Man Stumbles Upon Rare Gold Record for $20 at Thrift Store; It Might Go For Hundreds

A vinyl lover recently took to Reddit to share how he scored a gold record edition of a '90s hip-hop classic. He said that he found a gold record plaque for DJ Quik's 1992 album "Way 2 Fonky" at this thrift store that was selling the complete presentation set, including a CD and a cassette. "Picked this up at a local thrift store for $20 yesterday," wrote the Redditor. The gold record is normally utilized by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to commemorate albums that promote 500,000 copies or more.

Many found it amazing and rare to find a gold record plaque, while others wondered if these records were playable, "I've always wondered if these gold records were playable or not," wrote one user, to which another user replied, "They'll play, but usually just a random record, not the one awarded." 

Gold records are not made of gold, rather the shine is achieved by a vacuum-metalized and a tint. However, they are extremely valuable with the highest price for a gold record being $91,000, which a Beatles fan forked out for a plaque of "Hey Jude" previously owned by John Lennon's son, Julian Lennon.

More recently, another rare Beatles record was found in a charity shop and later sold for north of $5,000. The record was found in a London charity shop by manager Jaime-Marie Madden, who works at a Cancer Research UK charity shop in Enfield, North London. "The record was in good condition, with only a few marks, but the sleeve was pretty damaged and worn, with a cut at the base, some scuffs, marks, aging, and stains," said Madden. "There was even a name written on the back." The record later turned out to be the first-ever pressing from the original masters of the band's debut studio LP "Please Please Me" released in 1963.

Back in January, the BBC auctioned thousands of rare vinyl records and vintage music tech. Among the famous ones were a Pink Floyd rarities LP pack, The Beatles’ "Please Please Me" LP pressings pack, an SST Records LP Collection with Black Flag, Husker Dü, and Minutemen pressings. 

Like any collectible, the value of vinyl records can vary largely. According to The Sun, certain vinyl records can fetch more when sold on eBay compared to others. For example, The Velvet Underground’s "The Velvet Underground & Nico" recently sold for more than $7000. Besides this, records of David Bowie as well as Taylor Swift are also very much in demand.

How to spot a valuable vinyl?

There are several factors including when the record was made and how many of them were released. The value of it also depends on the rarity and genres. Another thing to keep in mind is that less valuable records need to be in mint condition while the rare records retain their value irrespective of what condition they are in.