Berliner records - what´s reasonable?

[snallast]

Hi

I have the opportunity to buy a bunch of Berliner records, one from 1895 (see pictures), a group of 9 records from different dates, the oldest -96 and then there´s one or two from -97 and -98 and forward. The guy who´s selling them is asking 200 dollars for the oldest one and for the group of of 9: 400 dollars.

I´ve always wanted a few Berliners and some of these are very nice! I almost never see them for sale. What do you say, are these reasonable prices? How rare are these records?

thanks for any guidance! Snal

[WDC]

It's not steal but it also does not appear to be a bad price for what I can see. I would go for it, especially if you don't have any Berliners yet.

[Wolfe]

$ 600 for nine Berliners.

Yikes !

[gramophone78]

Actually, one is not a Berliner and many seem to be of European origin and one much later Canadian Berliner. Just do the math and if you are comfortable to afford them....go for it.

Ebay can help with a very rough sense of value.

Showing a group without titles and clear condition is impossible to assess.

Like all records.....title, condition and rarity all play a part.

Mind you, as mentioned many times on this forum...value or worth is a very personal matter. In short....whatever you and the seller walk away happy with.

[Wolfe]

The whole lot is 10 records. 9 are Berliners. The l'il Victor Harry MacDonough record isn't of much merit.

[snallast]

Thanks for all your replies and yes I guess that´s the bottom line always - it´s between the seller and the buyer and what I feel comfortable with. So I thought a bit more about it and realized that yes I would like the Berliners - but I´d probably rarely play them. So they´d be lying there somewhere sort of like a stamp collection.
I once bought a trademark gramophone and was surprised I didn´t much like it , too small and too primitive and not a machine to really play my records on.

I guess I prefer the immediate next generation - with a proper back bracket - and the music that comes with that generation machines and onwards. I thought Yikes! was good too!

Thanks for helping me clear my mind!

Snal

[Wolfe]

I didn't mean to imply that Harry MacDonough isn't of merit. We should be glad for the records he gave us.

[VintageTechnologies]

I think the prices mentioned are too high. I have never paid that much for the few Berliners I own. I have seen better deals on eBay. The Berliners generally sound terrible because they are typically very worn and probably sounded poor even when new, owing to the acid etching process. The ones I have sound really scratchy played with an electric pickup, but sound tolerable when played with a Victor Exhibition reproducer. The trouble is, I don't play them much for fear of wearing them further, so they are pretty much for show only.

[Rastus10]

I don't know folks pay for buying them "in the wild," but the lowest I've ever paid for one on eBay was $40, and, based upon recent prices, it's usually over $60 each, if not much more. Even some of those that sell close to $100 look beat with the all the pitting and so forth.

The most that I ever paid for one was $116, but it was one of the few that had a vocal solo(Arthur Collins) with orchestra accompaniment, from March 1900. It plays quite well, and I'm surprised that some Collins-obsessed individual didn't snipe bid some ridiculous amount at the last minute.

$200 for that 1895 disc isn't so far-fetched. Berliners of that vintage don't exactly grow on trees.

I know that you made your decision, but an average of $50 for records of that vintage isn't all that bad compared to what the deep-pocket individuals on eBay are willing to pay.

I had a chance to pay about $50 each for about a dozen seven or eight years ago, but couldn't afford it, at the time. I wish I could have: one of the discs was an 1897 version of the Stars and Stripes Forever by Sousa's Band, recorded days after the initial public performance.

[TinfoilPhono]

You prompted me to look since I was pretty sure I had a Berliner of Sousa's band playing "Stars and Stripes." I found it but mine is undated. It's number 61W. Is that the same recording you're referring to?