Julien’s Auctions, the high-profile auction house that has frequently hosted sales of rare items and celebrity memorabilia, is set to auction off a Hoffner Club 40 guitar that, years ago, belonged to an aspiring young British guitarist by the name of George Harrison. Julien’s states that Harrison played the guitar at various joints around Liverpool, England, with his band, The Quarrymen. The Quarrymen would go on to change their name to The Beatles, and conquer the world as one of the biggest–if not the biggest–band in history.
According to a post from Julien’s, Harrison traded his acoustic guitar for the electric model with Ray Ennis, who was a member of The Swinging Blue Jeans. George eventually donated the instrument to a band competition in 1965, when it was won by a member of a German band who died in 2017. His widow is putting the guitar up for auction. The auction house estimates the guitar will sell for between $200,000 and $300,000.
A 1965 Fender Telecaster owned by The Band’s Robbie Robertson played by Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan is also on the block at the May 19th “Music Icons” auction event and is estimated to sell between $400,000 and $600,000.
For more information on the May 19th auction, head to the Julien’s website.