Up for auction is my copy of Black Sabbath's debut album, in the super rare 1st UK pressing on Vertigo large swirl label (Philips credit), also with the capitalised band credits in the gatefold and original swirl inner sleeve.
Going to try and be as detailed as I possibly can about the condition as there will obviously be a lot of interest in this...
Vinyl:
My overall grade would be VG. In regular daylight I can only see a couple of small marks on one side. Looks really good and proof that there are no feelable marks. If it did it would be graded lower. Inspecting under a bright lamp (the only way) we see that both sides are covered in light hairline/removal marks indicating plenty of play and handling. The disc is still shiny, so in summary it's been very well-played by an owner who took relatively good care of it- at least enough to not deeply scratch it!
The playback is VG+ in my opinion, very enjoyable with absolutely no nasty surprises, loud pops or hisses. There is the odd light tick which pops it's head up on occasion, for example the bass solo. Can't remember the name of the track. Of course there being no feelable marks there are no skips or stuck grooves.
Labels:
VG minus. One side has a small blue filled in portion and there are plenty of spindle marks indicating a lot of play but by a fairly careful owner.
Sleeve:
VG to VG minus depending on how fussy you are. The seams are all intact, no splits. There is wear on all seams, the heaviest being the bottom seam which is pretty much completely white/worn off. Only parts of the band/album name and catalogue number are visible on the spine.
Inner Sleeve:
VG. one of the flipbacks is lifting off. The black ink seems a bit fainter than on other vertigo inner sleeves i've seen. Don't know what that's about.
So there you have it. A copy to enjoy but definitely not one for a mint collector.
Any questions please ask... good luck!

On 29-Nov-21 at 09:58:08 GMT, seller added the following information:

An update: was a bit hasty with my daylight inspection. It's more like 3 visible marks on Side A and Side B has several including a couple of zig-zaggy ones. Still not feelable, and don't affect the play, just don't the winning bidder to feel surprised and/or disappointed! Cheers

On 05-Dec-21 at 12:07:47 GMT, seller added the following information:

Gave it a pro clean and what follows is a full playgrade on my Technics 1210/Denon MC cartridge. Listening on speakers, I imagine on headphones you'll hear the inherent surface noise of any vinyl record.

The record is incredibly enjoyable, Side A is basically EX but- I made a mistake when grading Side B, there are TWO lightly feelable marks (parallel to each other) in the middle of the side. Please read on for more details and bid accordingly.
A1 (Black Sabbath) EX throughout, fantastic! A2 (The Wizard) A few light clicks are audible during harmonica intro, then EX when band kicks in. Very nice. A3 (Behind the Wall of Sleep) Not quite as good as the first couple of tracks, i'd say VG+ as there are a few audible clicks when the band is playing for the first minute or so, then EX. Drum breakdown and Bass solo plays clean, no noise! A4 (N.I.B) the quiet intro plays clean, EX throughout

B1 (Evil Woman) EX, heard a couple of non-distracting light clicks whilst full band is playing but really nice.

B remainder- can't really separate the two tracks. The intro is VG+ with a few clicks audible underneath the music. Once heavy guitar riff kicks it’s mainly EX, but in the middle of the side there are some repetitive clicks audible for about three minutes, VG only i'm afraid. Once the driving riff kicks in we’re back to the usual EX. There's then a solo passage of Blues guitar solo which is very clean, just a couple of light clicks.