Signed Led Zeppelin album sleeve sold for £15k despite not having the record inside

A signed Led Zeppelin album sleeve sold for £15,000 despite not having the record inside.

The 1973 copy of Houses of the Holy was only expected to get between £1,200 and £1,800.

The reason Led Zeppelin items fetch a lot is due to their rarity.

The band's drummer, John Bonham, died in 1980 at the age of 32. Less than 30 albums signed by all four members are thought to exist in the world.

Gildings’ music and memorabilia specialist, Andrew Smith, said the sale was even more impressive considering the condition of the item.

He said: "We were thrilled to achieve this astonishing result for this set of Led Zeppelin autographs fifty years on from the original release of Houses of the Holy .

"Thanks to the extreme rarity of full sets of the band’s signatures, this album cover represented a holy grail for collectors determined to own a very special piece of music memorabilia.

"The bidding did become more hesitant after hitting the £10,000 mark, but in the end a telephone bidder triumphed over the fierce competition online.”

Andrew said: “This outstanding result is testament both to the value attached to fully signed Led Zeppelin memorabilia and the general strength of the market for autographed items.

"With this set of signatures coming from a chance meeting with the band members, it just goes to show that in this day and age if you spot a celebrity, you should ask for an autograph, not a selfie!”

The original owner of the Houses of the Holy album sleeve got the signatures during a chance encounter at Gatwick Airport in 1977, when the band were returning to the UK for a break during a tour of America.

Led Zeppelin formed in 1968 in London and sold more than 200 million records over the years, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.