The auction that sold off a number of Ringo Starr and his wife's memorabilia and Beatles-related items was held in Los Angeles on Friday.
One of the main draws of the auction, held at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, was the first-ever edition of one of the Beatles' most iconic albums, the self-titled record known as The White Album.
Every White album is numbered, and Starr was in possession of the 0000001 copy which was rumoured to originally be John Lennon's.
It was expected to fetch up to $60,000 as similar pressings - the number 0000005, for example - sold for $30,000 in 2008.
However, the 0000001 copy far exceeded the estimated price and sold for a whopping $790,000 (€729,000) in the end, to an unknown buyer.
Starr told Rolling Stone: We used to play the vinyl in those days. We didn’t think, ‘We’ll keep it for 50 years and it will be in pristine condition.’ Whoever gets it, it will have my fingerprints on it.”
All proceeds from the auction - which also included a drum kit of Starr's that sold for $2.2 million - went to Starr and his wife Barbara Bach's Lotus Foundation charity.
