Which Pink Floyd albums are faked most
The big four are targeted because of their value and their famously elaborate packaging.
- The Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest SHVL 804, 1973) — the solid-blue triangle first pressing with both posters and both pyramid stickers is the prime target.
- Wish You Were Here (Harvest SHVL 814, 1975) — the black shrink, postcard and sticker are routinely missing or faked.
- Animals (Harvest SHVL 815, 1977) — the gatefold and lyric inner are reproduced.
- The Wall (Harvest SHDW 411, 1979) — the two-LP set with inner sleeves is faked, often with poor-quality cover board.
Harvest and EMI label details to check
Early-1970s UK Floyd appeared on the Harvest label, which through this period used variations of the green/blue 'Harvest' design with the EMI box logo. The single most cited Dark Side detail is the first-pressing 'solid blue triangle' prism on the label versus the later light-blue/dark-blue split triangle. Counterfeiters often print the wrong triangle, use the wrong shade of green, or get the EMI rim text and 'Manufactured in Great Britain' wording wrong.
Check the catalogue number layout, the publishing credits and the small EMI logo for crispness and correct positioning. Genuine labels are sharply printed with accurate colour; fakes tend to look slightly washed-out, off-register, or use a glossier modern paper than the matte stock EMI used. Always confirm the label variant matches the matrix and the documented first pressing for that catalogue number.
Posters, inserts and quad pressings
The original Dark Side came with two posters (the pyramid/infra-red band poster and the pyramids poster) and two pyramid stickers, all on specific paper stock. Counterfeit copies routinely omit these, include modern reprints on the wrong paper, or supply stickers with the wrong colour and finish. Genuine posters have the correct fold pattern, paper weight and print quality; reprints feel thinner and show pixelation under magnification.
There were also quadraphonic pressings (Dark Side on Harvest Q4SHVL 804) that carry their own matrix and label markings — a quad label on a stereo-matrix record is an immediate sign of a mismatched or faked item. Wish You Were Here's black shrink, postcard and 'mechanical hands' sticker are similarly often missing or reproduced. If a 'complete original' is missing the inserts entirely, the value and the authenticity are both in doubt.
Matrix numbers and dead-wax tells
Genuine UK Dark Side first pressings carry matrix numbers in the SHVL 804 family, for example 'SHVL 804 A-2 / B-2', often accompanied by EMI stamper codes and, on many copies, hand-etched cutting marks. As with other EMI products, the matrix has the slightly irregular, hand-cut character of a real lacquer rather than a perfectly uniform machine-etched line.
Counterfeits commonly show run-outs that are too clean, matrix numbers in the wrong font or depth, or numbers that simply don't correspond to any documented pressing for that label variant. Cross-reference the full matrix string against Discogs run-out photographs for the exact pressing you think you have. A label that says first pressing but a matrix that says otherwise is a classic counterfeit mismatch.
Current market value of genuine pressings
A complete UK solid-blue-triangle Dark Side of the Moon first pressing with both posters and both stickers sells for roughly £150-£400, with mint copies higher; stripped copies without inserts are worth far less. A complete Wish You Were Here with postcard and sticker runs around £60-£150, Animals around £40-£100, and a clean original The Wall double LP around £40-£90.
Because so much of the value is tied to the complete package, a 'first pressing' priced like a stripped reissue but advertised as complete is suspicious. Equally, an unusually cheap sealed copy is a warning sign — genuine Floyd originals are almost never found shrink-wrapped at bargain prices decades later.