A guest on Antiques Roadshow was left stunned after learning that an item from John Lennon's childhood home was valued at up to £8,000.
The BBC programme, filmed in Sefton Park Palm House, Liverpool, broadcast a repeat episode on Sunday, 26 July. A visitor brought an item from his uncle's home that originally belonged to the Beatles star's childhood house.
Background of the item
John Lennon, who died in 1980 at age 40, lived in the Wavertree suburb of Liverpool until age five before moving to his aunt and uncle's home at 251 Menlove Avenue. That property is now a preserved site, where Lennon resided from 1945 until 1963.
Antiques Roadshow expert Raj Bisram met the guest, who presented the door number from Lennon's childhood residence.
The guest's story
As the audience expressed astonishment, the visitor explained: "In 1965, when John Lennon, the Lennon family decided to sell their home, a couple bought it and they moved in for just a couple of months and they sold it and moved on."
He continued: "The next couple that bought it, they didn't tell them that it was John Lennon's house, so they moved in, were having breakfast one morning, opened the curtains and there were five people in the garden taking photographs. That was when they realised they lived in John Lennon's house. They didn't like The Beatles very much, and they lived there for about 36 years, chasing people out of their garden, but the interesting thing about that story for me is that the person that lived there was my uncle."
Bisram replied: "That's fantastic, that's provenance taken care of."
Valued at up to £8,000
The guest added: "I was one of the few Beatles fans that got into the house for about 36 years. When he was making changes to the gate, he gave me the old number plate."
"An iconic item," Bisram said. "We're talking about one of the greatest bands in the world ever, this is the house number, it's a great item."
The guest said he had no intention of selling it, preferring to keep the plate within the family. However, he was astounded when Bisram revealed its true value.
The expert commented: "I think if that was put into a specialist Beatles sale, this would make £5,000-£8,000 easily, but it could double that!" He added: "I think this is a great piece of Beatles memorabilia, fantastic, thank you for bringing it in!"
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
