A Gibson acoustic guitar once owned by John Lennon, and thought to be lost, will be auctioned in Beverly Hills in November.

The Gibson J-160-E was used by Lennon on many early Beatles recordings.

Darren Julien, owner of Julien's Auctions, called the guitar "one of biggest finds in music history," remarking that its sale could top the record of $965,000 set by an electric guitar once owned by Bob Dylan.

"John Lennon items don't come up very often because a lot of people keep them.

This was one of his favourite guitars, he talked about wishing he still had it," he added.

The instrument went missing in 1963, later turning up after getting purchased in a U.S. junk shop.

The guitar was then verified by a Beatles expert.