King Crimson Court of Crimson King; White Label Promo in Mono - Beyond Rare

$

3,150

Hello, I am a long-time eBay seller - since October, 1999.  I have a 100% feedback record, so bid and buy with confidence.  I have collected records for many years and every record I offer comes from my personal collection.  The grade I specify for the vinyl is based upon a playback as well as a visual inspection.  The grade I assign for the cover and inserts (if any) is based upon a close visual inspection.  
For sale today is an excellent copy of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King issued in 1969 in the extremely rare white label promo mono format.  Mono records were essentially extinct by 1969, although Atlantic was still mastering them in minuscule quantities for play on AM radio stations.  And, within the sphere of late-issue mono promos, King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King is in my experience without a doubt the most rare, most difficult one to obtain.  In my 20+ years of experience collecting late-issue mono promos, I have only seen a handful or less of King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King offered for sale.    
Before I provide my grade for the vinyl, I must note that the buyer should understand that white label mono promos were sent to AM radio stations for play at their stations.  The AM station disc jockeys back then were not overly concerned about preserving the albums for posterity - they simply played the selected tracks and stored the records without special care or handling.  As such, in my 20+ experience buying and selling white label mono promo albums, visually pristine, unmarked or un-scuffed records simply do not exist.  From a visual aspect, these albums almost always fall in the VG to VG+ category, with perhaps an extremely rare survivor that may visually grade VG++ to Excellent.  I have never seen a white label mono promo album on the Atlantic label that I would visually grade as NM or even NM minus.  As to sound quality, again in my 20+ years of experience, the Atlantic white label promos often sound much better than they look, likely because they were pressed on high-grade, heavy vinyl.  With this in mind, I grade this album as follows.   The vinyl visually looks strong VG+ to VG++.  It lies flat, and retains much of its original sheen and shine. However, visually, it does have a few marks, lines and scuffs, thus its grade. The white labels are in NM condition - clean, white, no writing.
As to sound quality, the vinyl plays essentially Near Mint except for a brief passage on the song Moonchild, which I will explain in detail below.  No sticks or skips, of course, no pops or crackle. The sound quality on all songs is great!  
As to Moonchild, this song is notorious for having issues, primarily because most of its 12 minutes of playing time consists of "improv" odd sounds and noises, with several quiet parts where there is no sound or music at all.  [Indeed, in the 2009 40th anniversary box set reissue, the authors expressly noted that the improv parts of Moonchild had always had an issue with pops and crackle since the day it was first issued in 1969.]  As to the vinyl offered here, the musical part of the song (about the first three minutes) sounds just fine, quiet and pleasing.  However, once the musical portion ends, and the improv part starts, there is a very soft ticking which is heard approximately once per record revolution for about a minute. This seems to be the result of a small scratch or scuff on the vinyl as best as I can determine.  Again, the ticking is not overly loud or annoying, but it is there and I want the buyer to be aware of it before purchasing this album.     
The outer cover is in Excellent condition.  Colors are full and vibrant, front and back.  All corners are sharp and square.  Spine is full and complete, no splits or tears.  There is some shelf wear to all four corners, as well on the bottom seam and a bit to the spine (none of the printing on the spine is impacted by the wear).  The cover has the Monaural sticker firmly attached, with no tears.  The cover also has the standard "King Crimson" transparent label on the upper left, also in excellent condition.   
The album does not include the original inner sleeve which accompanies the commercially-released issue.  As far as I can tell, it was not included when the album was sent to the AM radio station.  I also own a white label promo version of this album in stereo and it too did not come with an original inner sleeve.   
However, since I purchased this album, I discarded the white generic paper inner sleeve it came with and have stored the vinyl in an archival inner sleeve, which I then placed in a separate generic white cardboard outer cover to best protect both the vinyl as well as the original outer cover (see photo).  Both the archival inner sleeve and the generic white outer cover will be included with the purchase and the record will be shipped in them to best protect the original outer cover as well as the vinyl.  I have also stored the original outer cover in a separate plastic sleeve to protect it and this too will be included and the outer cover will be shipped in it.     
All in all, a wonderful example of this great album by King Crimson in the very rare mono promo format!  It took me years to find and it is by far the rarest white label mono promo album in my collection.  (As an fyi, the last one that came up for sale in a condition a bit less than the one I am offering sold in July, 2019 on eBay for a firm $4000).
NOTE: Because of the rarity and value of this album, I reserve the right to cancel a purchase if the buyer does not have sufficient history of positive feedback with eBay.
I will send the album via US priority mail, insured, with signature of receipt required.