ON THIS DAY IN 2013, ONE OF BOB DYLAN’S GUITARS WENT TO AUCTION IN NEW YORK

The guitar in question, a Fender Stratocaster with sunburst colouring sold for a record-breaking $965,000, beating out the previous record, a 1950’s Strat called “Blackie”, owned by Eric Clapton which sold for $959,500 in 2004.

Dylan’s guitar was a controversial item. First unveiled at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, the set became iconic, though many diehard folk fans booed Dylan, viewing the electric guitar as a sell out, and Dylan a traitor. Regardless, the set went down in history and Dylan was recognised as the artist to change the face of folk music.

The guitar itself had been kept by a Jersey family for nearly 50 years after Dylan left it on a private plane. They had estimated the value at around $400,000 and were pleasantly surprised when it sold for nearly a million. Early drafts of some of Dylan’s early tunes were discovered in the case, with an estimated value of up to $30,000.