Signed Led Zeppelin album sleeve sells for £15,000 in Harborough auction

A signed Led Zeppelin album sleeve has sold for £15,000 in Market Harborough.

The Music, Vinyl & Memorabilia auction at Gildings Auctioneers saw the sleeve of the 1973 album ‘Houses of the Holy’ estimated at up to £1,800. It had been signed by all four members including drummer John Bonham who died in 1980, aged 32.

And due to the rarity of the item – there are believed to be less than 30 copies of fully signed Led Zeppelin albums to exist – it sold for £15,000.

The signatures were acquired during a chance encounter with the band at Gatwick Airport in 1977 when they were returning to the UK for a break during a tour of America.

Gildings’ music and memorabilia specialist, Andrew Smith said: “We were thrilled to achieve this astonishing result for this set of Led Zeppelin autographs fifty years on from the original release of ‘Houses of the Holy'.

“Thanks to the extreme rarity of full sets of the band’s signatures, this album cover represented a holy grail for collectors determined to own a very special piece of music memorabilia. The bidding did become more hesitant after hitting the £10,000 mark, but in the end a telephone bidder triumphed over the fierce competition online.”

The album sleeve was missing its vinyl record, but the sale is believed to be an auction record for signed copies of ‘Houses of the Holy’ - the fifth studio album by Led Zeppelin.

Mr Smith added: “This outstanding result is testament both to the value attached to fully signed Led Zeppelin memorabilia and the general strength of the market for autographed items.

“With this set of signatures coming from a chance meeting with the band members, it just goes to show that in this day and age if you spot a celebrity, you should ask for an autograph, not a selfie.”

Other items in the auction included a single-owner David Bowie vinyl collection, which achieved a total hammer price of £7,200 and an album signed by Jimmy Page which sold for £420.