Discography value guide
Original Rolling Stones records.
What they're worth.
The Rolling Stones' catalog runs from 1964 Decca/London pressings through the 1971 Rolling Stones Records era and beyond. The early Decca UK and London US pressings are the most collectible. Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972) sit on the next tier with their famous packaging quirks intact. Reissues of every Stones album exist by the dozen — the first-press value gap is large.
01
Value by era and album
Recent sold-listing ranges for first-press UK Decca and US London/Rolling Stones Records copies in NM condition. Mono pressings of the 1964–66 albums consistently outrank stereo equivalents.
| Album (year) | First-press catalog | NM value |
|---|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones — UK mono (1964) | Decca LK 4605 | $300–800 |
| Aftermath — UK mono (1966) | Decca LK 4786 | $200–500 |
| Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) | Decca TXS 103 (UK) / London NPS-2 (US) | $150–500 (with 3D) |
| Beggars Banquet (1968) | Decca SKL 4955 (UK) | $200–600 |
| Sticky Fingers — US first-press (1971) | Rolling Stones Records COC 59100 | $80–300 (working zipper) |
| Exile on Main St. — US first-press (1972) | Rolling Stones COC 2-2900 | $50–200 |
Sources: Discogs sold listings (90-day window), Popsike.com auction archive, Goldmine Record Album Price Guide.
02
The packaging quirks that matter
Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967). Original copies shipped with a 3D lenticular front cover (the band photo shifts as you tilt it). The lenticular survives on most opened copies but missing or damaged lenses cut the value significantly. UK Decca and US London versions both used the 3D cover.
Beggars Banquet (1968). The original cover was a Barry Feinstein photograph of bathroom-wall graffiti. Decca and London refused to ship it; the album was pulled and reissued with a plain white “wedding invitation” cover for several months. Both covers are collected. The graffiti cover is the more valuable.
Sticky Fingers (1971). The original US Rolling Stones Records pressing had the working zipper on the front cover, designed by Andy Warhol. The zipper pressed against the record inside and caused indentation damage to many copies — clean copies with intact zippers and no ring-from-the-zipper damage bring the top of the range. Spanish censorship-edition copies replaced the zipper with a different cover entirely; that's a separate collector pursuit.
Exile on Main St. (1972). The original gatefold cover came with 12 postcards inside the package — a collage of Robert Frank photographs. Complete-postcard copies are scarce and bring premium prices. The COC 2-2900 catalog number is the US first-press indicator.
03
UK Decca vs US London
The Stones' early albums had different tracklists and different cover artwork between the UK Decca releases and the US London releases. The UK tracklists are the canonical artist-approved versions; the US London versions were repackaged for the American market with shorter tracklists, US-only singles included, and different cover photographs.
For the 1964–67 albums, UK Decca first-press copies trade higher than US London equivalents. The UK pressings were the original masters and tend to sound cleaner. From Beggars Banquet on, the tracklists converged and the price gap narrowed.
04
If you have one
Pull the record. For 1964–68 albums, check the label first — UK first-presses use the Decca unboxed label with the “ffrr” logo at the bottom; US first-presses use the maroon London label. The catalog number distinguishes the pressing era. The matrix runout in the dead wax is the definitive identifier.
For 1971-onward Rolling Stones Records pressings, the catalog number (COC- series for US, CC- for UK) and the unique album-specific packaging quirks (zipper, postcards) confirm the first-press.
Or scan with Crown Vinyl. The app reads the label, catalog number, and matrix runout from a single photograph and returns the exact pressing. Free on the App Store.
A few questions
The ones that come up.
The 1964 UK Decca mono first-press of The Rolling Stones (LK 4605) and the original 1968 graffiti-cover Beggars Banquet are typically the most valuable, both trading in the $400–800 range for NM copies. Sealed authenticated copies of either reach into four figures. Sticky Fingers with intact working zipper is also highly collectible at $200–300.
Yes. The Andy Warhol-designed cover on the original 1971 US Rolling Stones Records pressing has a functional zipper that opens to reveal a second photograph underneath. Most surviving copies have the zipper intact but show indentation damage where the zipper pressed against the record inside. Clean copies with working zippers and no ring damage bring the top of the value range.
Decca and London initially refused to ship the band's chosen cover (a Barry Feinstein photograph of bathroom-wall graffiti) and replaced it with a plain white 'wedding invitation' cover for the first run. After months of pushback, the original graffiti cover was eventually released. Both covers are collected. The first-press graffiti cover is the more valuable of the two.
Decca's 1963 UK promotional copies of 'Come On' (the Stones' debut single) and the 1965 'Tell Me' US London 45 are among the most valuable Stones singles, with NM promotional copies trading into the high three figures. Early Decca acetate test pressings reach four-figure prices when authenticated.
Free to startNo adsPrivate by defaultCloud syncBuilt for iOS