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I came across an album of old records in an antique store today. I am trying to get some info to see what the fair price should be. One of the records was a Victor with songs by Caruso. It was catalog number 402. I cannot find that series on the discography site. Any idea when that series was produced?

Thanks for any input.

Are you sure it was 402 and not 502? 502 was a double faced Caruso issue in the 10 inch series. None of these are particularly rare (if that's the case) and aren't worth more than a couple dollars each in top condition.

Sean

OrthoSean wrote:Are you sure it was 402 and not 502? 502 was a double faced Caruso issue in the 10 inch series. None of these are particularly rare (if that's the case) and aren't worth more than a couple dollars each in top condition.

Sean

It's possible. I can double check on my next trip. The dealer wanted too much, in my opinion, for the group of them ($35 for 12 in a catalog book). I am a relative neophyte, but learned from this board previously about the approximate values and relative availability of Caruso records.

Still wouldn't mind actually owning one, however. I thought it was 402, but the Discography site I have used in the past did not even mention that series, so I must have made a mistake. Thanks for the input.

I'd assume 402 as well. Addio a Napoli b/w Canta pe me.

There are lots of 400 series double face Caruso records.

35 dollars for 12 records? Seems high, though if they were absolutely minty, and you were just starting a Caruso collection it might be worth it. Get off to a good start.

Beware the dubbings though. I recently picked up Recondita Armonia b/w E lucevan le stelle in that series, and both sides are dubs, only one indicates such in the land.

You can tell dubbings by a S/8 mark in the land area, but one side was a dub with no marking. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it, even for 50 cents.

Wolfe,

You mean 502, right?

And yes, the S/8s are dubs. Some of them are downright lousy, others aren't horrible, though I always keep the master pressed issues if I have a choice.

When I get these two large collections I've been (slowly) cleaning and sorting finished and have filled missing gaps in my collection, I will more than likely have lots of duplicate and triplicate (and dozens, in some cases) copies of Carusos and lots of other red seal acoustics mostly in very nice condition that I may post for sale in the Yankee Trader section for reasonable prices. Believe me, this will not be happening for quite some time, I just haven't had the time to do much lately because of other more important projects along with a more than full time job and we're talking well over 20,000 discs between the two collections I'm dealing with. I've had others asking me for certain records that have become impatient for not having the time, but patience is a virtue, and not everyone has it...anyhow, be on the lookout sometime in the future.

Sean

OrthoSean wrote:Wolfe,

You mean 502, right?

I do

It was fairly early for me in the pacific time zone, and still kind of bleary eyed/minded.