The cartridge belonged to a British police officer who recently died.
The bullet fired from the gun that killed John Lennon will go under the hammer at Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland on February 29.
It previously belonged to police officer Brian Taylor, who received it as a gift from the New York Police Department. During a business visit to the police station, he was given permission to fire the weapon. Taylor then kept the bullet in a frame for the rest of his life.
The auction house’s director described the orb as “one of those slightly macabre objects that you get every now and then and that catches everyone’s attention.”
“There is a fanatical Beatles fan base and a market for pretty much anything Beatles-related,” he continued to the BBC. “But it’s very rare to get something so unusual and unique that it’s difficult to know what it’s worth and whether there’s a market for it or not.”
Mark David Chapman shot Lennon on December 8, 1980 as the musician and his wife Yoko Ono returned to their New York apartment. Chapman remained at the scene until police arrived and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to between twenty years and life in prison.
In 2022, Chapman said he shot Lennon because he “wanted to be someone and nothing could stop him.” In an interview with one of the parole boards, John Lennon’s killer stated “I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much so that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.” He has been denied parole twelve times since his arrest.