{"id":2201,"date":"2017-09-25T15:55:56","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T21:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/?p=2201"},"modified":"2019-05-14T11:54:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T17:54:50","slug":"8-rare-vinyl-records-make-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/8-rare-vinyl-records-make-rich","title":{"rendered":"8 Rare Vinyl Records That Could Make You Rich"},"content":{"rendered":"

Used vinyl records are a popular modern-day collector\u2019s item for both serious music junkies and the casual estate sale shopper. Vinyl records are no longer relegated to a dark corner of the attic. Hipster millennials have demonstrated a taste for used vinyl records, as evidenced by a growth in vinyl sales of <\/span>more than 25 percent in 2015<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shopping for vinyl records is sometimes known as “crate digging”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a serious collector culture around vinyl\u2014 so much so that there is even a TED talk<\/a> about it. \u00a0Sometimes called crate digging, dedicated collectors will hunt down rare vinyl records at estate sales and online auctions<\/a>. There is feverish competition for some of the most popular older albums and just a quick \u00a0search will show an abundance of vinyl records for sale online.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why People Collect Used Vinyl Records<\/h2>\n

Dan Wade, head writer at JustCollecting.com, says the reason for the surge in record popularity is a direct response to the rise of the iPod and streamable music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour handheld device can hold thousands of songs,\u201d Wade says. \u201cYou can even just stream the song of your choice, no ownership required. Yet an LP is an object you can hold, that you have to physically place on the turntable and play with a needle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Streamable music and iPods have actually contributed to a jump in vinyl sales.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s this draw to the physical act of music listening that has made records so popular in the last decade. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In the digital age, the physical act of playing a record has great appeal for some collectors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wade also says that album art presents a romantic draw for many collectors. \u201cThe LP cover is also a thing of beauty when done right,\u201d he says. \u201cThat beauty rarely translates to the smaller CD size.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps it\u2019s the intrinsic value of vintage memorabilia that really draws a person to fanatic collection. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOwning something that is old is a thrill,\u201d Wade says. \u201cOwning something that is old <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> rare is doubly thrilling. The excitement and delight of hunting down rarities is addictive to many record collectors.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Collecting used vinyl records has become increasingly popular in the past decade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While some collectors cite a better listening experience as their reason for crate digging, there is also serious cash to be earned by the discovery and resale of some legendary albums. Wade says there are even some record collectors in the mix who are doing it for the money. \u201cThe vinyl-collecting boom of the past decade has seen prices soar for the rarest, most desirable records,\u201d he says. \u201cThis has brought a significant number of investment-minded buyers into the market. They’re still very much in the minority though, compared with those who buy purely for the joy of ownership. And, of course, there is crossover between these two groups.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some investors shop for rare records solely for their monetary value.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While many folks are selling their vinyl records online, it can also be easy to score at estate sales and thrift stores. \u201c<\/span>You can still occasionally find bargains at your local flea market (but you really have to know your records),\u201d Wade says. \u201cEbay is, of course, hugely popular and will normally be cheaper than buying through a record shop. But you will encounter fakes on eBay, so go in with your eyes open.<\/span>\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

What to Look For in a Used Vinyl Record<\/h2>\n

Rarity and age count for something, but the value of a used vinyl record can be ruined by poor condition. Serious collectors are on the hunt for pristine condition albums and sleeves \u201cU<\/span>nless you’re talking about a ridiculously rare record, condition is vital to price,\u201d says Wade.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t uncommon in the peak era of album production to put your name on a sleeve to ensure your album didn\u2019t get lost or mixed up with someone else\u2019s. This, while nostalgic, greatly reduces the value of an album and sleeve. \u201cThe older the record, the less likely the vinyl and sleeve will be anywhere near approaching mint condition,\u201d says Wade. \u201cIt’s why the best condition examples of desirable vintage records sell for a big premium.\u201d When examining the condition of the sleeve, look at the corners\u2014are they still sharp or have they worn down? Are there stains or marks on the cover?<\/span><\/p>\n

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The edges of these album sleeves are clearly worn down from heavy use. No sharp corners here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The condition of the vinyl itself is obviously important, too. Records that have a shiny surface and can be played smoothly (without jumps) will be of greater value than those that are heavily used and blemished. You also want to look out for warping\u2014a vinyl in excellent condition will be completely flat.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A badly warped vinyl record.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While condition is important, perfection isn\u2019t everything: used vinyl records can still be worth owning.<\/span><\/p>\n

“A record played a few times can still be an attractive proposition, so long as it has been cared for when not on the turntable,\u201d Wade says.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The neat thing about used vinyl records is that it\u2019s very possible these albums have changed hands among people who never realized how valuable they were\u2014but it\u2019s unlikely that a knowledgeable record store owner will accidentally sell you a rare vinyl record for a few dollars. That\u2019s why <\/span>estate sales<\/span><\/a>, thrift stores, and online outlets present your best bet for finding excellent vintage vinyl. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are eight valuable and rare vinyl records that you might stumble upon at your next estate sale.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The Beatles –\u00a0Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band\u00a0<\/em>(boxed set reissue, 1982)<\/h2>\n
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Album art for The Beatles’ “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No discussion of valuable records would be complete without a mention\u2014or a few mentions\u2014of one of history\u2019s most legendary rock bands: The Beatles.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Beatles. From L-R: John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band <\/span><\/i>was the eighth album ever made by The Beatles and it was originally released in June of 1967. The band worked tirelessly on the album, clocking more than 400 studio hours in just a few months. The 13-track LP includes some of The Beatles\u2019 most notable songs, including <\/span>Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>With a Little Help From My <\/span><\/i>Friends<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>The box set features the iconic album cover with red capital letters that reads \u201cBEATLES.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

What makes the 1982 box set of this album so valuable is its rarity. Only 5000 were produced and each was hand numbered. Each was pressed in the Japanese city of Yokohama at the Victor Company of Japan plant. A low-number copy could snatch you as much as $<\/span>500<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Led Zeppelin – <\/b>Led Zeppelin <\/i><\/b>(limited early pressing with turquoise lettering, 1969)<\/b><\/h2>\n
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An image of a very common copy of Led Zeppelin’s debut album. Rare first pressings included the album title in turquoise text.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before Led Zeppelin was Led Zeppelin, the band performed in Scandinavia as \u201cThe New Yardbirds.\u201d In 1968, just a month after the four-man band returned from their northern tour, they entered London\u2019s Olympic Studios to record their eponymous debut album, <\/span>Led Zeppelin.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Led Zeppelin. From L-R: Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Jimmy Page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tour acted as a rehearsal for their studio time: <\/span>Led Zeppelin <\/span><\/i>was recorded in just 36 hours. Jimmy Page brought the album to Atlantic Records, who simply couldn\u2019t resist and signed the band almost immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lead guitarist Jimmy Page selected the image for the album\u2019s cover: a black-and-white photo of the burning Hindenburg airship (a literal \u201czeppelin\u201d). The band\u2019s name and the album title is located in the upper left corner. It\u2019s the color of this lettering that indicates value. On most <\/span>Led Zeppelin <\/span><\/i>albums, the type is a nearly-neon orange color (like the photo above). When this LP first went to press, a few sleeves were printed with the words in a turquoise color. The band changed their mind at the last minute and very few of these early pressings exist, but they are highly identifiable. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Led Zeppelin’s debut album is not rare, only around 1,000 bearing the band’s name in turquoise lettering on the cover exist,\u201d says Wade.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you happen to have a turquoise-lettered album, it could get you more than $<\/span>800<\/span>. One sold for almost $2,000 on eBay in 2012. Wade reports the turquoise-lettered album in \u201cnear-mint\u201d condition is worth about $1,300. <\/span><\/p>\n

3. The Beatles –\u00a0The White Album<\/em><\/h2>\n
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An Israeli pressing of The White Album, signed by Paul McCartney.\u00a0Image courtesy of JustCollecting.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just a year after the release of <\/span>Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band,<\/span><\/i> The Beatles released another long and hugely popular album commonly referred to as <\/span>The White Album<\/span><\/i> (formally, the album is eponymously titled \u201cThe Beatles\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

The thirty songs in <\/span>The White Album <\/span><\/i>tell a story, with many of the band member\u2019s family making appearances. The song \u201cJulia\u201d is about John Lennon\u2019s mother. \u201cMartha My Dear\u201d is about Paul McCartney\u2019s dog.<\/span><\/p>\n

The album also had its fair share of drama, considering that the band would break up in 1970, just over a year after its release. Drummer Ringo Starr actually left the band for a few weeks during recording, so McCartney is the featured drummer on two of the album\u2019s tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The album\u2019s minimalist cover is a result of direct instruction by McCartney, who asked artist Richard Hamilton to provide a stark contrast to the colorful chaos of the <\/span>Sgt Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club <\/span><\/i>album. <\/span><\/p>\n

Original pressings of this album are highly sought after and could potentially be worth thousands of dollars. Like the <\/span>Sgt. Pepper <\/span><\/i>album, all of the original pressings of <\/span>The White Album<\/span><\/i> have serial numbers. \u201c<\/span>Each White Album cover has its own number,\u201d explains Wade of JustCollecting.com. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose numbered under 1,000 are highly prized but prices fall away after the first four, which the band received. Ringo had No. 0000001 and it sold for $910,000 in 2015. No. 0000005 sold for $30,000 in 2008.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you happen to have one with a serial number under 1,000 in your collection, you might be poised to make a lot of money off of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The White Album serial number 0000001. Image courtesy of JustCollecting.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. David Bowie – <\/b>Diamond Dogs <\/i>(limited pressing with original artwork)<\/b><\/h2>\n

David Bowie has always loved a good bit of controversy and his fans are no different.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Original album artwork for Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. Image courtesy of JustCollecting.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bowie\u2019s <\/span>Diamond Dogs<\/span><\/i> album was released in 1974 to a flurry of objections. The album\u2019s cover art, by Guy Peelleart, depicts Bowie\u2019s torso attached the bottom half of a dog. Peelleart based his depiction on a photograph of Bowie captured by Terry O\u2019Neill. Originally, the dog was anatomically correct. Only a few of these were printed\u2014one record company employee estimated less than ten\u2014before RCA Records realized the scandal and censored the animal\u2019s groin with airbrushing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The few original artwork sleeves that made it into rotation can be worth thousands. The original artwork was used in later releases, though, so it\u2019s important to confirm the release year to ensure the album\u2019s value. The withdrawn album has reportedly <\/span>sold on eBay<\/span><\/a> for $3,550.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Elvis Presley –\u00a0Elvis Presley\u00a0<\/em>(mono copy)<\/h2>\n

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There is no dearth of Elvis Presley records out there, as almost every American teenage girl alive in 1950s owned one or several of The King\u2019s vinyls. This abundance means that Presley records don\u2019t tend to be worth much these days.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there are some exceptions, including some copies of his debut album, <\/span>Elvis Presley <\/span><\/i>(in Britain, the record was produced under the name <\/span>Rock and Roll<\/span><\/i>). Mono copies\u2014ones that can be played on traditional record player, not a stereo system\u2014can sell for nearly $1,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Bob Dylan –\u00a0The Freewheelin\u2019 Bob <\/i><\/b>Dylan\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/i>(with four withdrawn tracks)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The iconic artwork on Bob Dylan’s second album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bob Dylan\u2019s second album <\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Freewheelin\u2019 Bob Dylan <\/span><\/i>has a very interesting and mysterious story behind it\u2019s potentially high value.<\/span> Legend has it that, just before the album was released in 1963, four of the songs were replaced with new ones. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a lot of speculation around why this happened: some say it was related to censorship around the song \u201cTalkin\u2019 John Birch Blues,\u201d and others argue it was because Dylan recorded some excellent songs after the album’s completion that simply <\/span>had<\/span><\/i> to be put on the record (two of the replacement songs were some of Dylan\u2019s most celebrated: \u201cMasters of War\u201d and \u201cGirl from the North Country\u201d). After the new tracks were added, the album\u2019s artwork was also changed to the iconic image of Dylan with then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bob Dylan playing harmonica and guitar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A handful of albums with the withdrawn tracks were accidentally printed because of a miscommunication. Since the 60s, only two mono copies and less than 20 stereo copies of the album containing those four original tracks have surfaced. <\/span><\/p>\n

Recordmecca<\/span><\/a> reports that the way to identify an original <\/span>Freewheelin\u2019 <\/span><\/i>album is with the matrix number embossed on both sides of the album. The numbers will end in -1A, instead of -2 like the normal copies. And, of course, a true original will list and play the four withdrawn tracks: \u201cTalkin\u2019 John Birch Blues,\u201d \u201cRocks and Gravel,\u201d \u201cLet Me Die In My Footsteps,\u201d and \u201cGamblin\u2019 Willie\u2019s Dead Man\u2019s Hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

7. The Sex Pistols –\u00a0God Save the Queen\u00a0<\/em>single LP (produced by A&M Records)<\/h2>\n

The Sex Pistols were a notoriously chaotic band. After being dropped by EMI, they signed a deal with A&M Records in 1977. Just hours after the highly public signing ceremony, the band wreaked drunken havoc around A&M\u2019s office. After less than a week and several other aggressive incidents, A&M dropped The Sex Pistols, but not before pressing 25,000 copies of their single, \u201cGod Save the Queen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen single LP, produced by A&M Records. Image courtesy of JustCollecting.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of these pressings were destroyed, but a handful of A&M employees appear to have kept their copies, because at least nine still exist and keep cropping up at auction. Just a couple of years ago, a copy of this rare vinyl record sold for about\u00a0<\/span>$7,835.<\/span><\/p>\n

8.\u00a0Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland<\/em> (1968)<\/b><\/h2>\n

The first pressing of Jimi Hendrix\u2019s Electric Ladyland <\/i>featured an image of a large group of stark-naked women, some of whom were holding images of Hendrix.<\/p>\n

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The original album artwork for Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was considered in bad taste, and Jimi hated it, so it was altered for the US release,\u201d Wade says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Album artwork for Jim Hendrix’s release of Electric Ladyland in the US.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because the US release of the album was different, the original album featuring the group of women is reasonably rare. “That rarity, coupled with its infamy, means there’s a big market for it,” says Wade. Today, the estimated value of one of the naked-lady vinyls is about\u00a0$1,110<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Used vinyl records are a popular modern-day collector\u2019s item for both serious music junkies and the casual estate sale shopper. Vinyl records are no longer relegated to a dark corner of the attic. Hipster millennials have demonstrated a taste for used vinyl records, as evidenced by a growth in vinyl sales of more than 25\u2026Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[149,147,153,151],"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2201"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3785,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions\/3785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/thegoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}