John Lennon’s fireman coat sells for $31,000

A fireman coat once owned by John Lennon has sold at auction for $31,250 (£18,506). The blue, asymmetrical, cropped jacket, designed by Great Goat Fireman, was purchased during an online Nate D. Sanders auction for more than $6,000 (£3,553) over its reserve price.
The garment featured on the back cover of the Beatles star’s 1969 album Life With The Lions, and it was was originally acquired by Lennon’s friend Jon Hendricks in 1978. He passed it on to Andrew B. Harvey, who provided the letter of authenticity to the auction house bosses.
In the note, Harvey writes, “In 1978 we went to stay with Jon for a few weeks. He told me the fireman’s coat hanging in the hall had been left there by John Lennon when he’d called in a few months earlier. I think that was the last time he saw John Lennon.”
The coat eventually landed in the possession of a Connecticut-based Beatles collector in 1996, who ultimately put the jacket up for auction.