Kruse GWS Auctions in Agoura Hills, California are to auction two of Elvis Presley's prescription pill bottles in their 28th January 'Artifacts of Hollywood and Music' Auction.
First up is Lot 23 a Valium Prescription bottle prescribed to Elvis by Dr (George) Kaplan of the Don's Medical Center Pharmacy in Palm Springs.
The prescription is dated 11th September 1974 and is 50 x 10ml valium tablets.
The provenance states the pill bottle is from the collection of Elvis's personal physician, Dr Elias Ghanem, who resided in Las Vegas, in a house behind the Las Vegas Hilton (Ex International Hotel), where Elvis would often stay.
It is being sold with a letter of provenance from Dr Ghanem's wife Judy, and a second by EP Archives stating that the pill bottles (Lots 23 and 24) were confiscated from Elvis by Dr Ghanem during an emergency visit from vegas to see Elvis in Palm Springs.
The Valium prescription bottle has a starting bid of $2,000.
Lot 24, with a starting bid of $1,500 is Elvis's Naldecon Prescription pill bottle prescribed by Dr. George C Nichopoulos, known as Dr Nick, Elvis's personal physician from 1970 until his death in 1977.
The pill bottle is dated 22nd September 1974 and is from the Physicians and Surgeons Pharmacy of Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
The provenance suggests this bottle was also left by Elvis at the Vegas home of Dr Ghanem at some point between 1974 and 1976 when Elvis appeared in 837 consecutive gigs at The International hotel.
This bottle is also accompanied by a letter of provenance from Dr Ghanem's wife Judy.
You can view the full auction at GWS.
Some may consider it a tad macabre but Elvis Presley's prescription pill bottles are highly sought after by collectors so these two are sure to sell well.
In August 2013 Heritage Auctions sold a Valium Prescription bottle dated 24th May 1976 for $4,062.
The bottle, from The Prescription House on Madison Avenue, Memphis, containing 10mg Valium tablets, had also been prescribed by Dr Nichopoulos.
Another Valium prescription bottle was sold by Julien's in Los Angeles for $6,562.
Also prescribed by Dr Nichopoulos, from The Prescription House, this bottle contained 10mg of Valium dated 24th May 1976.
In 1980 Dr Nichopoulous was indicted on 14 counts of over prescribing subscription drugs to Elvis Presley and others, including Jerry Lee Lewis, but was acquitted on all charges.
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Adrian Roose has over 30 years’ experience covering all aspects of the rare stamp & memorabilia industry during which he has sold over £50m of unique items, helping build collections for Royalty, household name celebrities and 1,000s of collectors around the world.
Adrian was previously a Director at Stanley Gibbons, a Board Member of Stampex, and Executive Director of Paul Fraser Collectibles, PFC Auctions and JustCollecting, prior to founding The Memorabilia Club.