Dick Clark Cleans House

Dick Clark let go of much of his treasure trove of memorabilia at a December 5-6 auction, but had to yank the flagship item – a Paul McCartney bass that may not be authentic.

The auction included a bustier worn by Madonna, which sold for $11,400; a cape belonging to Elvis, for $24,000; Bob Dylan‘s harmonica, for $18,000; and a microphone used by Clark on his first episode of “American Bandstand,” for $33,000.

However, Guernsey’s auction house, which oversaw the auction at the Rose Theater at New York’s Lincoln Center, had to remove Macca’s alleged bass from the auction. The left-handed Hofner with autograph was expected to sell for as much as $100,000.

Beatles signature expert Frank Caiazzo, who has spent 20 years studying Beatles signatures, found the autographs lacking.

“When I saw the Hofner bass, in my opinion, the signatures on the bass were not authentic. … They stood out to me as being very shaky forgeries, done by somebody with limited skill,” Caiazzo told ABC News.

“Paul only really had two Hofners while he was with The Beatles,” author Andy Babiuk added. “The first one was stolen in 1969, unfortunately. And the second one was the one he used primarily throughout The Beatles, and he still owns it to this day.”