Berliner Gramophone Disc 668Z: 23rd Psalm and Lord's Prayer 1897 V+/E- 78 rpm

$

85

V+ to E- (VJM)

Uncredited Orator

“The Twenty-Third Psalm / The Lord’s Prayer”

Berliner Gramophone 668Z

7” Shellac Recorded on February 27, 1897

The Berliner Gramophone disc was the world’s first example of a flat playable record – before this there were only cylinders. Any surviving discs are important historical artifacts and incredibly rare documents of early recorded sound.

This is disc number 668Z, and features an unknown speaker reciting a couple of Bible passages. The “Z” in the catalog number on this recording does not classify it as a repress, but rather as a re-recording of the same song performed by a different artist on disc 668 (without the suffix). The Berliner cataloging system was very convoluted in the Early Series; for more info visit the Library Of Congress page on Berliner discs here. This record is a rather long-playing record for a Berliner, and it’s in nice playable condition.

Tracks:

A The 23rd Psalm, The Lord’s Prayer

The record grades at V+ to E- on the VJM scale (or VG on the Goldmine scale) with overall clean and bright playing field, and only a few very light surface marks. It has a couple of very small needle-drops that look to be completely playable with just a small pop or tick (when examined under a magnifying glass). It has the dimpled surface that is common in these discs - they were part of Berliner records when they were made, and the sound groove plays straight through them. Please note that we are not able to play Berliner discs, so we are not able to play grade this disc. Our grading is based on visual inspection only; please click on the photos above and use the zoom feature to get a supersize view for close inspection.

Domestic shipping within the USA is $4.00 for the first record, and the second record ships for free – Please click here for our Complete Shipping Rates.  Shipping to everywhere else is airmail only.  We ship worldwide; if you are an international buyer, please wait for our invoice with the shipping rate.  PayPal is the preferred method of payment.  All records are shipped in corrugated cardboard boxes with corrugated cardboard pads for secure shipping to anywhere in the world. 78s will be further packaged in an oversized box full of packing foam peanuts.  International buyers should understand the laws in their country that govern customs VATs, duties, taxes & fees; these fees are the responsibility of the buyer, and are not included in the sale or shipping price paid to us.

Grading is done according to the Goldmine Grading Standards using the following scale: Mint/NM/VG/G/P with the appropriate + or - to further describe the condition.  Please click here for our Complete Grading Criteria.  “Mint” is essentially new, and “Poor” is essentially unplayable. We have 19 years of experience with the Goldmine system, and grade conservatively so you’ll have no surprises.

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