

A masterpiece by the surrealist painter René Magritte worth up to €3 million was stolen by armed thieves today in a lightning daylight raid on a museum dedicated to his life and work. ”Olympia”, a nude inspired by Magritte’s wife and muse Georgette, was taken off the wall of the small gallery in the artist’s former home while museum staff and visitors were ordered to lie down in the back garden.

From Newsday:
Ex-museum director to surrender in theft of artifacts

The FBI filed a complaint last week against a one-time director of Long Island University’s Hillman Museum. The director, who was at the museum for 22 years before his contract was not renewed last August, is accused of taking nine Egyptian artifacts and putting them up for auction at Christie’s.

From Bloomberg:
Alitalia to Auction Art Collection Valued at 1 Million Euros

Alitalia, the Italian airline, landed in bankruptcy court. It has been ordered to auction its art collection, which includes a work by Gino Severini, an important member of the Italian Futurism movement. It’s expected the sale will bring in $1.5 million.

From Auction Central News:
John Lennon autographed magazine sells for $12,713

In 1966, John Lennon gave an interview to an American teen magazine in which he famously declared the Beatles were more popular than Christ. This set off a firestorm, especially in the Bible Belt, where people took to burning their Fab Four albums. (The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, was not fazed by this. After all, “They have to buy the records before they burn them,” he pointed out.) Lennon autographed a copy of the magazine for its publisher. An orthopedic surgeon from New York was the winning bidder.

From Bloomberg:
Rembrandt Portrait May Raise 25 Million Pounds at Christie’s

A Rembrandt portrait may come in with the highest estimate ($29.7 million to $40.5 million) ever placed on an Old Masters. While contemporary art has taken a major hit—the works of some living artists are selling 50 percent lower than last year—Old Masters’ prices are faring much better.

From Bloomberg:
Charles Darwin Ship’s Whale Tooth Sells for 40,800 Pounds

So what makes a carved whale tooth, a scrimshaw, worth $67,480? If it happened to be carved when Charles Darwin was onboard gathering material for “The Origin of Species” is the answer.

This also happens to be the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the revolutionary book’s publication.

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Those lyrics are featured among Renard’s rock and pop collectibles that will be auctioned by Christie’s of London. The lyrics will go on public view in New York on May 7-20 and in London on July 5. They will be auctioned on July 10.

The entire Renard collection is valued at about $600,000. But Lennon collectibles frequently sell for far more than their presale estimates. His handwritten lyrics for “All You Need Is Love” sold for $1,250,000 in 2005, and in 2003 the lyrics for “Nowhere Man” lyrics sold for $455,500.

“Give Peace a Chance” is recognized as one of Lennon’s most influential solo works; a half-million protesters sang the song outside of the White House.

Among collectors, what are known as “working lyrics” are among the most valuable items related to popular artists. That’s because they show the artist’s creative process including notes, re-writes and crossed-out text. Lennon gave Renard the lyrics in 1969 in the midst of his famous eight-day “bed-in” to protest the Vietnam War with his new wife, Yoko Ono.

Now a comedy writer, Renard was a teenage fan who sneaked past security guards at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal and wound up befriending the famous couple. The song was recorded in the hotel room with celebrity friends and later touched up in the studio.

Worthologist Chris Hughes said the question surrounding these lyrics is not their authenticity, but whether the document represents a song-in-progress. As there were many participants in Lennon’s Montreal “Bed-In,” who sang “Give Peace a Chance,” Hughes wonders whether the lyrics could be a copy that Lennon made for his guests.

“Although these lyrics are penned by Lennon, they may have been used along with other duplicates for his guests to sing from,” Hughes said.

In 2007, a lock of Lennon’s hair sold for $48,000. It was collected by his stylist and tucked inside an autographed copy of Lennon’s book “A Spaniard in the Works.”

In 2005, the white suit that Lennon wore on the cover of “Abbey Road,” the Beatles’ final album, sold for $117,000.

For more information about Worthologist Chris Hughes

Christie’s Press Release on the Lennon lyrics auction

The group disbanded in 1970 and individual members pursued their own musical careers. John Lennon’s tragic murder in New York City in 1980 invoked a new wave of interest in the group and its memorabilia.

References: Jeff Augsburger, Marty Eck, and Rick Rann, “The Beatles Memorabilia Price Guide, Third Edition,” Antique Trader Books, 1997; Perry Cox, “The Official Price Guide to the Beatles, Second Edition,” House of Collectibles, 1999; Barbara Crawford and Michael Stern, “The Beatles: A Reference and Value Guide, Second Edition,” Collector Books, 1998; Courtney McWilliams, “Beatle Mania: An Unauthorized Collector’s Guide,” Schiffer Publishing, 1998.

– Harry L. Rinker

“Official Price Guide to Collectibles”