There’s something about a record. Nothing quite compares to the sound of vinyl—not the radio, not a CD, not even an Alexa playing a jam. Though records are a pretty outdated way to play music, it doesn’t seem to be something that ever goes out of style.
Whether you collected records when you were a kid, or have a box of hand-me-downs from your grandfather, we have some good news for you. There might be one (or a few) in the bundle that could make you rich. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars.
In order for a record to be valuable, there are a few factors you need to take into consideration. Things like how old it is, who the artist is, how many copies were made, the condition of the record all play a role. And there are quite a few records that, because of these reasons, have been auctioned off at insane prices.
Don’t believe us? Check out this list below to see if you have any of these records that are worth big bucks!
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David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs (1974)
The original version contained the image of a dog’s genitals (um?), but it was pulled not long after it was released and airbrushed. If you have the original, it’s worth a few thousand. One copy sold on eBay for $3,550, and that was back in 2003 so it’s likely worth even more today. Who knew a dog’s privates could make you so rich?
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Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” single (1977)
It was only a week after signing a record deal in 1977 when the Sex Pistols were fired due to their “outrageous behavior.” They did manage to record this album in the short amount of time, and never released, singles in top notch condition were given away to only about a dozen executives in 1998. Now these are said to be worth more than $20,000, one selling for 12,675 pounds (about $25,300 US dollars) in 2006.
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Beatles’ “Yesterday and Today” (1966)
True story: John Lennon was adamant about having the cover of this album be the Beatles donning white butcher smocks along with pieces of meat and parts of plastic dolls (creepy much?). Naturally, the cover was met with mutual hatred, and, after being on sale for just one day, the cover was replaced with a more reasonable one. If you have a record with the original cover, it’s worth anywhere from $150 to $7,500, though one copy sold for $38,800 in 1996 due to its pristine condition.
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The Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man/No Expectation (1968)
Are you one of the 10-18 people in the world who would own a copy of this album (since that’s the amount of copies that were made)? This record was first produced with a controversial photo displaying police brutality during riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention. It was pulled not long after, making it ultra rare.
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Elvis Presley’s “Good Luck Charm” single (1962)
Because this was one of the last monaural recordings in stores before stereo started to become popular, this record is valued at around $24,000! Most certainly a good luck charm if we say so ourselves.
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Hank Mobley’s Blue Note 1568 (1957)
There’s a rumor that only between 300 and 1000 copies of this record were released, with some of them containing the wrong address due to Blue Note running out of labels half way through the first pressing. Apparently, some of the records read “47 West 63rd New York 23” when the standard label is “47 West 63rd NYC.” One record without the misprinted label once went for over $10,000 on eBay!
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The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
The clincher here is you need the version of this record that contains four songs that were replaced with newly recorded tracks—there are a such small number of copies in the world that this version is said to be “the most valuable records in the world,” with a mint copy once selling for $35,000.
Are you into records? Did you know they could be worth so much money? Do you have any of these albums in your collection?