Montrealer's Velvet Underground Recording Nets Huge Payday

A Montreal record store owner who happened upon and purchased a rare Velvet Underground recording while thrift shopping in New York in 2002 got a major return on his investment when the final eBay bid came in on the item Friday night.

According to the Associated Press, Warren Hill bought the record, which was made in-studio during the band's first recording session in 1966 at New York's Scepter Studios, for 75 cents. Hill sold the rarity on the online auction site to bidder "mechadaddy" for close to $180,000 Cdn.

The acetate Hill purchased is reportedly one of only two copies in existence and it's suspected that drummer Maureen Tucker has the other one. Hill, who says he's not a fan of the seminal underground rock band, says the record, which is inscribed with "The Velvet Underground 5-25-66," is "in relatively good condition considering the age and fragility of acetate material."

The Velvet Underground, who featured Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Tucker were one of the most influential and experimental rock groups of the '60s and '70s.