A Few Examples of High Value Vinyl Records Maybe One of these Rarities is in Your Album Collection?

Bob Dylan | Freewheelin' (1963)
Particular 1963 pressings of Freewheelin' are among the–rarest and most valuable records in the world.  A stereo copy found in 2012 previously sold for USD$35,000; so it’s big news when another copy surfaces.

For reasons not completely clear, just prior to the album’s release four (4) of the songs were replaced with four (4) newly recorded tracks.  Some speculate that because CBS television’s censors wouldn’t let Dylan perform “Talkin’ John Birch Blues” on the Ed Sullivan Show, the CBS-owned Columbia Records pulled it from the album.

In any event, replacement stampers were made, the artwork was changed, and Columbia released the revised album.  Except someone at one (1) of the American pressing plants failed to get the message, and a few copies of the album were pressed using the original/erroneoous stampers.  In the fifty-seven (57) years since the release of “Freewheelin’,” only two (2) stereo copies are known.

Freewheelin' has been re-pressed over the years including 2017 brand new 180gram vinyl version selling for CAD$24; which can render old and non-rare versions worth a few dollars at best, depending on condition.

The Beatles | Abbey Road (1969)
A particularly rare version of this iconic Beatles' album can sometimes sell for up to CAD$4,000 or more.  You can identify whether you have the rare UK export version by checking for the yellow and black Parlophone Records label.  The catalog number is PPCS 7088.  Bonus points if it has a gold sticker on the back.  Abbey Road was the Beatles' eleventh (11th) released studio album.  Though it originally received mixed reviews upon its release, it has since been recognized as one of the greatest rock-and-roll records ever made.  Rolling Stone magazine places Abbey Road as fourteenth (14th) on their list of the "500 Greatest Records of All Time."

Another version of Abbey Road that fetches more than common pressings of the album, are copies pressed on green vinyl on the Apple Records' label; worth about CAD$45 or more depending on condition.

In the past decade, Abbey Road and much of the Beatles' catalog of albums, has been remastered and repressed in modern audiophile quality 180gram vinyl and is available almost everywhere that new records are sold for about CAD$29 to CAD$33.  The wholesale distribution price for a brand-new 180g pressing of Abbey Road is about $17.  In other words, any old regular pressing of Abbey Road on the Capital Record label, even in well-cared for condition, doesn't fetch more than CAD$1 to CAD$8 (still in shrinkwrap) while competing against tens-of-thousands of available pressings.

Miles Davis | Kind of Blue (1959)
Miles Davis revolutionized the Jazz music genre multiple times during his career, but his most valuable record (at least in financial terms) is Kind of Blue.  One of the most celebrated trumpeters in history, Davis recorded Kind of Blue with legendary saxophonists John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

Many critics consider Kind of Blue to be Davis’ greatest record — it is also the best-selling jazz album to date - with millions of copies pressed and still being pressed today and available brand new from retailers for about CAD$27 to CAD$30 - that said; an original pressing of the hard bop classic in mint condition can be worth up to CAD$1,000.

More information is available from the below noted reference article by James Regan

Forty (40) of the Most Valuable Vinyl Records that Could Be in Your Collection

Toni Braxton | Secrets (1996)
Secrets is the second studio album by American singer Toni Braxton. It was released on June 18 1996, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The album was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards. Secrets has been certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Worldwide, the album has sold over fifteen (15) million copies.

A mint, or at least near-mint copy of Secrets can be worth anywhere between CAD$60 up to CAD$250 depending on its condition, for collectors of the 1990s R&B music.  At the time of its release, interest in vinyl records had plunged and CDs (compact discs) were most popular.  So getting a really good condition vinyl copy of this popular album while not an extraordinary rarity, it is worth more than popular albums of earlier decades.

Secrets is not currently available in a modern repress version.

New Order | Substance (1987)
Substance (also known as Substance 1987) is a compilation album by English alternative dance band New Order. It was released in August 1987 by Factory Records. The album compiles all of the band's singles at that point in their 12-inch versions, along with their respective B-side tracks. The then-newly released non-album single "True Faith" is also featured, along with its B-side "1963".

Substance was released on vinyl, double CD, double cassette and Digital Audio Tape.  It sold over one million (1,000,000) copies and became New Order's most popular and critically acclaimed album. It is the companion to a similar singles compilation by New Order's predecessor band Joy Division, also entitled Substance.

A mint, or at least near-mint copy of Substance complete with its printed original inner liners in mint condition is worth about CAD$150 to collectors of 1980s alternative-dance music.

Substance is not currently available in a modern repress version.

UPDATE: In 2023, Substance was repressed on coloured 180gram vinyl.  Sealed copies are now worth about $60 retail.

The Beatles | Please Please Me (1963)
The Beatles recorded this album in a hurry. They had only four (4) songs recorded by the time the deadline was nearing and needed to record seven (7) songs in a single day — a process that took nine (9) hours and forty-five (45) minutes.  Further, John Lennon had a bad cold on that day of recording, which made for the iconic raspy vocal recording of "Twist and Shout."

The rarest of the rare copies of The Beatles’ debut full-length album have sold for around CAD$4,200. These are the very first pressings, which feature the band’s name in gold lettering on a black label.  Both mono and stereo versions are rare and valuable, but the stereo version fetches the better price.

Please, Please Me was remastered and repressed in 2012 onto audiophile quality 180gram vinyl.  Brand new, or common versions of this album are available from retailers and online sellers by the thousands, starting from about CAD$2.30 to CAD$27.00 depending on condition.

Them | Here Comes the Night (1965)
A mint, or at least near-mint copy, can be worth over CAD$160.

Here Comes the Night is not currently available in a modern repress version.

* Purchase value as part of collections are rarely equivalent to retail/vintage single item pricing.