B46757 – Paul McCartney George Harrison And Ringo Starr Autographs London Airport With George’s Sixpence Coin (UK)

A page from an autograph book signed by Paul McCartney in black ink and George Harrison and Ringo Starr in blue ballpoint pen. Paul has written the word ‘love’ above his name and the group name ‘Beatles’ below it, George has added ‘xx’ below his signature and Ringo has added ‘xxx’. The autographs were obtained on 28th April 1963 at London Airport went the trio were flying to Santa Cruz, Tenerife for a holiday. At the time of the autographs being signed Paul, George and Ringo were changing some money, George had some change left over and gave it to the recipient and her friends. The sixpence coin that George gave to the recipient is included with the signatures.

Provenance: accompanied by a letter from the original recipient that reads:
‘During the week leading up to Sunday 28th April 1963, the titbits column on the back page of the New Musical Express (NME) mentioned that the Beatles would be going to Tenerife for a well-earned break. At that time ‘From Me To You’ was number one in the charts and I had just seen the Beatles perform at the NME Poll Winners concert In Wembley. (21st April 1963). I took a chance and phoned BEA (British European Airways) and they confirmed that Messrs McCartney, Harrison and Starkey were on the passenger list for the mid-afternoon flight, but there was no Mr. Lennon. I, together with five friends, took the bus to Heathrow and hung around for a while in the European departures terminal. We then spotted Paul, George and Ringo at a bank counter changing money. No one was near them, so we approached. They appeared quite surprised that anyone should recognise them and were quite flattered! They wondered how we knew about their holiday and did not show any annoyance when we explained. Having changed their money George had a few coins left over (totalling 3s 6d) which he handed to us. We shared out the coins and I still have the 6d piece kept safely in a box marked ‘George Harrison’s Sixpence’ We chatted amicably to them for about twenty minutes while they signed autographs. When their flight was called, they said goodbye and headed towards the departure gate. After a short distance Paul returned to us and said, “Thank you very much for coming”. During our conversation we asked why John wasn’t with them and they informed us that he was going elsewhere with Brian Epstein and that they were at the Skyways Hotel.’
The page measures 13.75cm x 10.4cm (5.4 inches x 4.1 inches). There are some marks near Ringo’s autograph. The condition is very good.