BEATLES - PLEASE PLEASE ME - BLACK & GOLD - SUPERB EXAMPLE - ORIGINAL COVER

	£		803
	$		1,064

eachtohisown Store

Please read the Terms and Conditions lower in the listing about payment, postage costs and insurance BEFORE placing a bid. Thank you.

I am happy to answer any questions, but please read the listing carefully before sending a question or placing a bid. I try to provide comprehensive details and information in every listing so the answers to most questions should be found below.

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During more than six years of trading on ebay, I have received around 2,000 positive feedbacks from over 1,600 individual customers, almost all from the sale of vinyl records.

I take great pride in ensuring that my records are always described accurately and fairly. All my items come with a money-back guarantee - if it's not as described, you can return it for a full refund.

Bidders outside the UK please note: I send all items tracked and insured. Depending on the value of your order, the cost is an extra £4.95 or £7.45 on top of the standard airmail rate. I do not make a profit on this service - I only charge what Royal Mail charges me. For further information please click on the icon and see below for full P&P and insurance details.

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With so many 1st pressings of 'Please Please Me' being offered for sale with substituted covers, I am pleased to confirm that this one is all original and the whole item is in superb condition.

This is also one of the rare and sought-after 'cross-over' pressings with mixed labels - side one has 'Northern Songs' credits and side two has 'Dick James' credits. Only a very small number of these exist. 

This copy has the original poly-lined Emitex inner sleeve (not the later 'tracing-paper' lining) and the correct, original E.J. Day cover with the Angus McBean credit at the extreme right (not a later one with the credit moved over by about 1cm).

This has the following 1st press matrix numbers, mothers and stampers:

Side 1: XEX 421-1N                 2                                        GL

Side 2: XEX 422-1N                 2  (with a '1' above it)        GM

Detailed description
Vinyl: The vinyl looks great and has retained its original high sheen with relatively few marks. It has clearly been well cared for. Under bright light, just hairlines and fine marks were visible as well as two more-prominent, long hairlines on side one which have no audible impact. The vinyl has retained a deep shine and compared with most 1st pressings of Please Please Me, which are normally a network of lines and scratches, this is one of the best-looking examples I have come across. I have played the entire record and it sounds as good as it looks, with some background noise and crackle in the run-ins/outs, fades, silent grooves and intros and (mainly in the right channel) in the quiet parts (especially in tracks like 'Ask me why' or ' A taste of Honey'). I was listening intently through headphones and I noticed a few places where you get one or two random clicks and three songs where you get a soft, repetitive click for a brief period. And that is all !!! (there were about ten soft clicks, only in the right channel, in 'Chains', a handful of clicks at the very end of 'Please, Please Me' and seven clicks at the start of side two on the silent run-in groove and intro to 'Love Me Do', which stop before the vocal comes in).  Even these are mentioned purely for the sake of accuracy and completeness as there is absolutely nothing loud or intrusive anywhere. This is an excellent example and was a real pleasure to listen to. I would play-grade both sides overall as Excellent (Ex) or Excellent minus (Ex-). This copy looks great and can be listened to and enjoyed all the way through with just a bit of crackle and a handful of soft clicks. I doubt that there can be many copies which look and sound this good!
Labels: Both labels look great with no writing, stickers, tears etc. The side two label is near perfect with no marks or wear and not even any signs of use around the spindle hole. The side one label has some slight wear around the centre (most noticeable on the raised letters of the MT tax code) and a small blemish just to the left of the album title (see photo). It is often hard to find Black and Gold labels that look great. These, especially side two, are superb.
Cover, front and back: The cover is really nice and clean with no damage, splits, tears or stickers etc and just light signs of use. The laminated front is flat and shiny with no wear, lifting or flaking and just some light laminate creases around the edges and corners. The unlaminated rear is clean and the flipbacks are all complete, intact and near perfect. The name and address of the original owner has been written neatly in the top right corner. There are signs that the edges were protected with sellotape which is visible as a slightly yellowed line along some of the white edges, most noticeably along the unlaminated rear opening which also has a few small scuffs. It is really hard to find original 1st press covers in perfect condition (which is why so many copies are offered with substituted covers) but this is easily one of the best I've seen.
Edge wear: top/spine/bottom/opening: none/none/minimal/minimal. There are a couple of small scuffs to the bottom edge and slight signs of use at the opening, but other than this there is virtually no wear to the edges apart from at the corners. The spine is solid and firm and the text is all 100% readable.
Corner wear: There is moderate corner wear with the most worn being the bottom opening corner (which I have shown close-up in one of the photos) which has worn through to a very small (3mm) corner split.
Inner sleeve: Original poly-lined Emitex inner sleeve. No splits, tears or damage. Just some typical signs of age and use.

Detracting features not covered above:  None. This is a superb, complete example.

Please check out my other items and take advantage of reduced postage costs for multiple buys.

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Information about descriptions.
My items are always described accurately and fairly. I always do my best to point out any blemishes which might detract from the item and all photographs are of the actual item you will get.

Play-graded vinyl: I play grade records where possible but I don't have time to play them all. I always state in the listing if I have played a record prior to describing it.

Visually-graded vinyl: Unless specifically stated in the listing, vinyl is visually graded.  A visual grading will identify physical flaws (such as scratches) and can help determine whether a record has been cared-for properly. I always do my best to give a fair assessment of any visible marks on the playing surface, but a visual grading will not identify noise or crackle caused by non-visible sources. Most of the records I sell are between thirty and fifty years old and so it is likely that there may be some background noise even if they look perfect. Please see Terms and Conditions below for my refunds policy for visually graded records.

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I have some very simple terms and conditions. Please read them and ensure that you understand them before bidding. Thank you.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

• My items are fully guaranteed - if it is not as described you can return it for a full refund, including postage. Refunds for visually graded records which are returned based upon the buyer's assessment of the record's playgrade, will not include postage costs in either direction.
• Your bid is binding, so please make sure you have READ and UNDERSTOOD the WHOLE LISTING before you bid. I will not accept returns where the buyer has not read or not understood something which is stated/shown in the listing.
  
• I accept Paypal and postal orders (in UK Sterling GBP) for all purchases.  I also accept cheques (in UK Sterling GBP) on orders OVER £50.
• Please pay for your item within three days of the auction closing. If you are intending to bid on other items and wish to pay when they have closed, please contact me to let me know. I reserve the right to cancel any transactions and offer the item to the second highest bidder if no contact or payment is made within three days.

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POSTAGE & PACKING

I care about the records I sell and believe that they need to be carefully and securely packaged to ensure that they survive their journey through the post. Vinyl is removed from the sleeve for posting and the contents will be protected with rigid cardboard stiffeners. All packages are labelled "Do not bend" and securely sealed with "FRAGILE" parcel tape.

I support the use of recycled materials and so I may send some items in packaging which has been previously used or which has been made from other cardboard packaging. If you wish your item to be sent in entirely new packaging please let me know before paying for it. Thanks.

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P&P charges

I need to cover the cost of postage and packing materials, but I try not to charge more for packing and posting your item than it actually costs me. I do not view P&P costs as a means of making money.

However, to quote an exact cost for every LP is difficult because of the wide variance in weight (e.g. Abbey Road weighs around 230 grams whereas Led Zeppelin III weighs around 390 grams). But the majority of single LPs, when packed, will weigh around 500-550 grams and I have based my P&P rates on this.

Occasionally, you may end up paying a few pence more than it actually costs me and occasionally you may end up paying a few pence less than it actually costs me. If there is a significant discrepancy in your favour I will refund the difference.

Double LPs will be charged as two LPs, triple LPs will be charged as three LPs. Box sets etc will be charged according to weight.

UK P&P costs

UK Standard service - items are sent quickly and securely using first class recorded post, which includes insurance up to £46. The cost for this is as follows:

First LP or 12" = £3.80, each additional LP or 12" add £0.80

First 7" or CD = £1.90, each additional 7" or CD add £0.50


UK Special Delivery - Any order valued over £46 will be sent fully insured using Royal Mail Special Delivery and the total cost of this will be £7.50.  Multiple-item orders weighing more than 1kg or items valued over £500 will cost slightly more to insure, so please wait for my invoice before paying.

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Airmail (with tracking and insurance) to any country OUTSIDE the UK

Europe

First LP or 12" = £9.95, each additional LP or 12" add £2.00.

First 7" or CD = £6.85, each additional 7" or CD add £0.60.

Rest of the world (anywhere outside Europe)

First LP or 12" = £13.45, each additional LP or 12" add £3.50.

First 7" or CD = £8.15, each additional 7" or CD add £0.90.

Overseas orders weighing more than 2kg or valued over £500 may be split into two or more packages as appropriate so they can be sent using Royal Mail's Small Packet Rate, so please wait for my invoice on larger multiple purchases.

Customs declaration for overseas orders: Please note that for overseas orders outside the EU I need to complete a customs declaration and must enter the value of the package on the declaration.

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If you have any queries please email BEFORE you bid.

Thanks for your interest in this listing and for taking the time to read these details.