How to Nab the Hottest Pieces of Rock History

But without strong authentication, an item may be worth little. Julien's, in talking about a Jimi Hendrix shirt that sold for $1200, notes that it went for a relatively low price since there were no pictures of the artist wearing it. If there had been, the piece could have gone for 10 times its final value.

The hottest categories, Marion estimates, are stage-worn clothing, plus stage-used and celebrity-owned instruments (guitars are by far the most popularly collected; the world record-holder, the Eric Clapton guitar nicknamed "Blackie," sold for $959,000). The original working lyrics for famous songs are also extremely desirable.

GottaHaveIt.com, which will be holding a huge auction in July featuring Elvis Presley's favorite peacock jumpsuit ("surprisingly small," Marion muses), along with items such as The Beatles' 1964 Forest Hills Music Festival concert poster (the earliest known U.S. Beatles concert poster), never-before-seen photographs and memorabilia from the Beatles' road manager, handwritten letters from Paul McCartney, hand-annotated lyrics by John Lennon and a Stratocaster played by George Harrison, an album cover proof from the Rolling Stones' 1968 classic Beggars Banquet, as well as handwritten lyrics and costumes from Madonna and personal items from Britney Spears.

Marion thinks that items from artists such as Madonna and the Stones "have not reached the value that they will surely have in the future," but believes that you might want to hold off on, say, the Britneys or Blink-182s.

"Memorabilia from modern groups or artists is a risky investment," he warns. "Groups or artists that may top the charts and sell out arenas today may prove to be in the 'Who were they?' category a few years down the road."

Note to self: Hold on to those old Springsteen picture discs.

Gotta Have It!
153 E. 57th Street, New York
Telephone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Julien's Auctions
P.O. Box 691789, West Hollywood, California 90069
Telephone: [phone]; Fax: [phone];

Wolfgang's Vault
San Francisco
Telephone: [phone]