American Victor Values
this page first published by John Wright, 7 Dec 1997
last update 24 Mar 2005
vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk
Note: I lived in US for a time but I have limited knowledge of US labels and current values. If you are American then Tim Gracyk is your expert
and you can gain further valuable information at:
A common record label in an American 78rpm collection, Victor is a
source of all types of music, a happy hunting ground for collectors of ragtime, hot dance, and jazz music. Values quoted below are typical prices paid at a British record fair stall where the stall-holder
knows the demand for music and records. American readers could translate these values directly to $ values as a guide.
For example:
| Cat. No. | Band or Artiste | Issue Date | Typical Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1182 | Sousa's band | ~1904 | £5.00 | single-sided early ragtime |
| 4225 | Collins & Harlan | ~1907 | £5.00 | single-sided 'coon duet' |
| 4891 | Miss Jones & Mr Murray | ~1907 | £2.00 | single-sided popular duet |
| 16482 | Arthur Pryor's Band | 1909 | £3.00 | Dill Pickles Rag |
| 16488 | Vess Ossman (banjo) | 1909 | £1.00 | not ragtime |
| 17118 | Athur Collins with Vess Ossman | 1912 | £5.00 | ragtime |
| 17622 | Peerless Quartet | 1914 | £1.00 | vocal group |
| 17942 | Billy Murray and Irving Kaufman | 1916 | £2.00 | popular vocals |
| 18097 | Six Brown Brothers | 1916 | £5.00 | ragtime or 'early jazz' |
| 18255 | Original Dixieland 'Jass' Band | 1917 | £4.00 | the first disc with 'jass' on label |
| 18407 | Joseph C Smith Orch | 1917 | £1.00 | uninteresting titles |
| 18618 | Joseph C Smith Orch | 1919 | £2.00 | Yellow Dog Blues |
| 18641 | All Star Trio | 1919 | £1.00 | pleasant |
| 18737 | Paul Whiteman Orch | 1921 | £2.00 | interesting early dance tunes |
| 18799 | Benson Orch of Chicago | 1921 | £4.00 | early hot dance tunes |
| 19052 | Original Memphis Five | 1923 | £6.00 | jazz |
| 19215 | Jane Green with The Virginians | 1923 | £3.00 | vocal with hot band |
| 19843 | Art Landry Orch | 1925 | £4.00 | less common hot band |
| 20402 | South Street Trio | 1926 | £30.00 | blues |
| 20627 | Paul Whiteman Orch | 1927 | £8.00 | with early Bing Crosby |
| 20864 | Jimmie Rodgers | 1927 | £5.00 | country blues |
| 20955 | Benny Moten's Orch Clifford Hayes | 1927 | £20.00 | two great titles |
| 21348 | Louisiana Sugar Babes | 1928 | £15.00 | great jazz with Fats Waller |
| 21398 | Paul Whiteman Orch | 1928 | £12.00 | with Bing Crosby Bix Beiderbecke Frank Trumbauer |
| 21580 | Duke Ellington Orch | 1928 | £5.00 | popular band |
| 21820 | Johnny Marvin | 1928 | £3.00 | popular vocals |
| 21863 | Helen Kane | 1928 | £4.00 | popular lady, instrumental solos |
| 21896 | Nat Shilkret Orch | 1929 | £2.00 | pleasant dance tunes |
| 22412 | Rudy Vallee Orch | 1930 | £1.00 | not so hot |
| 24657 | Ray Noble Orch | 1934 | £5.00 | popular British band |
| 25123 | Fats Waller and his Rhythm | 1935 | £3.00 | popular jazz |
| 25621 | Benny Goodman Orch | 1937 | £3.00 | popular jazz |
| 20-1526 | Artie Shaw Orch | 1942 | £2.00 | popular big band |
| 20-1531 | Duke Ellington Orch | 1942 | £4.00 | re-issue of 1928 titles |
| 20-1556 | Duke Ellington Orch | 1942 | £4.00 | jazz big band |
| 20-1565 | Glenn Miller Orch | 1942 | £1.00 | popular big band |
| . | . | . | . | . |
These records are only examples of what kind of values are put on some of Victor's popular vocal and dance 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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