A rotten tooth that once belonged to legendary musician John Lennon has been sold for £19,000 at an auction that took place in Stockport over the weekend. The Omega Auction House in Greater Manchester had listed the tooth’s reserve price at £10,000, apparently underestimating the demand for Beatles memorabilia from fans all over the world.
Canadian dentist Michael Zuk was the lucky winner of the decaying extracted molar, placing the winning bid by telephone in the final moments of the auction. 49-year-old Michael, from Alberta, described himself as ‘buzzing’ after winning the tooth, telling the BBC, ‘Once I heard it was up for sale, I had to have it. Some people will think it’s gross; other will be fascinated by it. Most people would say I was crazy, but I think it’s fantastic’.
Michael – whose credits include a book on celebrity teeth – said that he would be displaying the famous tooth in a glass case at his dental practice. Lennon’s tooth was originally passed on to his house keeper after it was removed during the sixties. Auctioneer, Paul Fairweather, described it as ‘the most weird and wonderful item’ they had ever had for sale at the auction house. He went on to say that the bidding was a tense affair, but the watching crowd gave a huge cheer when the gavel finally fell.