100 Most Valuable Vinyl Records Ever Sold | Chicago Record Buyers
The Beatles "Yesterday and Today" Butcher Cover (1966) — Capitol recalled and destroyed most copies within days of release. First-state originals have sold for up to $125,000.
#1 of 20
Elvis Presley — "My Happiness"
Sun Acetate · 1953 · Memphis Recording Service
The only known recording Elvis made before he was signed — cut at Sam Phillips's Memphis Recording Service as a private gift. Not a label release. One lacquer disc, one take, cut for his mother. The most important artifact in American popular music that a private collector can own.
#2 of 20
The Beatles — Yesterday and Today — Butcher Cover, 1st State
Capitol Records · 1966
Capitol recalled this cover within days — raw meat, dismembered baby dolls, Beatles grinning. First-state copies have the original sleeve intact, never pasted over. Second-state copies are collectible. First-state copies are legendary.
#3 of 20
Frank Wilson — "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)"
Soul Records 45 · 1965
Wilson left music to become a Motown pastor before this single reached stores. His promo copies were ordered destroyed. Fewer than 5 are known to exist. Every copy that surfaces sets a new record.
#4 of 20
The Beatles — "Ask Me Why / Anna"
Vee-Jay DJ Promo 45 · 1963
The earliest Beatles U.S. pressing — issued before Capitol signed them. Most copies were lost or discarded at radio stations. A clean promo copy in this condition almost never comes to market.
#5 of 20
Samhain — Initium
Plan 9 Records · 1984 · Gray Marble Vinyl
Glenn Danzig's post-Misfits band on distinctive gray marble vinyl. This copy: signed by Danzig, Eerie Von, and Steve Zing plus a signed lyric sheet. An unsigned marble copy in EX already hits $3–5K. This one hit $25,102.
Think something in your collection might be valuable?
You probably don't have a $300,000 Elvis acetate — but you might have records worth hundreds or thousands. We buy vinyl collections across Illinois, come to you for large collections, and pay cash on the spot.
#6 of 20
Velvet Underground & Nico — Pre-Release Acetate
Lacquer Disc · 1966
A pre-release acetate cut before the album existed commercially. No sleeve. No label. No catalog number. Just the music on lacquer from the months before Andy Warhol walked it into Verve. Provenance fully documented.
#7 of 20
Various — Soho Scene '63: Jazz Goes Mod
Ember Records UK · 1963 · Factory Sealed
A sealed UK jazz compilation almost no one has heard of — which is exactly why it sold for $20,395. Factory sealed originals from 1963 are irreplaceable. You cannot fake sixty years of untouched provenance.
#8 of 20
Mello Souls — "We Can Make It"
Tay-Ster Records 45
One of the most wanted Northern Soul 45s in the world. The Mello label is barely documented; the Mello Souls recorded nothing else. Collectors have chased this record for 40 years.
#9 of 20
Bob Dylan — The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (Withdrawn)
Columbia Records · 1963
The recalled pressing included four tracks later deleted from the final album — "Rocks and Gravel," "Let Me Die in My Footsteps," and two others. Only a few hundred copies escaped before Columbia pulled it. The deleted tracks make this a completely different record.
#10 of 20
Bach — André Lévy — 6 Cello Suites
Lumen 3LP Box Set · France · 1950s
French mono 3LP box set on the Lumen label — one of the most coveted classical recordings among specialist collectors. A 2017 copy with two broken box corners sold for $18,100 CAD. Classical specialist territory — We Buy Records does not purchase classical records.
Have records from the 1960s, 70s, or 80s?
Soul, jazz, rock, punk, and funk from that era is exactly what collectors pay serious money for. We buy full collections across Illinois — no sorting, no appraisals, cash paid same day.
#11 of 20
Elvis Presley — Sun 209 Misprint 45
Sun Records · 1954 · Error Pressing
A pressing error produced mislabeled copies of Elvis's debut Sun single. The misprint became the valuable variant — a manufacturing accident that survived 70 years. Error-label Sun 45s are among the rarest collectibles in American music.
#12 of 20
Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers — Decca 45
Decca Germany · 1961
The Beatles backed Tony Sheridan as "The Beat Brothers" — one of their earliest traceable commercial recordings. Before Capitol. Before America. Before Beatlemania. Clean copies with correct label variants are extraordinarily scarce.
#13 of 20
The Fix — "Vengeance" b/w "In This Town"
Alternative Tentacles · 1980 · Michigan Hardcore
Michigan hardcore on a tiny pressing from the original Jello Biafra label. The Fix helped define Midwest punk before anyone was paying attention. One of the scarcest U.S. hardcore 45s in collector-grade condition.
#14 of 20
Bach — A. Schmidt de Neveu — Cello Suites
Ducretet-Thomson 3LP · France
The seller's own description: "The Holy Grail." Mono only — no stereo pressing exists. Records graded NM and visually unplayed. Produced in minuscule quantities for a French subscription market. Classical specialist territory only.
#15 of 20
Misfits — Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood
Plan 9 Records · 1983 · Green Vinyl
The green vinyl pressing of the Misfits' hardcore pivot is one of the most pursued punk collectibles anywhere. Most copies are black. Green is the rarity. The exact number pressed is disputed — which is exactly how legends are made.
Selling a collection in Illinois? We buy the whole thing.
No cherry-picking. No lowball offers on the good stuff while leaving you with the rest. We make a cash offer on the full collection — and we come to you anywhere in Illinois for larger lots.
#16 of 20
Del Larks — "Job Opening"
Queen City Records 45
Northern Soul 45 on a private label so obscure it barely has a discography entry. Del Larks were a Doo Wop group trying to adapt to the new "Motown" sound. When one surfaces, the serious collectors show up and this is what they pay.
#17 of 20
The Beatles — Hear The Beatles Tell All
Vee-Jay Radio Promo LP · 1964
An interview LP pressed for U.S. radio stations before Beatlemania fully hit. Vee-Jay promos in clean condition are extraordinarily scarce — most were played to death in 1964 and discarded. Survivors in collector shape are the exception.
#18 of 20
Combinations — "What'cha Gonna Do"
Kellmac Records 45
An obscure soul-funk 45 that crosses over to rare groove and Northern Soul hunters simultaneously. The Kellmac label is barely documented — one pressing, almost no distribution, almost none survived.
#19 of 20
Complex — Complex
UK Private Press LP · 1970
British private-press psych at its most sought-after. Small run, weird sound, zero commercial distribution. This copy: purchased in 1970, played once, stored 45 years. Back sleeve signed by all four members. No spindle marks.
#20 of 20
J.D. Bryant — "I Won't Be Coming Back"
Dade Records 45
A Southern soul 45 so obscure it barely has a discography entry. That scarcity is the entire value proposition. When one surfaces, the serious collectors show up.
