Past and present artists on show at rock auction

Pop and rock memorabilia generate great interest among collectors, and the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Spice Girls and Oasis feature among a host of music icons at a forthcoming auction.

The event at Christie's in London on September 26th next includes a rare draft of working lyrics in Jimi Hendrix's hand for Crosstown Traffic, released on the Electric Ladyland album in 1968, estimated at between £20,000 and £25,000 sterling.

According to Ms Sarah Hodgson, head of the pop department at Christie's: "They're on two sheets of lined notepaper with deletions and alterations. Basically, you can see the way Hendrix is thinking about the lyrics."

Beatles memorabilia are always highly sought after. Three rare musicians' salary receipts for performances at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg during their 13-week stint there in 1961 are expected to fetch £10,000 or even £15,000 each. Says Ms Hodgson: "They are the earliest known work documents relating to the Beatles' work to have come on the market. They're all signed by all five original Beatles."

Signatures seriously enhance values. "Anything that's signed is always going to be collectable - anything that's been autographed. So you might have a concert programme for the Beatles, for example, which in its own right isn't that valuable. It's only worth maybe £30-£50 if it's in nice condition, but if it's been signed, it's going to make it £2,000 to £3,000," she says.

Certain artists are more collectable than others, such as Hendrix, the Beatles "and to a certain extent Oasis, Madonna and Bob Dylan", she says. Holding on to things like tickets, programmes and posters could pay off in the long term. "From an interest point of view, if you're a collector then you're going to collect anyway. If your favourite band is Oasis, then you're going to collect the programmes, the tickets, whatever. But it's very difficult to predict if that kind of thing is going to be valuable in the future because obviously it depends on how many people are collecting them," she says.

Concert posters are quite collectable because they're not printed in such quantities as tickets and programmes. "There are going to be fewer concert posters. And obviously sometimes they might be quite difficult to get hold of. So, yes, concert posters are always worthwhile collecting," she says.

Other items of interest in the auction include a guitar once owned and played by Noel Gallagher of Oasis, estimated to fetch between £2,500 and £3,500.

An Elac Miraphon 12 portable record player, signed by Elvis Presley and bearing the inscription "To Karin, thanks from Elvis Presley" is expected to go for between £3,000 and £5,000, while other Presley material includes autographs, publicity postcards and clothing.

Auction houses usually expect a letter of provenance to accompany items. "For example, we've got a ring that was owned and worn by Jimi Hendrix. It comes with a letter from Phyllis Mitchell, who was Mitch Mitchell's mother. Mitch Mitchell was part of the Jimi Hendrix experience.

"It says that Mitch and Jimi had missed a flight out of Heathrow and so they'd gone to stay at her house waiting for the next flight. She lived close by. And while there she admired the ring he was wearing and he gave it to her," she says. The ring is estimated at £800-£1,200.

The Dublin Toy and Train Fair takes place at the Rochestown Lodge Hotel, Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, on Sunday, September 10th, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some 46 dealers from the Republic, Northern Ireland, England and the US are expected to attend.

jmarms@irish-times.ie