The 9 Most Expensive, Valuable, and Collectable Records Of All Time

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Records give more a sense of the history of music than anything else and somehow their market value reflects this; for example, manufacturer’s mistakes/alterations or the death of the artist can dramatically affect the re-sale value of a record.

And generally speaking, rare records from the 60s and 70s (the ‘golden era’ of music) which only had a few hundred copies pressed are the most valuable (even if that band is largely unknown), commanding four-figure sums in some cases.

Moreover, singles in many cases are more valuable than both EPs and LPs.

But who sits at the top of the pile with the most valuable and collectable record that ever went to market?

And which records still in circulation are worth a few quid?

Spoiler alert: this list contains The Beatles

Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left (1969)

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Nick Drake fits the description of musician-turned-legend following his untimely death at the age of 27.

With only three albums released by the young artist, Drake’s records are extremely rare and an original pressing of the artist’s debut, Five Leaves Left, can sell for upwards of £1000 depending on its quality of course.

The First Pressing

There is debate over which is the true first pressing but it is largely accepted that the textured pink label with incorrect 4th and 5th song order (‘Way To Blue’ and ‘Day Is Done’) printed on its sleeve, and machine stamped matrix numbers is the real McCoy. NB: You will find no A1/B1 matrix on first pressings, a first pressing will read A2/B2.

The Pink Label

There are two types of ‘smooth’ pink label variants out there also, one with incorrect running order on the label and one corrected. But the textured label pressings, with all aforementioned characteristics, tend to be the most valuable. All three variants have ‘Made In England’ printed on the label whereas reissues do not.

Giveaways