Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

I brought a Beatles poster from Cleveland, 1966, with the ticket stub. I bought the ticket, found the posters, the same poster, same concert, Cleveland '66, third tour.

APPRAISER

Tell me about the concert that night.

GUEST

They were set up on the second base, The Beatles. We had five-dollar tickets, so we were on the first base line. The first line, riff, of the third song... (humming "Day Tripper") And so here comes the first guy running through the police, breaking up the police. The next riff... (humming) Five or ten more! By this time, the police were all scattered. The third time... (humming) The whole crowd stands up and waves of people fill the infield. They had to stop the show.

APPRAISER

Yeah, an estimated 2,500 people rushed the field out of 20,000 in attendance. More than ten percent.

GUEST

Yeah!

APPRAISER

And then what happened next?

GUEST

Well, they were pushing up on the elevated stage about eight feet high, but they're climbing over each other getting onto the stage themselves. Now the police are backed up against the drum riser, and the only thing left you can see is Ringo, still playing. Then they called the show, said, "The boys are going back into the trailer. They won't come back until the infield is clear." So about 15 minutes later, it was clear, and they came back and tried again. Another mob. Then they called it off, back into the thing, they came back, and finally played about two or three more songs.

APPRAISER

Well, printed in Cleveland for the Cleveland concert.

GUEST

Oh, yes.

APPRAISER

And we have the printers marked right here, "Jontzen Cleveland," with the union logo. Now tell me about the poster and the condition.

GUEST

Well, I don't remember everything. It was in a fire, so it's kind of grayed. It was in a fire in an arts complex I was in a while back, about ten years ago, and it got a little smoky. But somewhere along the line, it got folded.

APPRAISER

Yeah, it's not the best condition. Have you ever had these items appraised before?

GUEST

Heck no. I've been told... The Pirate said it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars. He's a friend of mine who dresses up in superhero costumes and is not always a pirate, but we think of him as The Pirate.

APPRAISER

And how much did The Pirate think it was worth?

GUEST

The Pirate said 30 grand, good condition, and I saw numbers like that too.

APPRAISER

Perhaps in near mint condition, it could be possible. The condition it's in is going to affect the value substantially. The Cleveland concert was considered one of the wildest concerts ever.

GUEST

Groovy.

APPRAISER

And as you've chronicled in your stories, an amazing concert it would have been to have been at. Starting with the ticket, we have your original ticket you kept from the concert. That at auction would sell for between $150 and $250.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

But the poster.

GUEST

Hmm?

APPRAISER

Well, we do have the condition issues here. There's some paper loss here. We have the fold line here. However, it's a very rare Beatles poster from a very famous concert.

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

So at auction, we'd put the estimate on this between $3,000 and $5,000.

GUEST

Really? It's yours! Oh, at auction. Well, great!

APPRAISER

To have it restored, you'd be looking at somewhere between $300 to $600, perhaps, and the value would easily double as a restored piece.