Half a century since the Fab Four split - but the magic lives on

Incredibly, this weekend marks 50 years since the ‘Fab Four’ went their separate ways.

However, the magic still lives on - with the market Beatles and Rock n’ Roll memorabilia being as big now as it’s ever been.

And it’s the rarer type of items that are most sought after, and which are rising quickest in value.

The Beatles still top the Rock ‘n Roll Memorabilia Chart, as they have done since the tragic death of John Lennon in 1980.

Indeed, the Liverpool four-piece have continued to be the most popular band of all time and the most collectable.

Their signatures, particularly signed photos and album sleeves are sought after the world over by collectors.

A signed Beatles album could bring between £8,000 and £10,000 and an autographed copy of the Sgt Pepper album could raise upwards of £50,000.

The holy grail of Beatles memorabilia are Beatles handwritten song lyrics.

John Lennon’s lyric for All You Need Is Love sold for $1.2million in an auction in London in June 2010.

An item of Beatles clothing stage clothing whether stage worn or not will always raise a lot of interest.

Concert posters from the group’s early 60’s gigs are desirable and bring upwards of £10,000.

Would you believe that a complete ticket for a pre-fame Beatles gig could be worth £2,000 plus?

Quality memorabilia relating to all the other major groups of the sixties and seventies is very heavily in demand amongst collectors.

A signed album by Jim Hendrix or Led Zeppelin is worth around £8,000.

A poster from a Stones gig in the sixties could bring approximately £8-£10,000, if it is a large format 30”x40” example, likewise for a good Who poster.

Good ephemera relating to The Who is thin on the ground and there are many avid collectors out there snapping it up.

Queen memorabilia has been extremely popular recently with the impact of the bio pic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

A fully signed Queen LP sleeve is valued at around £2,000 plus, if in nice condition.

Any clothing or personal effects relating to Freddie Mercury brings bids in the very high thousands.

Another salient trend in the market of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia is for collectors to acquire items relating to artists and groups from the last several decades rather than memorabilia relating solely to artists from the sixties and seventies, as has traditionally been the case.

However, the most potent trend in the collecting world at the moment is the tendency of collectors to purchase the extremely rare and one-off items, and consequently the more expensive pieces.

Obviously, investment is a big consideration here in that the rarer the item the more potential it has to rise in value over the years.

With this in mind, some phenomenal prices have been paid recently for scarce pieces of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia.

A staggering $334,000 was stumped up by a collector for a cardigan worn by Kurt Cobain shortly before his death.

This is indicative of the fact that the rare and personal type of memorabilia is the most desirable.

High end collectors are realising that investments in the right type of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia can bring better returns that investment in property stocks and shares etc.

Rarity, authenticity and condition are now the paramount considerations for the investor collectors.

And whether it is an item from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or present day it doesn’t matter as long as it is ticking these three boxes.

The market for rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia is on the up and up!

We-Buy-Beatles.com and Webuyrockandroll.com are offering a free valuation of any item of Beatles and Rock and Roll memorabilia that you own. Please feel free to visit these websites