[78-L] Value of 78's

Steven C. Barr stevenc at interlinks.net
Fri Mar 20 17:40:57 PDT 2009


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
> This is just my two cents and others may have a very different 
> perspective.
> I own maybe 700 or 800  English dance band 78s,  mostly of the 1925 - 1940
> era.  I have found that,  as a rule,  they do not usually fetch as much
> money as do many of the American dance band records of the same era. 
> These
> days I seldom end up spending more than about  $20 for any but the rarest
> and most sought-after...and I seldom if ever buy any dance bands at 
> auction
> which are less than E or E- in condition.  I often am able to win them for
> ten dollars or less.
> So 500 misc. English dance bands,  assuming the condition to be E or 
> better,
> might have a total value as a group of 2500 to 5000 dollars...I would 
> guess.
> But record values also seem to fluctuate widely,  sometimes for no 
> apparent
> reason.
>
There is one problem with British 78's...IF they are still in Britain!! The
current transatlantic postage rates require that the cost of mailing 78's
will be about $3 to $4 per each...which is why I no longer bid on
British auction lists!

The only affordable postage rates for mailing 78's are those within the
US Of A...where they can travel via "Media Mail" (used to be a class,
which I no longer recall...?!). This is why Mr. Lennick (and, by his
favour, myself) maintains a US address...!!

About 20 years ago, I used to buy hundreds (or so) of 78's from UK
dealers...in fact, they knew me at Canada Customs...!! Them days is
gone forever...?!

...stevenc 




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