Top 10 Rarest Records Atlas Records Sold In August 2026

Here's our rundown of the top 10 rarest records we sold in August 2026! This month ranges widely across genres and eras, taking in a third-pressing Vertigo swirl of Black Sabbath's genre-defining debut and a white 1980 pressing of Bauhaus's "Bela Lugosi's Dead" along the way.

Other highlights include Pink Floyd's The Wall, still wearing its easily-lost original title sticker, and a hand-numbered vinyl of Roger Taylor's Happiness? - a genuinely scarce solo outing from Queen's drummer.

Topping this month's list is a first pressing of Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left, marked out by the well-known mix-up that prints "Day Is Done" and "Way To Blue" in the wrong order on both sleeve and label.

You can read our other top tens and a guide to protecting your records by exploring the rest of our blog.

Read on to discover our rarest albums this month.

This white pressing of Bauhaus's Bela Lugosi's Dead dates from 1980, several months after the single's original release, and was limited to 5,000 copies. There's some debate over whether it counts as a first press or a reissue: since it isn't the very first pressing of the 12", we've come down on the side of calling it an early reissue. That takes nothing away from its rarity or value, though - if anything, it tends to change hands for more than either of the two 1979 versions.

While it doesn't appear in every collection, copies of Sticky Fingers with the zipper sleeve are fairly easy to come by. They are not so easy to come by when the sleeve is in Excellent condition and the record Near Mint, however! This was likely the best condition copy of an early issue of this album that we have ever seen.

Many of the records this month came from our Ultra-Rare Record Drop, where we drop the scarcest records we came across the previous month. This Marillion box set is the first in this list. This set features a new 2020 stereo remix of the album and the Market Square Heroes EP, plus a previously unreleased live show recorded at London's Marquee Club in December 1982.

The album that invented heavy metal - it feels as though we see another rare variant of this every month, all slightly different and with genuine collector appeal. This copy is a third UK pressing on Vertigo, identifiable by the smaller swirl logo above the spindle hole rather than the large first-press design. This is the third of four swirl variants the album passed through, each a small revision to the last - a dropped line of text here, a resized logo there - and it's exactly those details that separate one copy from the next in a collector's eyes.

Into the 90s! In at number six is an original UK issue of (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis. This is Oasis' biggest-selling record and was released at a time when very few records were being pressed or purchased. We found that this copy sounded fantastic - bright and bold, clearly a very good quality pressing.

Much like the earlier copy of Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones, this copy of The Wall came to us in fantastic Excellent condition - both record and sleeve. It was also complete with its original, very scarce title sticker. Many of these would've gone missing over the years, as the "sticker" isn't actually sticky and only clings to the sleeve through static.

A very scarce mid-90s album from Queen's Roger Taylor. Released on Parlophone in 1994, Happiness? was Taylor's first solo record since the death of Freddie Mercury, and while most people bought it on CD, the LP appeared only as a limited, hand-numbered pressing - which is why it's long been the hard format to track down.

Haunting and iconic early 1970s psych-folk album by Comus. This release has developed quite a cult following, meaning that original copies in decent condition can be difficult to come by - hence this LP appearing in third place this month. This was an interesting find that was featured in our Ultra-Rare Monthly Drop, where we list the 30-40 rarest records we bought the previous month.

A very rare misprint of Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience - it features a "ghost tracklist" visible underneath the blue text inside the gatefold. See our video below for the full story and visual evidence...

And finally, in first place for August... Nick Drake's 1969 debut, Five Leaves Left - the first of the three albums he made before his death in 1974, aged just 26 and barely known in his lifetime. His reputation has grown immeasurably since, and this album is where it started. This is an original pressing, marked out by a printing quirk - 'Day Is Done' and 'Way To Blue' printed in the wrong order on both the sleeve and label, later corrected. It reached us only in Good/Very Good condition, but it's rare and special enough to top the list regardless.

We hope you enjoyed discovering our top ten rarest records from August. If so, do go and have a look at our Ultra-Rare Monthly Record Drop too - on the 1st of every month, we drop the very rarest records we've come across the previous month.

If you'd like to see more of the rare and unusual records that pass through Atlas Records, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. We post daily, sharing our latest rare finds, behind-the-scenes glimpses of how we do things here at Atlas Records, and lesser-known stories and fascinating facts about some of the most iconic albums in music history.

If you own, or are looking to purchase rare records, they should be kept in the best environment to prevent them from being damaged by the elements. We recommend using HDPE inner sleeves, and polythene outer sleeves, to best protect your collection. You can add them to your next order below.