DARK SIDE OF THE MOON 1st UK PRESS SOLID A2/B2, 100% ORIGINAL, FULLY PLAY-GRADED

	£		1,800
	$		2,385

All my items have a full money-back guarantee - if it's not as described you can return it for a full refund.

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Here is something you don’t find every day: a really nice example of this 1st pressing which is complete and 100% original throughout. With the original black poly-lined inner sleeve, earliest fully matt posters and ‘PERMANENT’ stickers and the correct, earliest 'midnight blue' cover.

The disk has the following 1st press matrix numbers:

Side 1: SHVL 804 A-2

Side 2: SHVL 804 B-2

Detailed description

Vinyl: The vinyl looks great and has retained its original high sheen with some fine, wispy hairlines and sleeve-removal marks, but there is nothing significant anywhere. I have played the entire record and it sounds great with very little to report. Please note that this copy does NOT have the pressed skip in 'Money' often found on first pressings - there are no jumps or skips anywhere and the whole record was a pleasure to listen to. For the sake of completeness I would mention some minor background noise in the run-ins/outs, fades, segues and silent parts, and the occasional isolated click, but nothing significant. Like most Pink Floyd albums Dark side of the Moon has lots of quiet and sparsely arranged passages and because of this it is very hard to find an original copy which genuinely plays Mint all the way through, and there are some sections which are always 'difficult' on original vinyl copies of this album (e.g. the long-fade explosion noise at the end of 'On the Run', the heart-beat fade-in at the beginning and fade-out at the end of the album, the quiet end section of ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’, the intro and quiet sections of ‘Us and Them’ etc), but this copy is among the best I’ve heard with only a couple of very minor issues in these parts, as mentioned below, but there’s nothing significant. For side one there is nothing else to mention, so I would play-grade side one as Excellent Plus (Ex+). On side two I heard three clicks in the intro to ‘Us and Them’ and three or four small clicks in a quiet section later in the track, maybe one or two others and three clicks at the very end as the heartbeat fades out.  But that’s it! These few soft clicks mean that I’m going to play-grade side two as Excellent (Ex).

Labels: Both labels look great with no damage, writing, stickers etc, just spindle marking, suggesting that the record was relatively well-played, but looked-after.

Sleeve: This is the original 'midnight blue' cover. It is nice and clean with no writing, splits, tears or stickers etc and just minor signs of use. There is some mild ring-wear on the rear, some corner wear and mild edge-wear, but it’s very hard to find these original covers as good as this.

Inner sleeve: This is the original black, poly-lined inner sleeve. There are no seam splits or tears just some corner creasing and minor signs of handling and use.

Posters: These are the original posters. They are the absolute earliest examples printed on fully matt paper and they are nearly impossible to find as a matching pair (the fully matt pyramid poster seems to be particularly hard to find). These original posters have never been on display and so have no pin-holes, sellotape, blu-tac etc, just some slight age-related discoloration on the two rear panels which are on the outside when the posters are folded, which I’ve shown in the photos. I think it would be almost impossible to find a better pair of these original fully matt posters.

Stickers: These are the original, earliest PERMANENT stickers with the wavy-lines on the backing paper. They are both unused with no major issues, just some age-related discolouration.

Detracting features not covered above:  None. This is a superb example which is 100% complete and original throughout. I think it would be hard to find a better one.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. Please ask any questions before you bid or buy.

Where gradings are given these are based on the UK Record Collector grading system (see below) and are visual gradings only, unless the listing specifically states that it is a play-grading.

I use the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM. This grading system differs from some other grading systems, in particular the Goldmine grading system. Please make sure that you are familiar with the UK record collector grading system before you bid.

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packag­ing might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable sur­face marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

Fair: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

Plus (+) or Minus (-) are added where items fall between gradings. I only ever use one plus or minus.

P&P costs as follows:

UK:

First LP or 12" record = £4.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

First 7" record = £3.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

Europe:

First LP or 12" record = £14.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £11.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.

Rest of the world:

First LP or 12" record = £24.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £14.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.