The Beatles drum sells for £500,000

A drum featured on the cover of The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album has sold for over £500,000 at auction.

The hand-painted bass drum was among a collection of 60s memorabilia which in total fetched over £1 million at auction yesterday (10.07.08).

The percussion instrument sold for £541,250, four times its original estimate. Other items under the hammer at London's Christie's auction house included John Lennon's handwritten lyrics for his song 'Give Peace a Chance', which sold for £421,250.

A champagne bottle with the Beatles' signatures on it fetched £7,500. The bottle was used as a prop in a 1967 promotional film for Beatles songs 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields'.

Other rock artefacts at the auction included one of The Who rocker Pete Townshend's guitars which survived his frequent onstage equipment smashing sprees.

The cherry-red Gibson SG special guitar fetched £32,450, while an acoustic guitar which Pete used to write hit 'Behind Blue Eyes' sold for £13,750.

A pair of Jimi Hendrix's flares fetched £20,000 and one of his Marshall amps dating back to 1966 fetched £25,000.