The Beatles perform on stage during their first tour of the US in these photographs taken by Mike Mitchell and auctioned by Christie's in New York on Wednesday. Mike Mitchell / Christie's Handout via Reuters

In 1964, an enterprising 18-year-old snapped pictures of the Beatles' momentous first US concert in Washington.

On Wednesday, Christie's auction house said it sold 50 silver gelatin prints that the photographer, Mike Mitchell, made from the negatives for $361,938. The images, plus photos from another Beatles concert, had been estimated to fetch a total of $100,000.

The Beatles played their first US concert at the Washington Coliseum on February 11, 1964, two days after their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Mike Mitchell was there, shooting photos from just a meter away and even jumping onto the stage for the group's pre-concert press call.

Among the highlights is a backlit shot of the band that he took while standing directly behind them. It sold on Wednesday for $68,500 - its pre-sale estimate was $2,000 to $3,000.

An image of an animated Ringo Starr on the drums sold for $8,125. It was estimated to be worth $3,000 to $5,000. Christie's said the shot depicts a rare moment where Starr was both drummer and lead singer on a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but made famous by The Rolling Stones: I Wanna Be Your Man.

Cathy Elkies, Christie's director of iconic collections, said she had expected the bids to exceed the pre-sale estimates. "Beatles fans are fierce. To uncover this trove of images that's never been published will really excite people," she said.

Also included in the sale are photos of the band's September 13, 1964, performance at the Baltimore Civic Center.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Mitchell described the rollicking scene at the Washington indoor arena - not only of screaming fans but also of his unrestricted access.

"It was a long time ago. Things weren't that way then," said the 65-year-old, who now works as an art photographer in Washington. "It was as low-tech as the concert itself. The concert was in a sports venue, and the sound system was the sound system of a sports venue."

Equally astonishing is how few other photographs from that first concert exist.

Mitchell stored the negatives for years in a box in his basement. For the silver gelatin prints in the auction, he used digital technology to do "much better darkroom work that could ever have been done in a traditional darkroom".

Until now, he added, the images "couldn't be restored to the extent that they have."

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