CURIOSITIES
Worth a fortune: the world's most valuable vinyls
LoveAntiques.com, the leading online antiques resale web platform, has created a ranking of the world's most valuable vinyls.
To make this list, LoveAntiques.com turned to the invaluable help of Phil Barton, one of the world's leading experts on rare vinyls and records.
What determines the value of the record is not the high number of copies sold, but the factor that drives up the price is errors, such as a misprint or a censored cover. Here are what vinyls are worth a fortune, according to Phil Barton and LoveAntiques.com.
The world's most valuable vinyls: here are which ones they are
LoveAntiques.com, the leading online antiques resale platform web has produced a ranking of the world's most valuable vinyls. To make this list, LoveAntiques.com turned to the invaluable help of Phil Barton, one of the world's leading experts on rare vinyls and records. What determines the value of the record is not the high number of copies sold, but basically two factors: error, such as a misprint or a censored cover, and the rarity of the copies available. Here are what vinyls are worth a fortune today, according to Phil Barton and LoveAntiques.com.
Bohemian Rhapsody/I’m In Love With My Car - Queen
There is a special edition of this vinyl, which was also used as an invitation to a corporate event. This version of the record included matches, a pen, a card, a menu, a scarf, and a chalice, and for this reason it is a unique collector's item, valued at up to 5600 euros.
Kind Hearted Woman Blues - Robert Johnson
"Kind Hearted Woman Blues" is the first-ever recording of such a legendary figure as Robert Johnson, bluesman also famous for the legend that he made a pact with the devil. This record is extremely rare in its original version, so the listing is around 8,000 euros.
Please Please Me - The Beatles
Although many copies of the first album of the four guys from Liverpool exist, one should always look at the matrix number to understand the value of a record: the original album, in fact, can fetch a price of about 8500 euros according to the valuation of Phil Barton.
Would You Believe - Billy Nicholls
Given the initial economic difficulties, only 100 copies of this album were produced: that is why owning the vinyl of "Would You Believe" means holding an heirloom worth about 11,000 euros.
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) - Frank Wilson
About 250 demos were produced of this track, but they were destroyed at the behest of Wilson himself. Apparently, there are two surviving copies of such vinyl, up to a maximum of five: one of these copies was sold in May 2009 for almost 33,000 euros. Roughly speaking, the value of this record today is precisely around 28,000-30,000 euros.
Music for Supermarkets - Jean Michael Jarre
The story of "Music for Supermarkets" is incredible: Jean Michael Jarre had only one copy of the album made and then destroyed the original master. The vinyl was sold at auction on July 6, 1983 for 69,000 francs (equivalent to 22,000 euros or $8,300 in that year). Jarre explained that this provocative choice represented a protest against the industrialization of music: today this copy is worth about 33,000 euros.
Love Me Do - The Beatles
"Love Me Do" is the first single ever by Beatles: not all copies of this record are of the highest value. The real rarity is the demo with "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", printed by Parlophone in only 250 copies. Among these copies, there is one in acetate that is worth as much as 100,000 euros. Incidentally, adding to the value of this version of the album is the presence of a spelling error: on the record the surname McCartney is written McArtney!
That’ll Be The Day/In Spite Of All The Danger - The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen is the first group founded by John Lennon, from which later emerged the future Beatles, as in 1957 and 1958 first Paul McCartney and then George Harrison joined the band. The members of Quarrymen decided that they would keep the original vinyl in shifts of one week each: they started with Lennon, then McCartney, Harrison, the drummer Colin Hanton and finally John Lowe, who kept it for 23 years. McCartney managed to buy it back from Lowe and had 50 copies reprinted for distribution to family and friends. Today the original version is worth 112,000 euros, the 50 reprints of McCartney on the other hand are worth about 11,200 euros.
The Beatles/White Album - The Beatles
Worth an incredible amount of money is the version of this album that originally belonged to Ringo Starr, the first copy of such a record to be made. Vinyl 0000001, in fact, was sold at auction for more than one million euros: this makes this version of the record the most valuable vinyl in the world!