Beatles -Abbey Road - UNOPENED 1969 Very Rare DECCA 1st Press w/NO 'Her Majesty'

$

320

EXTREMELY RARE *** UNOPENED *** DECCA FIRST PRESSING - Abbey Road released 10/1/1969. Three different covers were produced in 1969.

I currently have listed a copy of this album which is opened. I bought that album and this one at the same time from the same store in 1969. The photos of the disk are from the opened album. For obvious reasons I can't open this factory fresh copy or it will no longer be MINT Unopened. If you intend to open it, you can verify the specific DECCA characteristics as described below.

Cover #1 - The first Beatles album to have "print-on-board" covers, instead of separate slicks that were previously pasted to the front and back. This pressing shows part of a square sewer plate in the road near the bottom edge of the cover, in the crosswalk stripe below where John's rear foot is. These covers did not have "Her Majesty" listed on the rear cover. The label on the record itself also does not have "Her Majesty" listed.
Cover #2 - Capitol Records had rear cover slicks produced which showed "Her Majesty" as the 11th song. The front cover remained the same as Cover #1, but the rear slicks were added over the previous cover. The label on the disc shows "Her Majesty" as song #11.
Cover #3 - Capitol ran out of the original print-on-board covers so hired Queens Litho to produce slicks for the front and back covers. They used the original artwork for the back covers, so the covers don't have "Her Majesty" listed. However, the disc label does list "Her Majesty". To make this production method work (using slicks), the front cover slick was enlarged to allow it to wrap around to the back cover. Thus, the enlarged photo shows less than the original front cover. Note that the sewer cover plate seen originally below where Ringo and John are stepping, is now gone.
The album I am selling is an excellent example of a very rare cover #1 pressed by Decca Records, with the original cover photo at its original size. Note the sewer plate below where John and Ringo's feet are stepping on the crosswalk paint. Decca Records only produced a small number of albums as a subcontractor to Capitol. The evidence that this is a Decca pressing is found on the record labels. Both the green front label and the white back label have a different, smaller font than other labels. On the front green label, the title "Abbey Road" is printed on two lines, which are farther apart than other labels with 2-line printing. The most definitive proof is on the back label. Note in my enlarged photo that "Produced by George Martin" and "Recorded in England" are both on the right-hand lower side of the rear label. In all other pressings, these two phrases are either centered at the bottom of the apple core or they are separate with "Produced by George Martin" usually in the upper right corner of the label and "Recorded In England" usually on the lower left bottom. Only on the Decca pressings do these two phrases appear together on the right-hand bottom of the back label. "Her Majesty" does not appear. (See notes above. The photos showing these unique DECCA markings come from the identical album purchased at the same time from the same store in 1969.)

The disk labels were printed at Capitol's Scranton facility and were provided to Decca.
The album cover is in Mint condition with the original shrinkwrap with no tears or breakages. The corners are crisp. 
Feel free to ask questions or request more photos.
With an album of this rarity, I urge buyers to ask any questions you can think of, no matter how seemingly trivial. I don't want there to be any question about the condition and grading.

If you open this album and find that the DECCA identifiers are not there, I will refund your purchase price and you can return the album. If you wish to keep it, since it is still a Mint copy, I will reduce the price to $400 and refund the difference. Purchaser responsible for shipping and insurance costs for full value of album. I offer this return policy to make you comfortable with the purchase. As stated above, I purchased two Abbey Road albums in 1969 from the same store at the same time in 1969. I opened one and saved one. The photos are of the disk of the opened copy, verifying that this is the very rare DECCA pressing, the most rare variation of this album.