It remains a relic of the anti-Vietnam War movement and will be familiar to anyone who's watched footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's iconic 'Bed-In for Peace' protests in the 1960s.
This authentic "Bed Peace" artwork brought £97,250 ($154,000) in a London auction, yesterday (November 15).
Sold by Christie's the artwork was bought by a telephone bidder for a value comfortably within its £80,000-100,000 presale estimate.
Scrawled on a rectangle of car, Lennon's sign bears the legend "BED PEACE" alongside sketches of himself and Yoko. The bed-in happened at the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal during 1969, just two months after the couple's honeymoon bed-in in Amsterdam's Hilton hotel.
The world's media were invited, in whose footage and photographs the sign can been seen. It appeared alongside another "HAIR PEACE" artwork, hung on the wall behind Lennon and Ono - although the "Bed Peace" sign was the only constant artwork during the Montreal protest.
 The buyer of this $154,000 iconic 1960s sketch by Lennon can have |
A freelance sound man took the "Bed Peace" sign as the event drew to a close. It has also been signed and dated by the famous couple.
This isn't the first time that Christie's has sold an artwork from the iconic Montreal protest. In June 2010, an oversized self-portrait caricature by Lennon of himself and Yoko Ono scrawled in black ink brought $55,726.
Like the "Bed Peace" art, this was also sold nicely within the artwork's pre-sale estimate ($44,900-74,800).
To this day, both sketches are among the most important rock star-drawn artworks of the hippie peace era - while their sales confirm Lennon's continuing status as a blue chip of the collectibles markets.
Lennon is currently placed fifth on Forbes' 'Top Earning Dead Celebrities' list with posthumous earnings of $12m, presumably netted mainly through publishing rights to his classic songs.
There is clearly plenty of money in Lennon's legacy and collectibles - but also opportunities if you are a buyer on budget. Rare items for sale on the markets include this figurative drawing by John Lennon on an autographed card.
Just like the £97,250 "Bed Peace" artwork, this piece was scrawled by Lennon's own hand - yet Paul Fraser Collectibles has it for sale priced at just £7,950.
Meanwhile, the average value of a Lennon autograph is steadily on the up, having risen by 5.04% over the past 12 months - better than any savings account.
Other highlights in Christie's November 15 auction included a remarkable letter by young Paul McCartney inviting an unnamed drummer to an audition.
The 1960 note, found at a car boot sale in Bootle, Liverpool, sold to another telephone bidder for £34,850 against an estimate of £7,000-9,000.
