A blue electric guitar on which Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain played his hit song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is being auctioned off in the United States.

The iconic musical instrument is one of over 1,200 pieces by various artists being offered at the three-day Music Icons auction in New York at the end of May, auction house Julien's Auctions announced on Monday (local time) in Beverly Hills.

Cobain's guitar, a 1969 Fender Mustang Competition, is estimated to fetch $800,000.

It will be offered for the first time in an auction, it said.

Part of the proceeds will benefit an aid organization for the mentally ill.

Cobain plays guitar in the music video for the 1991 grunge smash "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the bestselling album Nevermind.

The song also became legendary due to the tragic life of the singer, who took his own life in 1994 at the age of 27.

Other Cobain memorabilia in the auction include his 1965 Dodge Dart vehicle (estimate up to $600,000) and a Cobain-painted skateboard (estimate up to $40,000).

In June 2020, Julien's Auctions had set an auction record with a Cobain guitar.

His iconic 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic-electric guitar fetched over $6 million at auction.

Cobain played the instrument at his legendary "MTV Unplugged" performance in New York in 1993, five months before his death.