16 Rare Vinyl Records That Can Be Worth a Lot Today

If you’ve got a box of old records lying around, it might be a good time to check what’s actually in there. While not every dusty LP is a hidden gem, a few of them have gone for the kind of money that makes collectors sweat. Misprints, pulled releases, and first pressings have become some of the most valuable vinyl records in existence — some selling for more than a monthly mortgage.  

Here's what to look out for — just in case you’ve been unknowingly using a $20,000 record as a coaster. 

1968, First UK Pressing

Value: $100,000+ (extreme cases up to $790,000)

 The first pressing of the White Album was numbered, and copy No. 0000001 (owned by Ringo Starr) sold for a record $790,000 at auction in 2015​. Early numbered copies in top condition are highly coveted for their rarity and Beatles lore. Even standard first-pressings with low numbers routinely fetch five-figure sums on the collectors’ market​. 

1953, Acetate

Value: $300,000

Elvis’s first-ever recording wasn’t meant for stardom — it was an acetate made at Memphis Recording Service (run by Sam Phillips of Sun Records) when Elvis was just 18. The two tracks, My Happiness and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin, were laid down on July 18, 1953. Whether he recorded them for his mother or just to hear himself sing is still up for debate. What we do know is that his friend Ed Leek either paid the $4 studio fee or held on to the only existing copy — depending on who’s telling the story. 

That one-of-a-kind acetate sat quietly for decades before Ed Leek’s niece put it up for auction. In 2015, Jack White stepped in as the mystery buyer, dropping $300,000 on the record. He then reissued it through his label, Third Man Records, for Record Store Day.

1966, US First State

Value: $10,000 – $125,000

The infamous “butcher cover” (showing the band with baby doll parts) was withdrawn by Capitol, and most covers were destroyed or pasted over. Surviving first-state covers (especially in shrinkwrap) are extremely rare – one sealed copy (the “Livingston” find) sold for $125,000 in 2016. Even opened or second-state butcher covers can fetch thousands.

1977, A&M Records Single

Value: Nearly $16,000

In March 1977, the Sex Pistols signed with A&M Records — then trashed the label’s offices in a drunken spree so unhinged that the studio shredded their contract after just six days. Before the fallout, the label had already pressed 25,000 copies of God Save the Queen. Almost all were destroyed. 

Today, only nine confirmed copies of the A&M single are known to survive, making it one of the rarest punk records on Earth. In 2018, one copy sold for $15,882 on Discogs, setting the site’s record for the most expensive 7-inch ever sold.

1963, Withdrawn First Version

Value: Over $30,000

Early copies of Dylan’s second album included four tracks that were deleted (“Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues” and others) and replaced. Only a few mono first-pressings with the original song lineup escaped into the wild​. In top condition, these withdrawn-version LPs have fetched upwards of $35,000​.

1987, Withdrawn Promo LP

Value:  Approx. $25,000–$30,000 

The Black Album was set to drop in December 1987, with half a million copies ready to ship. But just a week before release, Prince had what was widely described as a spiritual epiphany, reportedly triggered by an MDMA experience. He suddenly saw the album — which was murky, funky, and unapologetically confrontational, as “evil” and paid out of pocket to have all copies destroyed. 

Despite the purge, a few escaped. Some white-label U.S. promos survived, and even one salvaged Canadian pressing emerged years later from a baffled pressing plant employee’s closet. In 2018, one U.S. promo copy sold for $27,500 on Discogs, briefly holding the record for the platform’s most expensive item. A sealed copy has reportedly gone for over $42,000 in private sale. 

1968, US Picture Sleeve 7″

Value: Over $15,000

When this Stones single was released in the U.S., its original picture sleeve – featuring riot police artwork – was immediately withdrawn over fears it was provocative. Only a few sleeves made it into circulation. An excellent-condition copy of the sleeve (with 45) can sell for over $17,000​.

1988, Sub Pop 7″

Value:  Over $3,000

Nirvana’s debut single (a cover of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz”) was released by Sub Pop in a numbered edition of 1,000 in 1988. Original hand-numbered copies, especially in near-mint shape with the bonus insert, are highly sought after by grunge collectors. One mint copy reportedly fetched over $3,000​. 

2015, Unique Album

Value: $2 million 

Perhaps the most infamous one-off in music history, this Wu-Tang double album was conceived as a protest against digital-age devaluation — a literal one-copy-only release, packaged in a hand-crafted silver box with speakers and a leather-bound book. It sold to pharma villain Martin Shkreli in 2015 for $2 million, then was seized by the U.S. government and resold to crypto collective PleasrDAO in 2021 for $4.75 million. 

But the album’s mystique took a hit when Shkreli admitted he had made multiple digital copies and stashed them “in safes all around the world.” He even livestreamed tracks and bragged about sharing them. In 2024, a judge ordered him to surrender all copies and name anyone he distributed them to.

1965, Soul 45

Value: Approx. $30,000–$40,000 

This Motown Northern Soul track was never officially released — only two known copies of the original 45 exist. Frank Wilson recorded it as a demo before opting to focus on songwriting. One of those two copies sold at auction for over $37,000​. 

1962, UK Parlophone Demo 7"

Value:  Approx. $10,000–$15,000 

The Beatles’ very first single was issued in a short-run promotional demo edition on Parlophone with Paul’s last name misspelled as “McArtney.” Only about 250 copies were made for radio stations​. One such demo 45 sold for $14,757 on Discogs in 2017​, setting a record for the most expensive 7-inch single on the platform. Its significance as the Beatles’ debut and its extreme rarity among collectors explain its high value. 

1974, Uncensored Cover Art

Value: Approx. $5,000–$10,000

Bowie’s 1974 album originally featured a gatefold cover painting where Ziggy Stardust is shown as half-dog, including the creature’s genitalia. RCA withdrew and censored the cover art by airbrushing out the offending detail on production sleeves. Only a tiny number of uncensored proof sleeves survived. One such uncensored sleeve (no LP) sold for $8,988 on eBay in 2004​, a record price just for a jacket. Complete copies with the uncensored sleeve (if any authentically exist) would be even more valuable. This item’s scarcity and the oddball story of its recall make it a prized oddity for Bowie collectors.​ 

1966, Acetate (Scepter Studios Sessions)

Value: $25,000

In 2002, a lucky crate-digger named Warren Hill found an acetate test disc of The Velvet Underground & Nico’s early Scepter Studios recordings at a New York street sale — for 75 cents. The acetate featured alternate versions of tracks from their 1967 debut. Only two copies of this session are known to exist. In 2006, Hill listed it on eBay, where it initially received a $155,401 bid — but after the winning bidder bailed, it ultimately sold for $25,200. 

1957, Blue Note 1568

Value: ~$10,000+

Hank Mobley’s Blue Note 1568 is one of the rarest jazz records ever pressed. Released in 1957, it’s believed that only 300 to 1,000 copies were made. The original pressing is legendary among collectors, partly because of a peculiar label quirk: some copies have mismatched Blue Note addresses on either side—“47 West 63rd NYC” on one, and the rarer “47 West 63rd New York 23” on the other, a result of the label running out of matching stock mid-pressing. 

In 2015, a VG+ copy without the “New York 23” label still sold on eBay for £7,300 (≈$11,000)—more than double what the same record had fetched in 2007.  

1962, Columbia SAX 2323, UK Stereo LP

Value: ~$4,000

Classical vinyl can be extremely valuable when rare, and this UK Columbia first stereo pressing of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (performed by Leonid Kogan) is a prime example. Fewer than 1,000 are thought to exist, and it’s famed among audiophiles for its sound quality. A near-mint copy sold in November 2024 for $4,267 on eBay​.

1977, Blank Records 7″

Value: ~$10,000–$11,000

This lo-fi two-song 7″ was the Misfits’ first release, self-financed on singer Glenn Danzig’s label in an edition of just 500 copies. In early 2021, a copy sold on Discogs for a jaw-dropping $10,877​. The record’s legendary status in punk collecting (it’s the genesis of the Misfits and only features their early lineup) and its tiny pressing make it one of the most expensive punk singles ever sold​.