FACT notes today, republishing a story that first appeared in The Vinyl Factory, that a rare test pressing of the landmark 1965 John Coltrane LP A Love Supreme is now up for sale on eBay. The starting price? $19,000.
A Love Supreme is widely lauded as a high water mark of the genre. The test pressing is in VG condition, exists in a generic sleeve, and has a Van Gelder Stamp on both sides of the vinyl.
According a statement given to FACT from the eBay seller thesoundofblue, the record was originally purchased at Academy Records in New York for an undisclosed sum. “Someone also pointed out that where it says Coltrane it looks like his signature. I am not real sure about that. He usually signed his full name. No idea who Ken Coltrane is,” he added.
$19,000 seems like a lot of money for a record that was possibly purchased for a considerably less–a rep from Academy told FACT the record was initially procured from “a guy whose thing is hunting through thrift stores, garage sales. We couldn’t find another copy to know how much to sell it for” and this listing shows what appears to be the same record selling for $300 in the fall of 2016–but for a devoted, deep-pocketed jazz fan, the value of a potentially singular item like this might be incalculable.
If you have the dough, you can put in a bid right here. Take a listen to A Love Supreme below.