Valuing Beatles LPs 19 September 2010 at 6:33PM in Wales 2 replies 1.8K views

Cannyshopper

I work in a charity shop in West Wales and we've been donated several Beatles LPs. Does anyone know the best place to have them valued or to sell them?

Many thanks.

Psychobabble

Try looking in the record collector mag in the newsagents or an Internet search to get an idea of the value of the albums

http://www.vinylrecords.co.uk/Beatles.html

Obviously the condition of the record and sleeve will have a big impact on the value.

wuckfit

Unless they're absolutely first pressings of albums in excellent condition, they're going to be fairly common, and not worth a huge amount.
However Originals of the earlier albums in stereo will be worth more than the monos, and originals of the monos of the later albums worth more than the stereos.
Of particular rarity and high value: First pressing Stereo Please Please Me with original black and gold label (not the common Black and Yellow with the yellow £ sign). the gold/black might be worth 4 figures. but there's no chance you've got one. The Yellow/Black is far more common, and the Mono most likely.

Original Mono Revolver with alternative take of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' - can be identified by matrix no XEX 606-1 (more common is XEX 606-2) stamped in the run out groove .the 606-2 isn't worth particularly much, but a well looked after 606-1 is worth a good deal.
There are some rare versions of With the beatles with "you really gotta hold on me" instead of "you really got a hold on me" on the label, which are worth more than the standard one.
Also there's a mis-aligned apple on the back cover of some scarce copies of Abbey Road.
these are just the few off the top of my head. You really need to find out which pressings of each you have, and get the grading condition before you'll have an idea of their worth. If they're well-played, dog-eared copies then a couple of quid each is all they'll fetch. even if the record collector book price for an album is say £80, that's for a pristine-as-new copy, and a worn one is not going to be worth anything like that figure. you might get a fiver for it instead. I've seen too many rare records at "mint" prices, when their condition is anything but.