The world’s largest record collection, appraised at approximately $50 million, is up for sale for a mere $3 million dollars, and no one wants it. Containing almost 3 million albums and singles, the collection’s sale price works out to approximately one dollar per record, some of which are worth thousands, including a Rolling Stones rarity that was never released to the public. According to a study done by the Library of Congress, about 83% of the music contained in the collection, which was released between 1948 and 1966, is not available to the public on CD.
Paul Mawhinney, the owner of the collection, opened a record store after his personal collection grew to 60,000 albums. But Mawhinney never sold the last copy of any album that came into the store – he would keep it for his archives.
Record-Rama closed its doors in 2008 and Mawhinney, whose health has deteriorated greatly since then, is being forced to sell that archive.
Check out the video below of Mawhinney speaking about his love for music and vinyl, as he wonders what will happen to the collection he’s given his life to.
