"Beatles for Sale" was the title of the Fab Four's fourth album. 50 years later, it's still an on-the-nose phrase, as the coats Ringo Starr and George Harrison wore in the band's 1965 film "Help!" are set to go on the auction block in March.
According to a press release from Omega Auctions, which will host the sale on March 20 in Liverpool, the jackets come from "Help!" director Richard Lester's collection, and are expected to sell for more than $82,000.
"The jackets were worn throughout the five days of filming in the Alps and also feature on the iconic album cover of the soundtrack," the release added.
The coats are part of more than 200 lots of memorabilia and vinyl records that will be available. Omega is keeping mum about what else will be sold, but teased, "Watch this space for details of another star lot, a fantastic piece of Beatles history estimated ($82,000 - $115,000)."
The jackets aren't the only unusual Beatles memorabilia to go on the block. Items ranging from the expected (photos and rare vinyl) to the highly unusual are regularly auctioned off. Last year, Omega sold 61 images from the band's 1965 Shea Stadium performance for about $50,000.
Other interesting Beatles items that sold over the years include:
- Harrison's leather jacket, purchased for $14 in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960, went for almost $180,000 in 2013. His signature Beatles boots sold for almost $100,000 at the same auction.
- The piano John Lennon wrote "Imagine" on went for $2.1 million in 2000, purchased by singer George Michael.
- Starr's 1964 Facel Vega II Coupé went for just over $550,000 in 2013.
- Paul McCartney's Rex guitar, the one he used to talk John Lennon into joining their pre-Beatles band The Quarrymen in 1957, went for $600,000 in 2006.
Time to open up the piggy banks, though the buyer may need a little ... "Help!"