How Much Is My Album Collection Worth an Old Fashioned Christmas by Readers Digest

These specially sought subsequently/collectable vinyl will either cost you lot a pretty penny at a tape store (or Ebay) or purse y'all a few quid from inside that dusty box in the loft!

Records give more a sense of the history of music than anything else and somehow their marketplace value reflects this; for example, manufacturer's mistakes/alterations or the expiry of the artist can dramatically bear upon the re-auction value of a record. And by and large speaking, rare records from the 60s and 70s (the 'golden era' of music) which merely had a few hundred copies pressed are the about valuable (even if that band is largely unknown), commanding four-figure sums in some cases Moreover, singles in many cases are more valuable than both EPs and LPs. But who sits at the elevation of the pile with the about valuable and collectable record that ever went to market place? And which records nonetheless in circulation are worth a few quid?

Spoiler warning: this list contains The Beatles

Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left (1969)

Nick Drake fits the clarification of musician-turned-fable following his untimely death at the historic period of 27.

With just three albums released by the young creative person, Drake'south records are extremely rare and an original pressing of the artist's debut, Five Leaves Left,can sell for up of £yard depending on its quality of grade.

The Start Pressing

There is debate over which is the truthful first pressing but it is largely accepted that the textured pink characterization with wrong fourth and 5th vocal order ('Style To Blue' and 'Mean solar day Is Done') printed on its sleeve, and machine stamped matrix numbers is the real McCoy. NB: You lot will discover no A1/B1 matrix on outset pressings, a showtime pressing volition read A2/B2.

The Pink Label

In that location are 2 types of 'shine' pink label variants out at that place too, ane with wrong running society on the characterization and one corrected. But the textured label pressings, with all same characteristics, tend to be the most valuable. All three variants have 'Fabricated In England' printed on the label whereas reissues do not.

The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963)

Records by The Beatles are of course very collectable, but this in itself is strange when you consider that there are literally millions out at that place and about are relatively easy to get hold of. To collect records properly, y'all must be prepared to put the hours in authenticating a record, and so get comfortable!

The Beatles Bibelot

By and large speaking, the fewer records pressed by bands/artists, the more valuable it will invariably be. Still, The Beatles control a different value. Equally the pioneers of modern pop music, the entreatment is worldwide. Whatsoever starting time pressing will be worth something, yet status is still essential if you want to make/spend the big bucks.

Having pressed and sold millions of records, it'south near impossible to find a first pressing of a Beatles tape in mint/near-mint condition so when one comes along, collectors will pay a premium.

Please Delight Tell Me What it's Worth

Delight Please Me was outset pressed on the gilded and blackness Parlophone label but it soon switched to yellowish and black. These minor details can hateful everything. Stereo copies on the aureate and black label will fetch you in excess of £5000.

Queen – 'Bohemian Rhapsody'/'I'm In Love With My Car' (1978)

Extravagance all round!

A rare edition of Queen'due south most celebrated anthem was as well served, at in one case, as an invite to an EMI event replete with goodies including the entry ticket, matches, a pen, a menu, an outer carte sleeve, EMI goblets (?) and a scarf!  So, the tape stands out quite a bit. Never ones to shy abroad from a bit of colour, the Queen single was pressed on a bright royal blue vinyl and this copy/set up is valued at the rather colourful sum of £5000.

The Beatles – The White Album (1968)

The Beatles Anomaly #2

What can I say? The Beatles just about boss any musical list. But they as well have on a special kind of reverence and hateful different things to different people making their value susceptible to change on an individual'southward basis.

Everybody's got something to hide, except for this guy with 639 copies ofThe White Album

Epitome via Dust and Grooves

Yep, New Yorker Rutherford Chang only collects first pressings of The White Anthology. So far he has 639 copies, all of which vary in quality and serial number. In an interview with Dust and Grooves, Chang discusses his interest in the cover and how its all white, minimal cover is susceptible to the ageing, or the journey of an individual album. Needless to say, and then, he is non your boilerplate collector, spinning the same anthology every day and maintaining it'due south even so his favourite. He even went as far every bit to play 100 White Albums simultaneously with positively nightmarish yet cute results. What'south brilliant is that each tape's varying quality plays a part in the experiment's outcome; where the album begins seemingly quite normal, all 100 albums playing at together at the same time, it before long develops into a equus caballus race to the finish line with tracks overlapping, overtaking and falling behind. You lot can listen to the piece below.

Valuation of the White Album

Ok, this is the difficult part. There are a multitude of criteria to adhere to and hoops you have to jump through to guarantee yourself/part with some dough. Ready? Here we go:

• Is it a US copy, a UK copy?
• Is 'The Beatles' embossed or printed on the front?
• Does it incorporate the poster, all portraits?
• Are all known misspellings present (i.east. 'Rocky Racoon' (not 'Raccoon')?
• Is the series number a seven digit number and is it preceded by the correct number of zeros, is it and then preceded by a prefix 'A' (broad), 'A' (thin), a black dot or the prefix 'No.' (two variants)?
• Is information technology one of only 12 made with the serial: A2000000 to commemorate 2,000,000 copies sold?

 And so on and then on...

Essentially, if it'south a Us offset pressing, with all misspellings, a serial number and embossed lettering yous're looking at $800 for 1 in expert condition. Only, if the serial number is low, it is worth more (serial number 0000001 sold for $fifteen,000 in 2009). If the serial number is between ii and 9 add 2000%. For series numbers under 10,000 add 50%. Add $15 if poster is included and $7 for each Beatles portrait.

A United kingdom first pressing with all the trimmings in very practiced condition could cost yous a maximum of £g merely expect to add 50% with serial numbers below ten,000 and an extra couple of quid for posters and portraits. Got it? Good!

Sex activity Pistols – 'God Save The Queen'/'No Feelings' (1977)

This is an interesting one because the 1977 run of the Pistols' single doesn't just exist on i label. On A&M, just 300 copies are said to exist after it was withdrawn from sale. This pressing is valued at approximately £10,000. A&M too circulated promo copies and i of the few known to exist in circulation recently sold on eBay for $17,179 (£eleven,728). However, there is an even rarer copy on 50.T.S. Only two copies are to be, one of which sold recently for no less than £12,629. And finally, a tertiary label, The Town House, is known to accept pressed the vii" unmarried in 1977 onto a single-sided x" acetate. Although an unknown amount of copies were produced, ane of the only ones believed to exist sold in 2011 for a mega $23,000 (£15,702).

Chaos in the Record industry

That there are 3 separate, very small-scale releases of this unmarried highlights the band's turbulent relationship with labels, all of which contribute to and complement their punk legacy; their value and their place in history. Merely it also shows the lengths collectors will go to become their own piece of history. Added to that is the irony that music'due south near outspoken non-conformists; the prototype of anti-establishment attitude, are amongst the globe's almost collectable, and thus the about expensive bands.

The Five Sharps – 'Stormy Weather' 78rpm single (1952)

The story of this item record is every bit wild as the rails suggests. The ring was famously paid in hot dogs and soda for the session in New York where they cut 2 songs in i day. The single was put out on Jubilee #5104 and the members had to buy their own copies (despite not being paid for the session) because sales of the record were so poor. But the legend of this 78 is but beginning unbeknownst to the band.

From Hot Dogs to Big Bucks

Initially, 'Stormy Weather' encounters some misfortune of its own and takes a turn for the worst in 1961. Tape collector, Billy Pensabene took a copy of the 78 he had found to Times Square Records, run past Irving "Slim" Rose, who borrowed the 78 to play on his 'Sink Or Swim With Swingin' Slim' radio show which broke whilst in his care. The story goes that Slim promised Billy a replacement copy of the 78 and then put adverts up in the shop window offer $25-$50 for a copy. Time went past and notwithstanding no 78. Then things went from bad to worse. Slim, in a last ditch attempt to be a man of his word and reclaim a copy, visited Jubilee Records and asked owner, Jerry Blaine, to reissue the 78. Unfortunately, The Five Sharps' session was one of a batch of lxxx masters that had been destroyed in a burn down. A nationwide search was underway and 'Stormy Weather' became the well-nigh sought afterward doo-wop tape in history. Despite a somewhat roguish endeavor past Jubilee to re-record the rail using completely different musicians nether the aforementioned 5 Sharps moniker, the legend continued to grow for that original 78. Over the next 15 years only three copies ever turned up; one chipped, one cracked and one in very good condition. The third was sold in 1977 and is at present valued at around £xvi,910.

The Velvet Surreptitious - The Velvet Undercover and Nico (1966)

An early version of the band's debut cut to acetate is the only known version to exist and was bought with two other records for only 75 cents at a New York Metropolis stoop sale.

The ring'due south amanuensis at the time, the eminent pop artist, Andy Warhol, assembled the acetate to ship effectually to various labels and differs in order to the album now affectionately known as The Assistant Album.

In 2006, owner, Warren Hill, sold it at auction for $25,200. Following Lou Reed's decease in 2013 and the rise in interest in both the band and records, who knows how much information technology is worth today.

The Quarrymen – 'That'll Be The 24-hour interval/In Spite Of All The Danger' (1958)

It's a third entry from The Beatles.

The only known pressing of this pre-Beatles cutting is as rare as they come up and with a price tag to friction match. It is said to be the most valuable record in the world according to manufacture bible, Tape Collector. The Quarrymen (McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, drummer Colin Hanton and pianist John Duff Lowe) cut the single at a local studio. McCartney recalls: "We shared the record. I kept it for a week, George kept it for a week, John kept it for a week, Colin Hanton kept it for a week, then Duff kept information technology for 23 years."

Worth a mesmerising £200,000+ it's no surprise this is the Holy Grail in the collector'due south globe. Even the 1981 replica copies (merely 25 made) are worth £10,000. Paul McCartney is said to be the current minder of the original who bought it back from band-member and long-time guardian, Duff, for an undisclosed corporeality.

John Lennon/Yoko Ono – Double fantasy (1980)

And finally, surprise surprise, a Beatle!

Lennon and Ono'southward anthology is on this list for sheer stupor value. It's value is somewhere in region of £355,173. Merely before you spit your tea out and grit off your re-create of this archetype, at that place is only one copy worth this much, and its history is spooky.

On December eighth 1980, outside John Lennon'south flat edifice, Mark David Chapman asked Lennon to sign his copy of the LP. Simply v hours after, Chapman would render and murder Lennon. Not merely does the anthology accept the terminal known signature Lennon gave, only it also has Chapman's fingerprints on information technology. A disturbing logic information technology seems equally to its apparent value, but like I have outlined: records offering more of a sense of the history of music than all other formats and you tin't get more of a sense of music history than the terminal signed artifact of one of the world'southward greatest musicians owned by his assassin.

Keep up with the superlative stories fromReader's Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter

Share this post