Back in Black Vinyl Value Guide: How to Spot a 1980 Original and What It's Worth

Atlantic released Back in Black in the US on 25 July 1980, in the UK and the rest of Europe on 31 July, and in Australia on 11 August. It was AC/DC's first album after the death of Bon Scott and the first with Brian Johnson, and it became one of the best-selling albums ever made: Wikipedia puts worldwide sales at an estimated 50 million, and the RIAA certified it 27 times platinum in the US on 21 August 2024.

That number decides what most copies are worth. A record sold in those quantities sits in millions of homes, and Discogs lists 255 vinyl versions of it. The single most common 1980 US pressing alone is in the collections of about 21,000 Discogs users, and the 2009 European reissue in about 31,000. An ordinary played 1980 copy is a listening copy, and a clean one is a good record to own rather than an investment.

Real money is paid only for signed copies and pre-release material, and even there the numbers are modest, as the documented sales further down show.

Every US copy from 1980 carries the catalogue number Atlantic SD 16018. Check these points:

1. Cover: all black, with the AC/DC logo and the title embossed. Atlantic accepted the black cover on the condition that a thin grey outline be added around the logo, and US copies have that grey print on the front, back and spine.
2. Label matrix: the labels carry ST-A-804517 (side 1) and ST-A-804518 (side 2). A plant letter often follows, such as ST-A-804517-SP.
3. Runout: the dead wax has the same ST-A-804517 number with a lacquer letter (A, B, C…), a stamped MASTERDISK and the hand-etched initials RL. That is Bob Ludwig, who mastered and cut the original LP at Masterdisk in New York. RL appears on almost every 1980 US copy, so it identifies the original cut rather than a rare variant.
4. Plant marks: SP in the runout and on the label, often with "E A S T" pressed around the centre hole, means Specialty Records Corporation. AL or AR with a B-15195 / B-15196 number means Allied Record Company. PR means Presswell.

All of these plants pressed the record in 1980, so all of them count as first pressings. No plant mark or lacquer letter turns an ordinary copy into an expensive one. Our guide to runout and matrix numbers explains how to read the dead wax on any record, and how to identify a first pressing covers the general method.

Outside the US, Atlantic and its licensees gave the album their own numbers:

• UK: Atlantic K 50735, with SD 16018 also printed on many copies. The lacquers were cut at Strawberry Mastering, so the runout reads like STRAWBERRY K 50735 A-2 with a "W" number. Side 2 is often etched K 50734, a known slip, not a separate edition. Copies pressed by SNA have K 50735 A-5 SNA instead.
• Australia: Albert Productions APLP.046 on the cover and APLP-046 on the label. It was made by EMI (Australia), with a red label with yellow strobe marks, an embossed cover and a fold-out sheet with photos and credits. The runouts are stamped APLP 046 A MAXICUT.
• Germany: Atlantic ATL 50 735, made by WEA Musik and cut at Tonstudio Pfanz, with runouts like WEA - 50735-A and a PF mark. Its printed inner sleeve shows live photos of every member except Brian Johnson, who had not yet played a show with the band.
• Canada: Atlantic XSD 16018, cut at The Lacquer Channel (TLC in the runout) and pressed by Impact. Japan: Atlantic P-10906A by Warner-Pioneer, on black vinyl with an obi, a ¥2,500 price on the spine and a four-page insert. Italy: W 50735; Spain: S 90.273; France: ATL 50 735, made in Germany.

Record club copies. Discogs lists several US club editions of SD 16018. The RCA Music Service one is easy to spot because its runout reads R-113772-A, with the original number crossed out. Club copies are complete records, but collectors usually pay less for them. See our guide to record club editions.

The table below picks the 1980 first issues by country, the three US plant variants, the club copy, the US test pressing and the reissues that matter, with the side 1 runout as Discogs lists it.

The reissues worth knowing:

• 2003, Columbia / Epic E 80207 (US) and Epic EPC 510765 1 (Europe): remastered from the original tapes by George Marino at Sterling Sound, 180 g, with an essay by David Fricke on the inner sleeve. US copies have E80207-A RJ STERLING in the runout (cut by Ray Janos).
• 2009, Columbia 5107651 (Europe): the same remaster, pressed by Optimal Media. It is the most-owned version of the album on Discogs.
• 2024, 50th-anniversary special editions for the band's 50 years: gold vinyl (Europe 19658834541, US E 80207) and a 180 g black-and-white swirl (19658846251), each with a 30 x 30 cm print of new anniversary artwork.

Alongside the official editions, Discogs lists a number of unofficial Back in Black LPs. They are worth recognising before you buy:

• Picture discs are unofficial. The picture discs on Discogs, including one marked APLP 046 from the mid-1990s and an "ATL 50 735" disc from 2023, are flagged as unofficial releases. In the Discogs version list, the first official coloured-vinyl editions are the 2024 anniversary series.
• "Albert Productions APLP 045" copies are unofficial. The real Australian number is APLP 046. Several APLP 045 LPs with an Albert Productions label are listed as unofficial releases.
• South Korean editions on labels such as High Stereo Light are unofficial as well.
• Match the details. An official 1980 copy carries one of the catalogue numbers above and the matching runout: ST-A-804517 with MASTERDISK RL (US), STRAWBERRY (UK), MAXICUT (Australia), WEA - 50735 (Germany) or P-10906A (Japan).

If a listing does not show the labels and the dead wax, ask for photos. Our guide to spotting a fake or bootleg record covers the general signs.

The honest answer for most readers: a played 1980 copy is worth listening-copy money, often less than a new reissue costs. That is a rule of thumb, not a quote. It follows from supply. With tens of thousands of copies of each common pressing in collectors' hands, there is always another one. Clean, quiet copies with tight seams and the original inner sleeve or insert sell for more; scratched ones with split covers are hard to sell at all.

These are the documented sales we could verify. All three are from RR Auction, and the prices include the buyer's premium:

The comparison explains the market. AC/DC autographs fetch serious money when Bon Scott's signature is on them, and he died months before Back in Black was made. A copy signed by the 1980 line-up sold for less than its estimate. A US test pressing also exists, with Specialty Records Corporation test labels and a generic white cover with an info sheet taped to the front.

We found no auction or press record of an unsigned copy selling above $2,000; the highest documented sale is $656 for the copy signed by the 1980 line-up (RR Auction lot 579, July 2022).

Because Back in Black is common, condition decides almost everything. Three things to check:

• The cover. The black, embossed board shows every scuff, ring of wear and white crease. A cover that still looks black and flat sets a copy apart from most of the survivors.
• The inner sleeve or insert. Most 1980 pressings came with a printed inner sleeve or insert with photos and credits: the Australian copy has a fold-out sheet, the Japanese copy a four-page insert and an obi. A copy without it is incomplete.
• The record. The quiet bell intro of "Hells Bells" shows surface noise straight away, so play the first minute before you grade.

Grade the vinyl and the sleeve separately using the Goldmine scale explained in our vinyl grading guide, and photograph both before listing. A sealed 1980 copy is a different case: the shrinkwrap has to be original, and the article on sealed vinyl value explains how buyers check that.

If you are deciding between an original and a reissue for listening, our guide to original pressings versus reissues sets out the trade-offs.

1. Read the catalogue number on the spine or label: SD 16018 (US), K 50735 (UK), APLP.046 (Australia), ATL 50 735 (Germany), XSD 16018 (Canada), P-10906A (Japan).
2. Look in the dead wax. A US copy should show ST-A-804517, MASTERDISK and RL, plus a plant mark (SP, AL/AR or PR). A UK copy shows STRAWBERRY.
3. Check the cover is embossed and that the inner sleeve or insert is there.
4. Look for signs of an unofficial copy: APLP 045, a picture disc, or a label you cannot match to a known edition.
5. Grade the record and the cover honestly before you price it.

VinylAI can do the first two steps for you: photograph the label and it tells you which pressing you have, from the 1980 SD 16018 to the 2024 anniversary reissue, and adds it to your collection. If you decide to sell, our guide on how to sell vinyl records covers where and how.