British Columbia Values
this page first published by John Wright, 3 Dec 1997
last update 14 Mar 2005
vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk
Note: values quoted are typical prices paid at a record fair stall where the stall-holder knows the demand for music and records.
A commonly found record label in a 78rpm collection, Columbia sold millions of records. Many favourite
bands or artistes made their best records on Columbia.
The Columbia label has been around for over 95 years and on it you can find just about
any kind of music. In Britain you'll find mostly 10" records. From the 1900's to 1930 popular music was found on the black/dark blue label series numbered 1000 to over 5700, changing to the CB- and DB- series,
and a magenta FB series also started in 1935. The vast majority of these discs are not valuable, but a lot of the recorded music is collectable and it turns out there are a few very rare discs.
Regarding types of popular music, among collectors jazzy tunes are more popular than waltzes or strings-only dance music.
Similarly with singers, the popular film and show tunes are sought after
more than the ballads. Some dance bands on Columbia are favourites with many collectors, particularly the early Savoy Orpheans
and Savoy Havana Band, and many American 20's dance bands like Ted Lewis, Harry Reser, California Ramblers, Paul Whiteman.
Jazz is not often found on early Columbia but many hot dance band records are easy to find, including many issued
under pseudonyms like Denza Dance band, Hannan Dance Band.
Most Columbias are worth £1 or less, certain bands and singers may be sought after.
For example:
| Cat. No. | Band or Artiste | Issue Date | Typical Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3151 | Savoy Havana Band | 1922 | £0.50 | uninteresting titles |
| 3155 | Ted Lewis Band | 1922 | £0.50 | uninteresting titles |
| 3432 | Savoy Orpheans | 1924 | £5.00 | a hot dance title, quite scarce |
| 3784 | Ted Lewis Band | 1925 | £2.00 | hot dance, but common |
| 4206 | Denza Dance Band | 1926 | £2.00 | actually two American 20's bands |
| 4610 | Piccadilly Revels Band | 1927 | £5.00 | hot dance from a band popular with collectors |
| 4896 | Debroy Somers Band | 1928 | £0.50 | dull |
| 5457 | Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys | 1929 | £3.00 | this singing group included Bing Crosby |
| 5544 | Paul Whiteman Orch | 1929 | £3.00 | Bing also on these titles |
| CB-248 | Jack Payne BBC Orch | 1931 | £2.00 | popular with collectors |
| CB-435 | Masqueraders | 1932 | £20.00 | a sought-after rarity featuring Al Bowlly vocals |
| FB-1005 | Henry Hall BBC Orch | 1935 | £0.50 | popular, more common |
| . | . | . | . | . |
These records are only examples of what kind of values are put on some of Columbia's popular vocal and dance and records. There will be some records by the same artistes worth more or less,
depends on the quality of the music and on how many copies of the records were sold.
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