A complete set of The Beatles autographs has sold at Hansons Auctions in the UK for a total £7,670 including premiums.
The autographs were consigned in an autograph book, with other autographs including Jet Harris,Tony Meehan, Brook Bros Ricky and Geoff, The Sorrows, and The Sabres.
The Beatles autographs were collected at a TV studio in Birmingham in 1963 as they were dining on a fish and chip supper.
The auction lot vendor told the story:
“We were very nervous but managed to pluck up the courage to approach them. I went over to Paul McCartney first and wished him happy birthday. His birthday’s on June 18, which was a few days earlier.
“He signed my autograph book first, wrote ‘love from The Beatles’ and passed it round the table. John was the last to sign. They’d been picking up chips with their fingers and I remember him licking his lips and rubbing his fingers on his trousers to try to get the grease off before he signed. He still put a greasy smudge on George Harrison’s name. It was one of those old blotchy Biros. I suppose the inky smudge contains John Lennon’s DNA."