CONSERVATIVELY VALUED AT about £3,000, it was specially pressed by EMI for a record industry luncheon in 1978. Hand numbered, in a purple-and-gold presentation sleeve, it came with a natty blue scarf, with the Queen’s Award logo emblazoned thereon. As the ultimate Queen collectable, it’s the perfect example of the golden rule of Queen collecting: rarity rules.
And so it is that other high-ranking Queen collectables are ones defined by their very scarcity. The Angolan picture sleeve pressing of “Killer Queen” chips in at about £500. A stupidly rare Indian pressing of “Tie Your Mother Down” sold online for in excess of £300 early in 2015. The France-only sleeve of “Seven Seas Of Rhye” is probably worth £300 – about the same as the withdrawn UK picture sleeve for “Somebody To Love”. EMI Portugal issued a number of cool, territory-specific sleeves for “Bohemian Rhapsody”, particularly striking in orange, and yours for £250. Test pressings, acetates – all these are seriously in demand.
