If you’re one of those people who can’t get rid of old vinyl records, and you have a box collecting dust in the attic or closet, it might be time to analyze it and check if it doesn’t have any hidden ‘treasure’.
For some fans and collectors, there are relics worth thousands or even millions of euros, and old vinyls are, according to the Daily Mail, reaching record values since the 1990s.
See the list of old records that reached the highest values ever:
1. Wu-Tang Clan: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin – between two and four million dollars
Created in 2015 in protest against the devaluation of music in the digital world, only one copy was created. It was first sold for 2 million dollars to a pharmacist, who was later convicted of fraud, and saw the disc seized by authorities. It would be sold by the US Government for four million dollars.
2. Bob Dylan: Blowin’ in the Wind – $1.77 million
It is a unique album, auctioned in 2022 by Christie’s. This record is made of acetate, which produces better sound quality, but is very delicate, so it has a sapphire and quartz gradient cover, like the International Space Station, to protect it from wear.
3. John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy – 850 thousand dollars
It is a copy of the album that was autographed by John Lennon for Mark Chapman, the man who would kill the Beatles singer a few hours later, on December 8, 1980.
4. The Beatles: White Album – 790 thousand dollars
A classic as soon as it came out in 1968, the first four editions were given to each of the four Beatles and, in 2015, Ringo Starr sold his personal copy, which reached a record value in the USA.
5. Elvis Presley: My Happiness – 300 thousand dollars
The first album recorded by Elvis was purchased by Jack White, of the White Stripes, who then made a faithful copy of the fragile acetate record, which he later reissued.
6. The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 290 thousand dollars
A copy of this iconic Beatles album, signed by the four members of the band, was sold for $290,000 to an American collector in 2013.
7. The Quarry Men: That’ll Be The Day/In Spite of All the Danger – $250,000
The band founded by John Lennon with other school friends, before the formation of the Beatles, recorded a cover of That’ll Be the Day, by Buddy Holly, and with an original song, written by Lennon and George Harrison. Considered the rarest record in the United Kingdom, the original acetate record fetched $250,000 at auction.
8. The Beatles: Yesterday & Today – 125 thousand dollars
An initial version of the album, in which the cover shows the Liverpool band covered in raw meat and dismembered dolls (it sparked controversy and was changed), was sold in 2013 for $125,000 at auction.
9. The Beatles: ‘Til There Was You (10-inch acetate) – $97,800
The ‘Holy Grail’ for many collectors and fans of The Beatles, the original 10-inch acetate was sold in March 2016 for almost $98 million.
10. Aphex Twin: Caustic Window – $46,300
The most recent album on this list, recorded in 1994. Considered lost, the album reached the testing stage, meaning only one copy existed. The pressure test version was sold in 2014 to the creator of the game Minecraft.
