When Chris Collins and his sister, Liz Chambers, put their prized copy of the Beatles' “Please Please Me†album up for auction in early December they expected the disc to fetch £15,000 (about $24,400). They had reason to be hopeful: the album not only was an original pressing, on the black and gold Parlophone label that was discontinued (and replaced with a sleeker, black and yellow update) a few months after the album was released, but it is also autographed. But when bidding reached only £12,000 pounds ($19,500), they withdrew the disc. Now the BBC reports that they have sold it privately for the price they had turned down at the auction.
The album has a fascinating provenance. Its original owner was Mr. Collins's and Ms. Chambers's father, Arthur Collins, who managed the Normandie Hotel, in London. At some point in early 1963 both the Beatles and another 1960's British pop band, Freddie and the Dreamers (best known for the hit “I'm Telling You Nowâ€), were staying at the hotel. During a late-night card game with the Dreamers, the elder Mr. Collins used the album as a beer coaster, and when the Beatles returned to the hotel they joined the game. Both bands autographed the album.
The Beatles collecting Web site Moptop.org noted that a mono first pressing of “Please Please Me,†like the one Mr. Collins and Ms. Chambers were selling â€" but not autographed â€" sold for £750 pounds in 2004. Stereo pressings, which were produced less plentifu lly, typically command greater prices. Home of Records, a Web page that keeps track of auction prices for vinyl discs, listed a stereo pressing that sold for $3,738.85 in January 2012.
