A rare demonstration copy of the Beatles

A rare demonstration copy of the Beatles’ debut single ‘Love Me Do’has sold for a whopping $10,255.74 on eBay. The demo copy, which the seller said was from his personal collection, was reportedly one of just 250 made for radio station airplay in 1962. (This single has the label number 45-R 4949.) As such, this pressing actually predates all of more familiar Parlophone imprints of ‘Love Me Do,’ both black and red.

In fact, the Beatles were then such an unknown quantity that close inspection reveals the songwriting credit on ‘Love Me Do’ isn’t given to the familiar Lennon-McCartney partnership but to “McArtney.

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