The six-page legal document, signed in 1961 in Hamburg, Germany, is expected to fetch over $150,000 (£94,000) when it goes under the hammer in New York next month (Sep15).

The contract led to the Tony Sheridan and the Beat Boys single My Bonnie, which was released on Polydor in Germany.

Signed by 'JW Lennon', 'George Harrison', 'Pete Best' and 'James Paul McCartney', the paperwork will be sold by Heritage Auctions on 19 September.

The contract is being sold by the estate of Uwe Blaschke, a Beatles historian who died in 2010.

The legal letters aren't the only Fab Four items up for sale - other memorabilia includes a signed copy of the band's first single Love Me Do and a postcard Ringo Starr sent to his mother from Hamburg.