After 2000, there is a trend for the speculation of the old records.  For some of the Asian developing Countries like China and Korea, the speculation is becoming more and more serious.  The article is aimed to provide a basic introduction about some valuable CD record pressings - i.e. collectable CD records.  The general principle of CD or any other types of record recording is that the older the pressing the better the value.

Examples will be provided with notes below, many of them are in very high price... 

The term "Sliver Colour Core" was developed in the Asian countries in order to clearly identify the verion of the CD.  The central part of the CD is electroplated by the same sliver colour material of the CD.

The Following is an eample of Sliver Colour Core CD:

West Germany Pressing

Before 1990, Germany was separated into 2 countries - East Germany and West Germany.   When there is any CD printed made in West Germany, this is a vintage one and the value is much higher.  Also, the quality of most of the West German made records are very outstanding like some collectables from Decca, DG and Phillips.

You should find "Made in West Germnay" printed at the back of the CD cover like the picture below.

Without IFPI Serial

By now, for some CDs without the IFPI serial number are being speculated in the 2nd hand market.  For the IFPI serial printed on the centre of the CD, it was being widely applied until 2005.  So, those CDs are aged items. 

Japanese Selling West German CD

In the 1980s, when Decca (London) and DGG started their selling of CDs in Japan, they shipped the CDs from West Germany to Japan.  The booklets were printed in Japanese.  However, the shipping costs are too high and they started to re-produce CDs locally in Japan very quickly.  These items are very rare in the 2nd hand markets and the prices are crazy in Taiwan / Hong Kong / Japan. 

The following is an example:

Japanese are pay high attention to the pressing of the records.  So, if the CD is the first press, they will print the word "First Pressing" on the cover of the CD.  They do believe "First Pressing" is the best.  However, for most classical records like those DG or London label, they are re-produced in Japan from the master record imported from either Germany or England.  So, they are the best in Japan only but not the best pressing.  Unfortunately, they are really expensive in the Asian 2nd hand market.

In Japanese market, they are selling some "hot items" with limited version for representing the quality of sound is garanteed with the high price.  So, this type of items are also being speculated. 

All in all, the writer of this article is still learning how to identify "First Pressing" for different labels in different countries.  So, if you have some clues or information, please kindly email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it