A guest who appeared on Antiques Roadshow got some great news this week after his logo that he designed for The Beatles was given a large valuation.
What’s more, he’d never been paid for the work that he put into designing it.
The episode was taking place not too far from the birthplace of the biggest band in the world, with the broadcast coming from Sefton Park Palm House in the city of Liverpool.
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With that in mind, Liverpool’s most famous sons were almost guaranteed to come up at some point, and – sure enough – a man appeared with some sketches that he’d done for the band, with the intention of them adorning Ringo Starr’s drum kit.
In the end, it didn’t quite work out like that as the band ultimately went with a different logo, and the guest ended up never being paid for what he’d done already.
The iconic design with the dropped T was eventually chosen, designed by Ivor Arbiter.
Still, these prototype designs were valued at around £15,000, much to the astonishment of the guest.
At the start, the AR expert said: “We're a stone's throw from Penny Lane and these guys need no introduction. So what's the story with this?”
The response came: “Well, the Beatles approached me and wanted a logo for the drum.”
He expanded: “I was quite close with the band and they were all at my 21st birthday.”
Discussing the design itself, which is quite different to what was actually chosen, the expert said: “We've got these little antenna here so you are presumably playing on a beetle.
“It's interesting to note here, that by these little antennae of this bug logo... you've got little pencil drawings here.”
Then, the guest told the programme that the annotated drawings were done by either Paul McCartney or John Lennon.
That’s the sort of thing that really pushes value up, where Antiques Roadshow is concerned.
The guest went on: “Correct and Ringo didn't want them on the drum, because it might interfere with recording, they had to be able to come off.”
The expert then summed up: “So what we're effectively looking at here are the very earliest logos ever produced for The Beatles with their band name on it... it's quite a pair of objects.”
It certainly is.
Because The Beatles were his ‘really good mates’ the guest said that they ‘didn’t pay’ for the designs.
After they were valued at £15,000, the expert told him: "Amazing! So 60 years later you finally get paid!”
In the end, the owner said that he won’t be selling them just yet, but might consider it in the future.
Summing up, the expert said: “Here we are in Liverpool, what can you imagine you're going to get?
“Beatles, yes, but the first ever logo produced by the man who produced it and designed it, with the Beatles annotations?!”
Tom Wood