This photo provided by RR Auction of Amhurst, N.H. shows a signature of Beatle John Lennon in the September 1966 edition of the magazine Datebook. The magazine with the Lennon signature is being auctioned. [Agencies]

A 1966 magazine signed by John Lennon containing his remark that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus has sold for $12,713.

An orthopedia surgeon at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center had the winning bid Thursday in a 17-day online auction run by RR Auction of Amherst, N.H.

Lennon signed "John C. Lennon" above his photo in the September 1966 "Datebook," even though his middle initial is W. for Winston.

In the magazine, Lennon said: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first — rock 'n' roll or Christianity."

His comment provoked much anti-Beatle sentiment in the United States, where some people burned their Beatle records.

(China Daily/AP September 18, 2009)