Collectors drove up prices for Grateful Dead memorabilia in San Francisco this week, sending several pieces from the band’s inner circle soaring far past their estimates.
At Julien’s Auctions’ Treasures From the Golden Road sale at The Box SF, more than 300 lots from the collections of Jerry Garcia’s daughter, Trixie Garcia, longtime roadie Steve Parish and Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff, the band’s longtime equipment manager, went up for bid Wednesday, April 22.
One of the day’s biggest surprises was a band-signed 1993 Grateful Dead “Let’s Go to Hawaii Instead” New Year’s Eve joke concert poster, which sold for $35,200 after being estimated at $800 to $1,200, according to Julien’s results.
A 1989 Jerry Garcia handwritten setlist brought $22,400 against an estimate of $700 to $900. A Winterland dressing room plaque given to Parish sold for $19,200 after being estimated at $600 to $800.
The highest prices went to Garcia’s instruments.
A 1939 Gibson Super 400N archtop guitar sold for $256,000, tying a custom 1988 Alvarez-Yairi acoustic made for Garcia. An Alvarez Denver Belle “Whyte Eagle” banjo sold for $224,000. A 1975 Mesa/Boogie Mark I combo amplifier used by Garcia brought $38,400.
The results arrive just weeks after another major sale. In March, Garcia’s custom “Tiger” guitar sold at Christie’s for $11.56 million, a result that showed how much demand remains for artifacts tied to the Grateful Dead’s most mythologized years.
“These items represent fifty years of memories and experiences with the Grateful Dead — from the early days to the final shows in Chicago. Each piece tells a story of the music, the journey, and the community that made it all possible,” Parish said in a statement released by Julien’s.