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An employee of Julien's Auctions arranges US musician George Harrison's Mastersound Electric Guitar on a display before the auction start at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York on May 15, 2015. The guitar played by Harrison in the Beatles' early days, previously on display in a British museum, goes on auction in New York on May 15, valued at $400,000 to $600,000 USD. The electric guitar is the two-day auction's star item, amid hundreds of possessions once owned by rock 'n' roll's biggest stars, which auctioneers hope will rake in millions. AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD Image Credit: AFP

A guitar George Harrison played at a time when Beatlemania was taking flight has sold for nearly half a million dollars at a New York auction.

Julien’s Auctions says the 1963 Mastersound electric guitar went for $490,000 (Dh1.79 million) on Friday to an undisclosed bidder. Julien’s says Harrison borrowed it from a British music store and played it on stage several times in England and in Channel Islands in the summer of 1963.

It was offered during a two-day rock memorabilia auction.

A so-called “penguin” suit that Elvis Presley wore on stage in Las Vegas in 1975 sold for nearly $122,000. Presley’s marriage certificate from his 1967 wedding to Priscilla Presley sold for over $40,000.

A vest worn by Jimi Hendrix sold for over $59,000. A tank top Madonna wore sold for $25,000.