The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I paid $125.00 for my Berliner Disc Record.

$60 for the Paul Whiteman blue label acoustic of Rhapsody in Blue with Gershwin at the piano. Still a fun record.

I paid around £ 70 for Marlene Dietrich's "Falling in love again" on HMV, and I also have in my collecton a very nice copy of Vera Lynn's " We'll meet again" on Decca. Both very well known records that seem to be pretty pricy when they show up for sale in decent condition.

I've always said that I'm not really a "record-guy". My collection primarily focused on machines. I know there is LOTS I don't know about records and I've probably sold some rarities over the years for pennies, due to my own ignorance... But that's OK.

I haven't really assigned values, but I do have a few that I know have some higher values.

1) "Let Us Not Forget" Diamond Disc in a presentation box-- with provenance that includes Francis Jehl
Came with a series of letters from the early to mid 1930's-- A gentleman wrote to the Orange, NJ site and the Deerborn, Michigan Edison site, looking for a copy of the record. Each site responded. Francis Jehl responded for the Deerborn site. The gentleman finally secured a copy from a private party and continued his correspondence with Jehl. Francis Jehl was pleased to arrange a time to drive to Flint, MI to meet the gentleman in order to hear the record, because they didn't have a copy at the Edison site !! There are four letters with Edison Institute letter-head, all signed my Jehl.

2) Little Wonder #20- Back to the Carolina You Love- This was Al Jolson singing, but identified only as "Baritone".
My copy has been signed by Jolson on the back in pencil, distinctive due to the period he would put after "Al" in his early signatures (Even early playbills and sheet music show the period after his first name) His given name was Asa, so I suspect the period had something to do with the name change. The late Floyd Silver told me that he had a newspaper article that talked about Jolson visiting Rose's 5 & 10 stores, signing his LW records. Jolson's strong ego apparently didn't like that there was a record out there that didn't ID him as the singer.

3) Blue Amberola 3756-- "Let Us Not Forget"- long-version with Star-Spangled Banner after the speech, in original box

4) "Greetings From the Bunch at Orange" Diamond Disc-- framed with original sleeve.

I have a smattering of other early records-- Berliners, Columbia, Pathé, Zono, etc, but I don't think any are especially rare..

Brad Abell

The most valuable record in my collection would be Strut Miss Lizzy by Irving Mills and his Hotsy Totsy Gang ( featuring Bix Beiderbecke)
The most expensive record I ever purchased was Spanish Shawl by Bob Deikman and his Orchestra on Gennett. I think I paid $60 for it

Probably the early “Electrophone” copy of the Edison advertising record? I think I paid close to $80 for that one? And normally it’s extremely rare for me to pay than $25-$30 for only 1 record (The reason I still don’t have any Berliners or Zonophones or much brown wax in my collection)

Potentially my most valuable could be the 1936 Abdication Speech on two single sided 12 inch white label records, bearing the HMV picture but no indication of their content. Embossed into the labels, not engraved into the wax, are Matrix Numbers 2EA4254 and 2EA4255, plus a square symbol followed by 1A.

The speech was broadcast live to the nation at 10.00pm on 11th December 1936, and was recorded by BBC engineers in defiance of orders not to do so. For many years archivists denied the recording's existence, but it is now recognised as one of the most historically important broadcasts of the 20th Century.

What might it be worth? I neither know nor care. It was a lucky find in a job lot which cost me nothing.

Don't own anymore but a mint copy of Bill Haley Rockett 88 on Essex label I sold for $450

One that I found in the convolute that I got recently, (the one with the missing needle tins) a record from the German group "Comedian harmonist" has a price tag of 750 Euros on:
https://www.schellack-plattenshop.net/Start
And more than one are in the 100-200 E price range, and best of all there are still around 300 records I havn´t checked yet.

This! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNOqrWYmJJU