A pair of John Lennon’s round tinted sunglasses are tipped to sell for £3,000 at an auction.
The trademark glasses were picked up from the top of a piano in the Abbey Road studio in London by a fan named Michael during a visit there in 1968.
His then girlfriend Penny used to date the drummer of the sixties band The Yardbirds and got to know the Beatles. She took Michael to Abbey Road on his 18th birthday and found John Lennon was also in one of the studios.
Michael spotted the glasses and Lennon casually told him he could have them and wished him a happy birthday.
They visited the north London studio again a year later when The Beatles staged the now legendary photo shoot for the cover of their 1969 album Abbey Road, with Michael snapping some behind-the-scenes pictures immediately after the shoot that are also up for sale.
![The trademark glasses (pictured above) were picked up from the top of a piano in the Abbey Road studio in London by a fan named Michael during a visit there in 1968](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590397-13656265-image-a-48_1721576572427.jpg)
The trademark glasses (pictured above) were picked up from the top of a piano in the Abbey Road studio in London by a fan named Michael during a visit there in 1968
![The legendary Abbey Road album cover featured the Beatles as they were walking over the zebra crossing](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590383-13656265-image-a-60_1721577031775.jpg)
The legendary Abbey Road album cover featured the Beatles as they were walking over the zebra crossing
![Pictured: Paul McCartney is surrounded by fans as he arrives at Abbey Road recording studios on the day of the famous Abbey Road album cover shoot](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590391-13656265-image-m-57_1721576903696.jpg)
Pictured: Paul McCartney is surrounded by fans as he arrives at Abbey Road recording studios on the day of the famous Abbey Road album cover shoot
![Pictured: Linda McCartney appears in the unseen pictures taken by fan Michael](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590379-13656265-image-m-52_1721576813910.jpg)
Pictured: Linda McCartney appears in the unseen pictures taken by fan Michael
Unfortunately the arrived after the shoot had finished but still took their own black and white snaps and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the road.
Auctioneers who are selling the photos and the glasses have been able to match some of the parked cars in Michael’s pictures with the Abbey Road cover.
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Michael is now aged 75 and has decided to sell the rolled gold wire framed glasses with blue lenses along with his album of photos.
As well as McCartney and Starr who are wearing the same clothes they wore for the shoot, Michael took photos of The Beatles’ producer George Martin and sixties pop star Donovan.
A white Triumph car seen parked in the background of one of the photos is the same as the one in historical photos on the same day as the album cover shoot.
The items are being sold by Catherine Southon Auctioneers of Chislehurst, Kent.
Ms Southon said: ‘A man came to one of our valuation days saying he had John Lennon’s glasses.
‘He as aged in his mid-70s and he explained that on his 18th birthday in 1968 his girlfriend, who used to go out with the drummer of The Yardbirds, took him to Abbey Road as she knew quite a few people there.
‘They went into the studio and John Lennon and George Martin were there. He picked up these glasses on the piano and Penny told him not to touch them.
‘At that moment John Lennon said “that’s OK, he can have them.”
![Michael is now aged 75 and has decided to sell the rolled gold wire framed glasses with blue lenses (pictured above) along with his album of photos](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590387-13656265-image-a-59_1721577004638.jpg)
Michael is now aged 75 and has decided to sell the rolled gold wire framed glasses with blue lenses (pictured above) along with his album of photos
![As well as McCartney and Starr who are wearing the same clothes they wore for the shoot, Michael took photos of The Beatles' producer George Martin (pictured) and sixties pop star Donovan](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590385-13656265-image-m-55_1721576872549.jpg)
As well as McCartney and Starr who are wearing the same clothes they wore for the shoot, Michael took photos of The Beatles’ producer George Martin (pictured) and sixties pop star Donovan
![Pictured: Donovan arrives to the legendary photo shoot in a convertible car](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/21/16/87590389-13656265-image-m-58_1721576924664.jpg)
Pictured: Donovan arrives to the legendary photo shoot in a convertible car
‘We can’t say for absolute certain that these were John Lennon’s glasses but why would he say that to our vendor if they weren’t his glasses?
‘The black and white photos were taken by our vendor about a year later on the day of the photo shoot for Abbey Road.
‘Unfortunately he arrived just after the shoot but we have been able to identify Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr wearing the same clothes for the album cover.’
There are 33 photos in total, seven of which relate to Abbey Road. Other photos show Ringo Starr’s Mini, John Lennon’s Rolls Royce and Paul and Linda McCartney’s house in Cavendish Avenue in St John’s Wood.
The sale takes place on July 31.