The 50 Most Counterfeited Vinyl Records

No band is counterfeited more. The combination of universal demand and genuinely valuable early UK Parlophone pressings makes The Beatles the number-one target. Genuine pressings carry specific matrix details and the 'Garrod & Lofthouse' or label-variant fingerprints that fakes get wrong.

Abbey Road (Apple PCS 7088, 1969) runs roughly £60-£200 for a clean original, with the misaligned Apple label variants commanding more. Sgt. Pepper's (Parlophone PMC 7027, 1967) mono originals sit around £150-£400. The White Album (Apple PMC 7067/8, 1968) is most valuable with a low stamped serial number, £200-£800+. Please Please Me (Parlophone PMC 1202, 1963) gold-and-black mono originals are the grail at £1,000-£4,000, which is exactly why convincing fakes circulate. Watch for machine-stamped matrices and soft, off-register label print.

The Beatles are uniquely exposed because so much value rides on tiny variations that casual buyers cannot police. The difference between the gold-and-black and yellow-and-black Please Please Me labels, the presence of the 'Sold in U.K.' rim text, the mono-versus-stereo distinction, and the early-versus-late Apple sleeve all swing the price by hundreds of pounds, so counterfeiters target the high end and bank on buyers not knowing the fingerprints. Always confirm the YEX/XEX matrix prefix in the dead wax against the catalogue number, check the label colour under good light, and treat any 'sealed original' from the 1960s as a red flag rather than a prize.

Led Zeppelin originals are prized for their pressing-specific etchings, and counterfeiters know collectors hunt for them. The genuine articles carry plum/red-and-maroon Atlantic labels and, on certain US cuts, the coveted 'RL' (Robert Ludwig) hand-etching plus the 'Porky'/'Pecko' stamps on UK pressings.

Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic 2401 012, 1971) commands £150-£300 for a clean UK plum-label original, more with the right runout. Led Zeppelin I (Atlantic 588171, 1969) with the turquoise lettering and 'Superhype' publishing credit is the prize at £400-£1,500. Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic 588198, 1969) 'RL' hot cuts can reach £300-£1,000. Physical Graffiti (Swan Song SSK 89400, 1975) runs £40-£120. Fakes typically lack the hand-etched RL/Porky marks or render them as suspiciously clean stamps.

Because the Zeppelin premium is so heavily tied to dead-wax detail, this is one catalogue where you should always read the runout before paying. Genuine early UK cuts carry hand-etched 'Porky' or 'A PORKY PRIME CUT' marks from George Peckham, and the US 'RL' on Led Zeppelin II should be a flowing hand-scribe, never a uniform stamp. Counterfeits also stumble on the label: the plum should be a rich red-maroon with crisp silver text, and the turquoise lettering on the earliest Led Zeppelin I is notoriously difficult to reproduce at the correct shade and weight.

Pink Floyd albums are faked because the complete original packages are worth far more than the bare disc, and fakes almost always skimp on the extras. The Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest SHVL 804, 1973) original with both posters, both stickers and the solid-blue-triangle prism runs £80-£250; the earliest pressings with the blue triangle command the premium.

Wish You Were Here (Harvest SHVL 814, 1975) originals shipped in black shrink with a postcard insert and sit around £40-£120. Animals (Harvest SHVL 815, 1977) runs £30-£90, and The Wall (Harvest SHDW 411, 1979) £40-£120. The tells are consistent: missing or photocopied posters and inserts, EMI/Harvest label print that is slightly too bold, and pixelated rear barcodes on the later titles.

Floyd is a classic example of why you must value the complete package rather than the disc alone. A genuine Dark Side of the Moon is only fully valuable with both posters, both pyramid stickers and the correct early label, and counterfeiters almost never go to the trouble of faithfully reproducing every insert — so check the extras as carefully as the record. Confirm the green Harvest logo, the EMI Hayes plant marks in the dead wax, and the solid-blue-triangle prism on the earliest pressings; a colour-gradient triangle indicates a later or reproduction sleeve.

The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers (COC 59100, 1971) with the working Andy Warhol zip sleeve is a counterfeit favourite — genuine zip copies run £60-£200, and fakes botch the zip mechanism and the inner sleeve. Exile on Main St (COC 69100, 1972) sits £40-£120, Let It Bleed (Decca SKL 5025, 1969) £50-£150, and Beggars Banquet (Decca SKL 4955, 1968) £50-£150.

David Bowie's RCA-era albums are faked for their withdrawn artwork and label variants. Ziggy Stardust (RCA SF 8287, 1972) runs £40-£150, Aladdin Sane (RCA RS 1001, 1973) £40-£120, Diamond Dogs (RCA APL1 0576, 1974) is prized for the uncensored 'dog genitalia' sleeve at £300-£1,000+, and Heroes (RCA PL 12522, 1977) £30-£90. Check RCA label fonts and the matrix formats against Discogs.

What makes both the Stones and Bowie so attractive to forgers is the existence of high-value variant editions that ordinary copies can be passed off as. Sticky Fingers is only worth top money with a functioning Warhol zip and the correct inner; the Diamond Dogs premium depends entirely on the withdrawn airbrushed sleeve. Counterfeiters reproduce the famous artwork but cut corners on the mechanism, the inner sleeve and the label era — so always match the SF/RS/APL1 catalogue prefix to the correct logo and confirm the dead-wax matrix matches the documented original before paying a variant premium.

Punk rarities are faked because withdrawn and short-run originals are scarce and expensive. Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks (Virgin V 2086, 1977) originals run £50-£150, while the withdrawn A&M 'God Save the Queen' is a four-figure grail; the Virgin VS 181 7-inch and the EMI 2566 'Anarchy in the UK' single (£80-£400) are routinely faked.

The Clash's London Calling (CBS CLASH 3, 1979) runs £30-£90 and the self-titled debut (CBS 82000, 1977) £40-£120. Joy Division's Factory pressings are heavily counterfeited for their Peter Saville sleeves and FAC catalogue codes: Unknown Pleasures (FACT 10, 1979) £100-£300, Closer (FACT 25, 1980) £80-£250, and the 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' 7-inch (FAC 23, 1980) £30-£100. Fakes get the textured Saville sleeve finish and the embossing wrong.

Punk and post-punk are unusually fake-heavy because so much of the demand sits on withdrawn, short-run or design-led editions that are genuinely scarce. The withdrawn A&M 'God Save the Queen' is a four-figure grail precisely because almost none survive, which makes any cheap copy instantly suspect. With Factory, the sleeve is the battleground: Unknown Pleasures' matte textured card and the precise embossed line-art are very hard to reproduce, so a thin, glossy, flat-feeling sleeve is a reliable tell regardless of how good the label looks.

Nirvana drives huge counterfeit demand. Nevermind (DGC DGC-24425, 1991) originals run £30-£90, In Utero (DGC DGC-24607, 1993) £40-£120, and the holy grail Bleach on Sub Pop (SP 34, 1989) — especially the white-vinyl limited run — reaches £200-£700. Bob Marley's Island pressings are faked too: Catch a Fire (ILPS 9241, 1973) in the original Zippo-lighter sleeve runs £100-£400, Exodus (ILPS 9498, 1977) £40-£120, and Natty Dread (ILPS 9281, 1974) £40-£120.

The list rounds out with The Velvet Underground & Nico (Verve V6-5008, 1967) and its peelable banana at £300-£1,500; Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (Warner K 56344, 1977) £30-£90 and Tusk (K 66088, 1979) £30-£80; Neil Young's Harvest (Reprise K 54005, 1972) £30-£90 and After the Gold Rush (RSLP 9092, 1970) £40-£120; Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced (Track 612 001, 1967) £150-£600 and Electric Ladyland (Track 613 008/9, 1968) £100-£400; The Doors' debut (Elektra EKL-4007, 1967) £80-£300 and L.A. Woman (EKS-75011, 1971) £40-£120; Radiohead's OK Computer (Parlophone NODATA 01, 1997) £40-£120 and The Bends (PCS 7372, 1995) £40-£120; plus Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run (Columbia PC 33795, 1975) £30-£90 and Prince's Purple Rain (Warner 25110-1, 1984) £30-£90.

What unites every record on this list is a wide gap between the genuine value and the cost of faking it — the bigger that gap, the more attractive the title to counterfeiters. Nirvana's Bleach on white vinyl and the peelable-banana Velvet Underground sleeve are perfect examples: the format novelty does most of the selling, so a fake only has to look right at a glance. The defence is always the same across the whole fifty. Match the catalogue number to the era-correct label, read the dead-wax matrix against the documented original on Discogs, inspect the print quality of labels and barcodes, and check that special features — the banana, the zip, the inserts, the coloured vinyl — are genuine rather than approximations. When any of those checks raises a doubt, photograph the label and runout and run them through Vinyl Guard before you commit a penny.