a special request! I am fully aware that Ebay is usually where these end up, but a friend and I are looking to buy an EMG external horned gramophone, preferably an expert jnr but any EMG gramophone is wanted. I realise the cost involved here and my friend has kindly agreed to finance it. It is for enjoying records on and also doing some acoustic research, experiments and recordings. I know everyone wants an emg but this is just in case it being in absolute daily use was the thing that may persuade someone to let go of one!
This page updated September 2024. I’m still interested! Contrary to popular belief, 78s are not the world’s most fragile objects and can be shipped/sent if packed well, there is still hope while the post/couriers operate!
Due to having been told by several folks that my email adress is hard to find, I’ve written it here. It is
Here are some examples of 78rpm gramophone records I’d be interested in buying. Go down to the bottom for examples of records that are these days collectable. These I’m also interested in either valuing (I’d give free valuations over the phone or in yorkshire) or buying.
SPECIAL INTEREST! If you have any records on the national gramophonic society (ngs) label you’d be willing to sell, please contact! My interest in early operatic 78s grows by the day. If you have a large collection of such records please get in touch I will pay good money for good collections! Also if you have a copy of Montezuma by Stanley Kirkby on a gramophone concert record, or any Kirkby on gramophone concert I’d love to know. Also cello violin or piano solos on gramophone monarch or concert records...
This advice is amed at a uk audience!
Let’s start with some general advice…
Firstly I am interested in at least knowing about any of your old 78s, even if chances are I am not interested, because you might have the one rare thing or the one good record that I would, and have, cheerfully carted away 300 discs just for the one.
Please note, and this is important! Just because something has a high ebay buy it now price, or you’ve seen it in an antique shop or charity shop for a lot of money, this doesn’t make it valuable. For example there is currently an ebay seller asking £8.99 for every record, but he accepts offers below, sometimes far below this, and another who asks £20 per disc which is frankly laughable. If you want to check the value of your records you should try this site and if it’s not there then it hasn’t sold for a lot of money on ebay in the passed, and if it’s there in mint condition and you own a rough copy then it’s still not too valuable. A bit of googling will help somewhat.
Bing, Sinatra, Doris Day etc are not collectable just because you’ve heard of them, and unless they’re extremely cheap and come with loads of other stuff not even I’m interested which says a lot!
If you have classical album sets of records, for example a beethoven symphony on 5 records, I’m very interested but only if it is complete. By this I mean you have all 5 records. If you’re missing one disc from a set like that it is now completely worthless accept perhaps the storage album.
Now let’s get onto the fun part. If you have no idea what I’m going on about with this list of things I’m particularly interested in and still don’t know if your records are wanted by me or collectable, please email me and we'll chat! Or phone me on 07500422090. Please note that I am totally blind and therefore texting isn’t an option for me yet!
Examples of labels that I’m interested in buying for my own collection. If you have records on labels not listed here that are not hmv, columbia, pye etc please email as they could be really good!
If you have a lot (more than 30) but they are only on hmv and columbia and very few other labels, here’s a little guidance.
Hmv: if they’re big 12 inch C series records and over the catalog numbers of about c2000 and that’s all you’ve got, I’m not really interested but Someone might be.
If you have hmv b series records that are before about b9000 I’m definitely interested in knowing about them!
Anything with “da” in the catalog number is very good. If for example you have a lot of Caruso or other famous opera singers on this label, you have very good music but sadly it’s of little value. I would be interested in knowing what you have! These records sold well but in good condition can sound fantastic. If you’re a classical fan and don’t have anything to play these on I think you should go buy a gramophone rather than sell them!
Columbia:
Big 12 inch records, the L series is usually interesting to me and I’d be really interested in knowing about those.
10 inch ones: anything with numbers starting with a 5 or below I am interested in.
DB series is usually good but it went on into the 50s, so numbers up to about 2000 are mostly what I’m interested in.
CB series is again very good!
If you have any single sided records I’m really interested, on any labels. Any acetates, home recordings, etc. Don’t forget I can put anything I buy from you on cds for you!
Labels I’m actively looking for: again if you’ve got stuff that isn’t listed please get in touch!
Zonophone (especially with a trademark on one side)
the twin
winner
jumbo
imperial
edison bell (even the little ones)
Velvet Face
gramophone concert record
gramophone monarch record
rena
Imperial
Coliseum
broadcast twelve
regal (especially if it is regal g followed by numbers)
Favorite
Valkyri
Homophon
Jumbo
Beca or Beca grand
Scala
Aco
Parlophone (especially early r numbers, r400 etc)
Please note if you have a lot of parlophone rhythm style records and stuff like that, I am emediately interested!
Vocalion (especially early, or vocalion swing series)
Again lots of rhythm/swing type records I’m looking forward to buying them already!
Ariel or ariel grand etc
Grafton
Popular
Cinch (I have yet to find a cinch record I havn’t liked)
Polyphon
Piccadilly
Guardsman
Rex
dominion
a few later labels like vogue, esquire, melodisc, king jazz, any label with jazz written on it so jazz collector, tempo, etc.
These are some of the labels I really want.
What kinds of records can be worth a lot of money?
The most collectable records here in the uk are either very early or very late.
If you have any E Berliner records, you have real treasure. These were the first disc records available.
Nicole records, gramophone and typewriter, any 7-inch single sided discs, this means that whatever you have is from before about 1906.
Some people think that all opera is collectable, this is most definitely wrong, but if you have, for example, italian red label gramophone and typewriter records in your collection, or you know that someone in your family or whoever you got your records from was a real collector, then you do probbably have some records that are worth money.
The other end of the spectrum is rock and roll records, however again the same rule applies here. Bill Haley, Frankie Lymon, the platters, Lonnie Donegan etc sold millions of records, as did Elvis. Some Elvis 78s are extremely rare but others are worth £5 on a good day in average condition.
The big factor here is condition. I’m speaking from experience here. I used to own a copy of Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly that had such stripped grooves the words were understandable and the guitar did nothing but clip, that’s just one example.
If you have records on the london label that are by people like Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins etc you’re onto a good start! If you have records from 1959 or 1960 on 78s you’re onto a real winner! Again condition is everything. A lot of one hit wonder artists of the rock’n’roll era can be very hard to find on 78s. Also Chuck Berry, Johnny and the hurricanes, folks like that are far from common in any condition.
Some 1920s dance bands are becoming quite collectable, but most things, like the savoy orpheans, Jack Hylton etc are not, and there is no hard and fast rule about what makes a dance band collectable. I’d say that if you have a lot of dance bands you should either look them up or email and ask!
Some examples of dance bands I like and would love to buy, probbably cheaply though! are Paul Whiteman, Jack Hylton, Jack Payne (preferably columbia or regal), the kit-cat band, denza dance band, Ambrose, Lew Stone, ALBANY DANCE ORCHESTRA, PAUL SPECHT, Eddie Norman's dance orchestra, RAY STARITA, Piccadilly Revels band, THE GOOFUS FIVE, the troubadores, Ray Noble, Savoy Orpheans, Savoy Havana band, Sam Lanin, Harry Reser, the trix sisters (not a dance band but similar) if you have anything like this in your lot of 78s you've got some nice items and I'd love to know about them!
Calypso records are another collectable kind of 78. Harry Belafonte and Marie Bryant are just about the only non-collectable artists of this genre I can think of.
Blues is not something that is very rellivant to uk 78 collecting as we didn’t get a lot of it until the 50s. If your record says blues in the title, for example “big city blues” or “wanna go back again blues” these are dance band titles, and while they’re actually very good they are not the real thing. Bessie Smith, however, did have some parlophone releases that can be very hard to find.
Any race series records, I’m thinking of parlophone and the rare guardsman series, are rare.
Dizney sets and other children’s records can be very rare, for example I have only ever had one complete snow white album with the 3 records in a fold out cover, and no copies of the Pinocchio album, though I have had countless copies of the records from it, it’s the fold out album that is very hard to find. Things like little marvel and little tots records, unless they’re in illustrated albums, are not collectable, however if you have a few complete bubble books, little tots albums etc then you probbably have collectables for the albums, not the discs.
If you’ve read this far and wish to know more about what I really like, check out the home page of this site
click here to listen to a few classical 78s, this will grow!
Click here to listen to some wax cylinders!
And here for a real mix of stuff!