The Beatles, pictured at EMI House Manchester Square, London, with a hoard of silver discs. They were presented with two silver LPs to mark the quarter-million plus sales of their first LP "Please Please Me" and their new one "With the Beatles". * as well as for their "Twist & Shout" EP and "She Loves You". Left to right: Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. * 13/9/2000: Gold discs presented to the Beatles to celebrate the millionth sale of A Hard Day's Night were seized by customs officials in the 60s and still remain in the Customs and Excise library. According to documents released at the Public Records Office in Kew, west london, the 10 discs, presented to the four members of the band by the Capitol recording company, were confiscated at the Royal Victoria docks in London on December 6, 1964 having arrived by boat from the US. 20/11/00: The Beatles' greatest hits collection 1 has stormed into the number one spot, making it the fastest selling album of the year. The 27-song album went platinum, selling 319,126 copies within a week of being released. 30/1/2001: The 60s group have topped the charts as biggest pop earners of the past 12 months with earnings of 55 million, a new rich list showed. U2 came in second with earnings of 50 million with Irish boy band Westlife, the highest placed newcomers in the Heat magazine survey, landing 10th position with the 5 million they are reckoned to have made in 2000. * 30/11/01 It has been announced that George Harrison, the Beatles' quiet lead guitarist and spiritual explorer has died, a longtime family friend told The Associated Press. Harrison, who wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes the Sun, was 58.