In 1957, an engineer at the RCA plant in New Jersey where "Elvis' Christmas Album" was being pressed made himself a very special souvenir. He used the red vinyl normally reserved for classical albums to press a copy of the new Elvis Presley record.
Four decades later, the red record made its way from that retiring engineer to a dealer, who auctioned it to the present owner for a record sum.
That album (and its documentation, including a signed affidavit from the original owner and his 1957 W-2s from the RCA plant) has been put on sale on eBay by the owner, the Rev. Steven Banas, with a buy-it-now price of $29,999.99. The sale is scheduled to end at 3:30 p.m. EST Thursday.
"I am simply selling off the majority of my rare collection in order to become debt-free and focus more time on ministry and mission work," said Banas, a Southern Baptist minister and a longtime collector from Reeds Spring, Mo.