A pair of John Lennon's iconic glasses which he gave to a hotel employee as a birthday present have emerged for sale for £15,000.
The Beatle stayed with his wife Yoko Ono at the St Regis Hotel in New York in 1971 where Fred Benton worked. They became friendly and Lennon presented him with his round Windsor spectacles for his 21st birthday. Fred, a Beatles fan, kept hold of them, treating them as a 'holy relic', until his death in 2014.
The glasses then passed to his son Patrick Benton, who sold them to a collector two years later.
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Patrick wrote in a letter of provenance: "One day, Lennon asked my father about his plan for the weekend. "Lennon asked how old my father was, and was shocked by his response. 'You look older!', Lennon said, and laughed. "Ten minutes after, Lennon went back to my father and gave him this pair of spectacles!
"He told him that they were his own pair, smiled, and said 'Happy Birthday, kid'. My father was in shock! He mumbled 'Thank you'. "Since that day, my father only tried on the spectacles once - he treated the spectacles as a holy relic."
The glasses are now going under the hammer with Omega Auctions, of Newton-le-Willows. Dan Hampson, specialist at Omega, said: "The round glasses are one of the most distinctive things about John Lennon. With things like this provenance is absolutely key, and in this case it is watertight."
Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in the Saint Regis Hotel for six weeks in September and October 1971 after moving out of their country home in Sunningdale, Berks. They subsequently moved into a loft apartment in New York. Lennon was shot dead outside his home by crazed fan Mark Chapman in 1980. The sale takes place on April 26.
