John Lennon playing the Gretsch 6120 at a recording session.
Photo: Beatles Photo Library via Tracks Auctions

Beatles fans with deep pockets will have the opportunity to own a piece of rock ‘n’ roll history. A guitar that once belonged to the legendary John Lennon is going to auction, the BBC reported. The instrument is expected to fetch between £400,000–600,000 when it goes under the hammer at Tracks Auctioneers, nearly topping the seven-figure mark in dollars.

Lennon used the Gretsch 6120 to record the number one hit single Paperback Writer in 1966. The guitar was consigned by the rock star’s cousin David Birch, who received the guitar from Lennon as a gift one year later. According to the auction house’s website, the instrument is “one of the most significant of John’s guitars to come on the market in the last thirty years.”

The auctioneer, Helen Hall, told the BBC, “It’s come directly from John Lennon’s cousin, who was given it by John Lennon in 1967, and he’s had it ever since. For collectors of Beatles memorabilia to have a provenance like that is exceptional.”

Lennon’s cousin David Birch remembers, “I was just cheeky enough to ask him for a guitar, and he gave me the Gretsch. Of course I was very pleased.” Asked about the sale he said, “I’m not getting any younger I’ve had it [for] forty-seven years and it was just in the bedroom, I only used to pick it up every now and then.”

The online auction started on November 14. A live auction will take place at Le Meridien Hotel in London on November 23.