Sales of vinyl reach 25-year high: Do you own these valuable records?

As UK consumers embrace physical formats of music once again, here are the blasts from the past now worth a lot of money

David Bowie Diamond Dogs
(Image credit: RCA Records)

Sales of vinyl in 2016 reached a 25-year high as UK consumers once again embraced physical formats of music.

More than 3.2 million LPs were sold last year, a rise of 53 per cent on 2015 and the highest number since 1991, when Simply Red's Stars topped the best-selling charts for the year, reports The Guardian.

Vanessa Higgins, chief executive of Regent Street and Gold Bar Records and an independent label member of BPI Council, said the reasons for the rise were twofold: "Older people are going back to vinyl, but I also think the younger generation are discovering it in a way they weren't before," she said.

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The vinyl revival has also led to collectors young and old dusting off treasured LPs in search of a big payoff.

If you know what to look for, it is possible you could be sitting on a treasure trove of a record collection.

"First releases by big acts like The Beatles or Bruce Springsteen, and misprints and pressings with alternate covers, can greatly increase the value of vinyl if the copies are kept in pristine condition," says Mental Floss.

Here are some popular records you may own that are now worth way more than their original sticker price.

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