The former Beatles' prints, taken at a New York police station in 1976, were due to go under the hammer at an auction house in New York.

But on Wednesday (October 6) the FBI issued a subpoena demanding the card be handed over.

"This really has nothing to do with John Lennon per se," FBI Agent James Margolin told the BBC. "It has to do with a government document."

Peter Siegel, who was behind the auction, said the prints were owned by a music trader who acquired them two decades ago.

He will now have to decide whether he wants to claim them back from the FBI.

The incident comes on the eve of what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. Celebrations are due to be held across the globe.

(by Jason Gregory)