BEATLE John Lennon’s lost Help! guitar could fetch more than £600,000 at auction — after it was found in a loft.
The Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic played a pivotal role in the 1965 album, but was lost for more than 50 years until discovered in a house move.
Lennon and bandmate George Harrison played it on Help!, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away and Norwegian Wood.
The guitar was also seen in the Beatles’ Help! movie and photos from their recording sessions.
It is expected to become the most valuable Beatles guitar to reach market when it is sold in New York next month, with an estimate between £485,000 and £647,000.
Julien’s Auctions, which is handling the sale, said that by the late 1960s the Framus was in the possession of Gordon Waller of pop duo Peter and Gordon.
He later gave it to their road manager.
The auctioneers added: “It was discovered in an attic in the rural British countryside, unplayed for over 50 years.”
They likened it to “finding a lost Picasso — it still looks and plays like a dream”.
Another Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, 81, was reunited with his Höfner bass guitar in February after it was lost for more than 50 years.
His team paid a six-figure reward to Cathy Guest after it was found in her loft in Sussex.
