Sold Date: June 18, 2017
Start Date: June 11, 2017
Final Price: £12.50 (GBP)
Bid Count: 3
Seller Feedback: 76
Buyer Feedback: 22

Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden

EMI 1980

For sale here is a copy of Iron Maiden's eponymous debut album.

The sleeve is excellent+ and the record is very near Mint.

Matrices

EMC 3330 A-1 2 5

EMC 3339 B-1 3 8 ( there is also a scratched out 2 and an inverted 2)

This copy has all the criteria for a first pressing but crucially can be dated to a purchase date of 23rd May 1980 due to a stamp from the seller (Boots the Chemist) on the inner sleeve.

The record was released on 14th April 1980 so this copy was bought just over a month after release and is therefore a very early first pressing.

It also carries the date code '480' on the base of the inner sleeve - '480' stands for April 1980.

First pressings of this record are usually identified as such due to the A1 B1 matrices in the run off. This however, can be misleading.

According to discogs, it appears that these A1 and B1 matrices were in evidence on all UK pressings up to pretty much the turn of the century!

For instance, the first reissue from 1982 also has A1 B1 matrices and is described thus on discogs:

This reissued version has a face label with a boilerplate consisting of three lines of text and has the "℗" symbol where the original version has just two lines of text and no "℗" symbol present.

It seems that if you want to get close to a true first pressing, your copy needs two lines of text at the bottom of the label, not three. (This copy has two!)

In 1985 the record was reissued by 'Fame' and, you guessed it, still had A1 and B1 matrices!

The next re-release seems to have been in 1997, again with A1, B1 matrices...and so it goes on...

With all the other criteria aside from the matrix numbers, including the two rather than three lines of text on the labels, it is easy enough to tell if a copy is a pre 1982 pressing, but how to tell whether it is a true first pressing? Presumably the numbers after the A1 and B1 stamps have some bearing on this...

Thankfully, as mentioned, this copy has separate provenance in the form of a date stamp and the date code, so be assured that should you purchase this, you will be getting a very early copy - of what is a much scarcer record than commonly realised - in fantastic, near mint condition.