Rare Banksy hand-sprayed LP sells for thousands

A rare Banksy vinyl record cover has been sold at auction for nearly £4,000.

The cover of Royksopp's 2001 breakthrough album Melody A.M. was one of only 100 hand-stencilled by Banksy back in 2002.

The Norwegian group sent out 100 blank record sleeves to the Bristol street artist, who returned them with the duo's name spray-painted in green using a custom stencil.

Martin Hughes, from Wessex Auction Rooms, said the record cover was sold to a local street art collector, not a vinyl collector, for £3,720 because "as much as Royksopp were a great band, you're not going to be spending thousands on one of their albums".

Banksy rose to prominence after he began spray-painting his now-trademark stencilled designs around Bristol in the early 1990s.

The anonymous artist is now one of the world's most famous street artists.

Hughes said the vinyl sleeve was "one of the most fascinating modern collectables" he has "ever had the privilege of handling".

"There are very few records in the world that are worth more than a couple of hundred pounds," he said.

Estimated to fetch between £3,000 and £4,000, Hughes said he thought the lot was "going to fly", but in fact the cover was sold immediately after the auction.

"It was lot 10 - we always put our favourite lot at lot 10, it's a superstitious thing - and the lots sell in minutes," he said.

"And the buyer missed it. So, we got a phone call straight after the auction saying: 'Can I offer £3,000?' and we said: 'yes you can'."

Royksopp's debut album proved a huge success, peaking at Number 9 on the official UK album chart.

Hughes said that although the record has "definitely been played", it would make no difference as "you're not buying it for the album".

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