Handwritten Lennon song auctioned

Lennon memorabilia can fetch high prices at auction

John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles song Nowhere Man have been sold for $455,000 (£270,000) at auction.

The lyrics, part of an entertainment memorabilia sale at Christie's in New York, were written by Lennon in 1965.

A spokesperson for the auction house said they had been expected to fetch around $100,000 (£59,000).

The sale's other main item, the Oscar won by Michael Curtiz for Casablanca in 1942, was sold for $231,500 (£137,000) to magician David Copperfield.

Lennon and Beatles memorabilia can fetch high prices on the collectors' market, as recent auctions have shown.

In July, two reels of private film footage showing a day in the life of Lennon in 1974 sold for $53,775 (£33,235) in New York.

In September, a set of stamps designed by the singer to support striking postal workers in 1971 went for £1,260 in London.

Earlier this year a long-lost musical collaboration between Lennon and Mick Jagger, entitled Too Many Cooks, fetched £1,400, while a 1960s table owned by Lennon reached £2,400.

Other recent sales include a guitar played by George Harrison at the final Beatles concert making $434,750 (£257,902 ), and a signed copy of the band's album Revolver fetching £21,600.