From: beatlecollector@server.com   
      
   For those unfamiliar with this item, it is an album that was released   
   only to members of the Beatles Fan Club in 1970.  It was not sold to the   
   public.   
      
   However, in 1970, I bought a used copy in a local record shop that   
   regularly sold a large quantity of "unlicensed" vinyl.   
      
   The clerk disclosed to me, however, that it was a "counterfeit"   
   manufactured to resemble the genuine article well enough to fool the   
   non-expert.  Otherwise, he said, he would have to charge me a lot more   
   for the item.   
      
   I thought it looked pretty convincing for a "counterfeit."  It even had   
   the familiar Apple record labels, side one and side two.   
      
   I had never heard the Beatles Christmas Album, so I bought it and took   
   it home.   
      
    From time to time I would show it to friends as an authentic-looking,   
   but fake, collectible.   
      
   Today, I was browsing e-Bay and found a copy of the Beatles Christmas   
   Album selling for $249.95 or best offer.  To authenticate the item, the   
   seller provided the matrix information etched into the vinyl as:   
   SBC-2-100-A BELL SOUND   
   SBC-2-100-B BELL SOUND   
      
   Out of curiosity, I pulled out my copy and looked carefully at the vinyl   
   close to the label.   
      
   I found SBC-2-100-A etched into the vinyl, followed by a stamped "Bell   
   Sound" logo.   
   The flip side has SBC-2-100-B followed by the "Bell Sound" logo.   
      
   Should I conclude that this supposed "counterfeit" is actually the   
   genuine article?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)