Yahoo News A Rare 1962 Beatles Record That Misspells Paul McCartney’s Name Just Sold at Auction
One Beatles fan knew that they loved this rare vinyl—despite its glaring error.
A remarkable early single by the Fab Four was scooped up at auction this week, with Paul McCartney’s name misspelled as Paul “McArtney” adorning both sides of the record. The unearthed treasure, which went under the hammer on Monday with Stacey’s Auctioneers in the U.K., the BBC first reported, was estimated to sell for between £7,000 and £9,000 (about $8,800 to $11,400); the collector’s item ended up selling for just under the low estimate.
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“Around this time of year, we get less bidding,” David MacGregor of Stacey’s Auctioneers explained to the BBC. “We did get interest from around the world, and we put the price up to what we thought was a reasonable price. This is a really, really rare Beatles single, and one that is very hard to track down. It came in from a Beatles collector who decided that they wanted to sell.”
The seven-inch vinyl is one of only 250 tracks to be printed, pressed, and distributed to music TV and radio stations. The record, which was released on October 5, 1962, contains the hit songs Love Me Do and PS I Love You. Of course, the relic is even more valuable thanks to that Sir Paul misprint.
While one might think a typo would make an artifact less valuable, it’s actually the opposite. A rare, uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with J.K. Rowling‘s name appearing as “J.A Rowling” on the title page is set to hit the auction block in July. Previously, a first-edition Harry Potter book with two obvious misspellings sold for $34,500.
“This is an especially rare Beatles single from the very earliest days of the band’s career,” vinyl specialist Rob Smee explained to BBC. “Being one of only 250 it is of particular interest to Beatles’ collectors and the misspelling of Paul McCartney’s name is both authentic and interesting in itself.”
Of course, if you’re more interested in living out your British rocker fantasy, the market for Beatles memorabilia is booming. In May, John Lennon’s “Help!” guitar sold for $2.86 million during Julien’s two-day Music Icons sale. For context, that was three times the instrument’s pre-auction estimate. McCartney also put his stage-worn custom boots from the 2012 London Olympics up for sale last month.
Money can’t buy you love, but it can certainly buy you some great keepsakes from the Fab Four.
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