According with BBC com a pre-production copy of the Beatles’ 1966 album Yesterday … And Today, complete with hand-drawn artwork by John Lennon, has been ranked as the “rarest Beatles record in the world expected to fetch 136,000$” by the auction site
SOLD for £179,200! A Yesterday and Today album (1966) a U.S. First State Butcher, owned and signed by John Lennon with original artwork and addtl signatures! Sold today in our Music Icons: The Beatles auction! https://t.co/ahsXX38A8G #TheBeatles #Memorabilia #Auction #JohnLennon pic.twitter.com/Ujz8CIYDKy
— Julien's Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) May 9, 2019
Beatles expert Gary Hein said the album bearing three Beatles signatures was unique in "both rarity and value."
A Yesterday and Today album (1966) a U.S. First State Butcher, owned and signed by John Lennon with original artwork and addtl signatures! Sold the 9th May 2019 in our Music Icons: The Beatles auction.
A short-sleeve knit sweater worn by Paul McCartney, a suit jacket worn by George Harrison and a pair of suit pants worn by Ringo Starr are up for sale through Heritage Auctions,
Lennon’s prototype version will be one of the items for sale at Heritage Auctions on November 11, with the album given to Beatles fan and collector Dave Morrell. Lately Lennon arranged a swap deal.
Lennon drew a picture of a man with a shovel and a dog on the blank back cover, added a speech bubble to the front, and dedicated it: “To Dave from John Lennon, Dec 7th 71.” In return, Lennon was given a reel-to-reel tape of the Beatles’ Yellow Matter Custard bootleg.
The "butcher" cover, taken by Australian photographer Robert Whitaker, sparked outrage upon its release in the US.
It was suggested the cover was The Beatles' protest against the Vietnam War.
It was quickly replaced by a more public-friendly cover showing the band standing around an old fashioned steamer trunk and was reportedly the only Beatles album to lose money for their record label, Capitol.
Auctions spokeman says: " We don't feel the need to emphasize further the importance of this piece to the Beatle collector, or the art collector, or the pop culture collector, or the record collector," it states. "Don't let this one pass you by!”
The auctioneers have already received bids to the value of $100,000.
Recently John Lennon’s original sketch of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover was found in a sketchbook at the Beatle’s Surrey, England home. The item will anchor Julien’s Auctions’ upcoming sale in New York City.
The paper was found in the former Beatle Home in Surrey where he lived with his first wife Cynthia starting in 1964. Lennon wrote several Beatles hits in the Surrey mansion, as well as much of Sgt. Pepper’s. The early album artwork sketch features a bass drum emblazoned with the LP’s title and is estimated to be worth between $40,000 and $60,000.
Along with the Sgt. Pepper sketch, “Music Icons 2017” will feature other Beatles memorabilia including a Lennon-signed “Please Please Me” album cover, a George Harrison-signed Fender guitar used by the Beatle and a program page from 1963, which all four Beatles autographed.