A police charge sheet signed by The Beatles in Newcastle has sold for thousands of pounds at auction.
The autographs were obtained at the height of Beatlemania in 1963, following the band's concert at Newcastle's City Hall. And they were collected by the Newcastle police chief constable's driver at the time, who drove The Beatles from their concert to their hotel in a police van.
The driver took the opportunity to ask bandmembers John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to sign the only piece of paper he had to hand - a police charge sheet for motoring offences.
They went under the hammer for £3,400 on Tuesday, more than tripling a pre-sale estimate of £600 - £900.
The autographs were sold at Gildings Auctioneers in Leicestershire by the daughter of the driver, who collected the autographs for her after the November 23 concert, the Fab Four's fifth visit to Newcastle in 1963.
When they first played at the Majestic on January 28 that year, they were little-known. However, by November 23, Beatlemania was in full swing and the band were greeted in the city by hysterical fans, desperate to catch a glimpse of their idols - hence their need for police protection.
Gildings director, Will Gilding, said: "We were thrilled to achieve this fantastic result for this very special set of Beatles autographs."
"Our seller, who was in the room to see them go under the hammer, was elated to see the fierce bidding from the UK and America, which proved that Beatlemania is still going strong for collectors 60 years on!", he added.
Two more full sets of Beatles autographs also exceeded expectations at the auction. A collection signed in pencil on an early publicity photograph fetched £1,400 against an estimate of £300 - £500, despite being heavily worn and folded.
The final collection of autographs was given to the seller around 1964 by her then-boyfriend, who went to school with some of the band members. This set, which was presented in good condition, sold for £1,600 after being estimated at £1,000 - £1,500.
Mr Gilding said: "It was wonderful to see all three sets of autographs perform so well on the day.
"Although it was undoubtedly the Newcastle collection's evocative back story that really captured the imagination of bidders, the results across the auction show that now is a great time to sell autographs and music memorabilia in general."
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