A pair of trademark circular glasses worn by John Lennon during The Beatles' 1966 Japanese tour have been offered for sale at online auction house 991.com, and the bidding has already passed the £750k mark. Sales director John Warner says: "The interest has been phenomenal. Our phones have been in meltdown. It's almost impossible to put a value on them. They're the rarest of the rare. An item like this comes up so infrequently that it's impossible to predict how high the bidding will go. We are anticipating huge interest from all over the world, both from institutions and private collectors, especially in the USA and Japan".
Lennon wore the glasses during his band's five date residency in Tokyo's Budokan Hall, and subsequently gifted them to a local translator with whom they became friendly, Junishi Yore. The auction closes on 31 Jul.