The auction house Christie's will sell about 95 guitars that belonged to Johnny Marr, the guitarist from The Smiths, starting 17 September 2026 in London. Some of the guitars could fetch as much as £150,000 each, according to Christie's. People interested in buying can view them from 9 to 16 September before the auction.

The star of the sale is a 1982 Rickenbacker 330 — the exact guitar Marr played on "This Charming Man," one of The Smiths' most famous songs. He bought it in 1983. It's expected to sell for between £60,000 and £80,000. There's another guitar in the collection that's even more valuable — it could sell for up to £150,000, though Marr hasn't said which one it is yet, according to RTÉ.

Something interesting: Marr decided that 10 of the 95 guitars will be given entirely to charity. All the money from selling those 10 guitars will go to causes he supports, according to PA Media. The specific charities haven't been announced yet.

Why does this matter? Guitars from famous musicians tend to sell for a lot of money. People paid big sums for guitars owned by Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain, and David Gilmour. But Marr's situation is unusual — he's still alive and still playing music. That typically means the guitars are well-documented and tracked, which is good for buyers who want to know the history. But it also means prices might not be as high as they'd be for a deceased musician's instruments, since collectors sometimes pay more for instruments connected to artists no longer performing.

The Rickenbacker 330 is particularly special. This type of guitar became famous in the 1980s because of the bright, ringing sound it made — the sound that defined The Smiths' early music. Because Marr played this exact guitar on the original recordings, that documented history could push the price higher than usual.

What happens next depends on whether people who buy rare guitars care mainly about The Smiths, or whether they're also interested in Marr's work as a solo artist and his collaborations with other bands since 1990. If most of the guitars came from his Smiths years, the auction might only excite hardcore fans. If his later work is well represented, the sale could appeal to a wider range of collectors.

Christie's hasn't released the full list of guitars yet. When people come to view them in September, that will be the first chance to see everything in person and understand what makes each one valuable. The full details should become clear in the weeks before the sale.