A rare Fender Stratocaster guitar was the star lot at Cordier Antiques & Auctions' recent Two Day Fall Antiques & Fine Art Auction.

The $22k Stratocaster was consigned
by an 84-year-old former swing band
leader

The single-owner Strat was consigned by an 84-year-old Carlisle native, John Hippensteel.

Purchased in 1954, the guitar aroused much interest in the weeks leading up to the auction and generated much bidding in the saleroom and on the phones.

Eventually, strong bidding saw the hammer go down at $22,000, sold to a collector over the phone in Ohio.

This guitar isn't only a fascinating piece of Fender history. Its consignor, Hippensteel, was the former lead singer of the Blue Ridge Boys.

The Blue Ridge Boys were a popular Pennsylvania-based hillbilly and Western swing band in the 1950s. They recorded several albums, alongside stage, radio and television appearances.

Mr Hippensteel bought the guitar in 1954 for $225.

Cordier Antiques & Auctions' sale took place on November 7-8 in Pennsylvania.