This Beatles Collection BC13 14 x LPs Vinyl Box Set with poster sold for an impressive £120 at our Cobridge auction this month. We can help with valuing and selling your vinyl at auction, simply get in touch with us at Potteries Auctions and let us see what we can do for you.
Determining the value of a record or record collection can be difficult. Are those boxes of old vinyl sat collecting dust in the attic worth anything? Is there a rare or collectible vinyl in your collection that will have avid record collectors tripping over themselves to buy? If there’s any Beatles records in there, then you could be onto a winner!
Here at Potteries Auctions, we can help determine the worth of your records and sell them at auction. Check out some of the highlights from the range of Beatles vinyl we had come through our saleroom at our recent Cobridge auction throughout this article.
This Beatles 1st Pressing Mono Gold Parlophone LP of Please Please Me with Dick James Music publishing credits was incredibly popular with our buyers and sold for a brilliant £260!
How Do I Know If My Beatles Records Are Valuable?
There are several factors that come into play when deciding whether your old records are worth anything that include, but aren’t limited to, the condition that they’re in, when they were first pressed and which artist they’re from. Depending on the record, however, the first two aren’t always that important. Often what attracts collectors to a particular record will ultimately be the recording artist, and when it comes to record collecting there is no artist that is in demand quite as much as The Beatles.
This selection of Beatles LPs, including And Now (Odeon International label), White Album and Beatles 65, sold for £95 at auction
Despite having albums that in some cases has been available for over 50 years, and with most of their records still in print today, the Beatles’ discography still draws a lot of interest from both hardcore and casual collectors alike and sells for more money than records from any other artist. This interest isn’t limited solely to original pressings either, as later issues, reissues, limited edition records and compilation albums that were produced after the band’s break up are still very much highly sought after.
This 1969 The Beatles Yellow Submarine Mono LP sold for a wonderful £95
Here’s a few features to look for when determining if your Beatles record might be worth some money at auction:
- Where the album was pressed: As the Beatles were a UK band, their records were usually issued in the UK before they were released anywhere else. Between 1963 and 1967, this was done on the record label Parlophone. Since the British albums were the blueprint for what each release should look like and what songs were featured, this also made any release from a different country that differed in any way highly collectible too. For this reason, American-pressed Beatles albums are also of great interest to collectors as Capitol Records, the band’s American label, reformatted many of their albums which made them unique to the US.
- When the album was pressed: Although later pressings can still be highly collectible, ideally collectors are looking for an album that was pressed as close to the original release date as possible. Although it’s not always easy to tell with every record due to various factors, it’s possible to tell when a Parlophone Beatles album was pressed by the numbers that are stamped in the area around the record’s label, known as the “dead wax” area.
- Whether the record is in mono or stereo: Depending on when the album was pressed, it being in mono or stereo could make it quite rare. For example, when Please Please Me was released in 1963, mono records outsold their stereo counterparts by a large margin, making early stereo pressings rare in comparison. However, by the late 1960s, most records were sold in stereo, which makes mono pressings of later Beatles albums much harder to find in comparison.
This is just a small selection of the types of things that collectors will look for when seeking out Beatles records, so as you can see determining their value can be a tricky business! This is where Potteries Auctions can help.
How Do I Buy or Sell Vinyl Records at Auction?
If you are looking to buy or sell vinyl records, our team of experts at Potteries Auctions can help. Request a call back if you are looking for an expert evaluation and are seeking to sell some records at auction. Whilst all the different factors might appear confusing, our experts can help identify, value, and sell your records.
This x606-1 withdrawn 1966 The Beatles Revolver LP sold for £90 at our Cobridge saleroom
You can join us at one of our valuation days every Tuesday, or if you can’t come in and see us in person but would like to submit items for auction or valuation, send us an email to enquiries@potteriesauctions.com with details (eg artist and single/album name, issue, original price if known, condition) and any photographs and one of our experts will provide information and auction estimates. Alternatively, give us a call on 01782 638100 to arrange an appointment Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm.
Our next Silverdale auction is Two Day Specialist Beswick & Royal Doulton Auction that’s scheduled for 7th-8th May and our next Cobridge auction is scheduled for 30th May. The details for both will be published to our Upcoming Auctions page in the coming weeks.