Author : Jennifer Stone
Image Source: digitaltrends
If you are a vinyl lover, you usually go online or to a local store to find your favorite album. Although vinyl records are becoming extinct daily, especially on streaming platforms. However, what if it wasn’t the case and money was not a problem? Most people who are interested in history and rare items would be collectors and would gather items such as rare wines, antique furniture and cars, and even vinyl records. The rarest of the rarest vinyl records end up being the most valued as well. So, here are the top 10 most valued vinyl records of all time.
1. Wu-Tang Clan: ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’
The price of this vinyl record is reportedly $2 million, making it the most valued and rarest record of all time. The notorious Martin Shkreli paid this huge amount for the 2015 album, which makes Shkreli’s copy the only one to be produced. The controversial former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals is now behind bars for hiking up the price of the anti-HIV drug of his company by more than 500%. So, it looks like he will not be enjoying the most valued vinyl record for quite some time.
2. The Beatles: ‘The Beatles’ (White Album)
It is one of the most famous LPs of the legendary British rock/pop band The Beatles. The vinyl record is valued at $790,000 and the drummer Ringo Starr owned the first printing of this album. Later it was sold at an auction in the United States. The print number of ‘0000001’ is what makes the vinyl so unique.
3. Elvis Presley: ‘My Happiness’
Jack White is one of the most creative and passionate musicians in the world, who is also a vinyl record lover. In 2015, the artist attended an auction and bought the test pressing of Elvis Presley’s first-ever recording for a massive $300,000.
4. The Beatles: ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
If you think celebrities are the only ones who are buying expensive vinyl records, you would be in the wrong. The fourth on this list is again a Beatles record which was sold for $290,000 at auction. The buyer was from the Midwest and took home the first pressing of the band’s definitely most iconic album.
5. John Lennon & Yoko Ono: ‘Double Fantasy’
Any vintage pressing of the legendary John Lennon is bound to catch a shiny price at any auction. This record that Lennon made with Yoko Ono was sold for $150,000. What makes it a bit tragic is that this was the one Lennon himself signed just hours before he was brutally assassinated.
6. The Beatles: ‘Yesterday & Today’
This is a compilation record, making it one of the rarest Beatles vinyls of all time. It was only released in Japan, the U.S., and Canada and featured the band’s cover of the famous track ‘butcher’. The vinyl was sold for $125,000.
7. The Beatles: ‘Til There Was You’ (10” acetate)
If market trend gives any indication, it is that anything with rare Beatles records is considered valued. ‘Til There Was You’ is another rare and one of the most valued vinyl records that was sold for £77,500, which contains the band’s earliest demos.
8. Aphex Twin: ‘Caustic Window’ (test pressing)
This is a much newer release by Canadian artist Aphex Twin, also known as Richard D. James. Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, the creator of Minecraft paid a reported $46,300 for the rare Aphex Twin in 2014.
9. Tommy Johnson: ‘Alcohol and Jake Blues’
This record is one of the most valued vinyl records, not because the money was spent, but because the buyer already had it. It was sold for a massive $37,100 because the condition of the record was better than the one the buyer had at home!
10. Frank Wilson: ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’
The ersatz debut Frank Wilson was only pressed for 250 copies. Only five of them survived to see the modern-day after the rest of the 245 records were destroyed by the Motown boss Berry Gordy’s orders. An anonymous buyer bought one of the remaining five for £25,742 in 2009.
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