The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

If you ever wanted an unusual very desirable puzzle record, this one is a Buy It Now for a reasonable price. It is a commemorative Coronation Record for King George V in 1910.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351817904826?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

There are three songs on each side... you don't know what will play until you set the needle down. Whoever gets this, let me know...
If you buy it, be sure to specify to the seller how you want it packed and get him/her to agree BEFORE paying...

These are not that rare -- at least in the UK where they do turn up from time to time. I have had about half a dozen examples over the years which I have sold on -- I still have one of them. I would have thought around the £10 to £20 price mark would be more accurate , but then people will pay what they want to if they believe something to be a lot rarer than it actually is , or maybe haven't seen another example.Dulcetto

"These are not that rare -- at least in the UK where they do turn up from time to time."

There is definitely a difference in what is considered RARE in the US as opposed to other countries and I would expect the Coronation record would be found more readily in the UK, given the content. The actual fact is that ANY puzzle record is a rarity, since they were made in very limited numbers and did not have the same appeal as other records to the general public. Most of them came out in the early '30s during the depression and cost more than a regular 78. I have owned four copies of the Coronation record myself, but still consider it rare, mainly since it is early (1910) and is historical (which may be why they were saved). Beside you, I don't know any other collectors who have one (other than those I sold one to). One test of "rarity" would be to try to obtain one at a given time... they only show up on eBay occasionally and if you ask collectors for one, very few have or have had any type of puzzle record.

If you would like to sell yours for £10 to £20, please let me know and consider it sold...

If you have owned four copies of the Coronation record, how can you possibly use the term "rare"? Seriously. Scarce? Perhaps, but I wouldn't even say that. Enough copies of that are around even here. I have at least two and have given away a couple more. The same goes with puzzle records. RARE is the early 1900s Victor issue, but not any of the others. Sometimes I think the term rare is overused by wishful folks. I reserve the term rare for things of which very few examples are known. Geography plays a part also, maybe they never show up in NC, but being somewhat close to NYC, these do show up here, even in the wild.

My $.02, which I'm sure nobody cares about.

Sean

Thanks, Sean... Maybe geography is the key... There's not much that shows up in NC.
I prefer the term rare to describe my steaks...

I was GIVEN a copy of this record years ago by a collector friend, sadly no longer with us, who specialised in records relating to royalty. It was a duplicate from his collection so I have never thought of it as rare.

Here are two more 1911 Coronation records from my collection. The John Bull is quite rare, the HMV less so :

"RARE is the early 1900s Victor issue, but not any of the others."

Sean, I think the early Berliner puzzle record is "rare" and I should probably refer to the later ones as very "uncommon".

Not to be argumentative, but in the realm of records there are millions of 78s and out of those, there are very few puzzle records...

I'm not arguing at all. I've looked at likely millions of 78s in my 35 years of doing this. Puzzle records might not be common per se, but I see them often enough, especially the horse racing discs. The early 30s Double Track Harmony / Diva / Velvet Tone / Clarions show up far less frequently, but would I call them rare? I wouldn't, I'd say scarce. It's all relative, and as I was originally saying, geography has a lot to do with how we see things. When I was in the Hickory NC area a few years ago, I was amazed at the number of late 20s and early-mid 30s Country and Blues 78s I found. Something you NEVER see here (and I mean never). Still, that shows what I'm saying, I think. They may have seemed scarce to me, but when I was down there, I saw a lot of the stuff. Does that make a bit more sense?

Sean

You are right, Sean... If you want early country or bluegrass, NC is a good source. I guess I have seen a lot of that type stuff - Carter Family, Gid Tanner, Posey Rorrer, Doc Walsh, Fiddlin' John Carson, Jimmie Rodgers, along with many others that don't show up often outside of the south... We don't have a great amount of early jazz or hot 20s dance records unless someone from up north brought them down and puzzle records are almost non-existent...