Folder 305

UK

Labels numbered IRN 61 and IRN 62, with IRN 6 and 793 992 1 on the sleeve: the only vinyl row on the master carrying those numbers is the UK 1810405.

Catalogue: IRN 6, 793 992 1, IRN 61, IRN 62
Label: EMI
Released: 1990
Confidence: Confirmed
Why this grade
UK EMI double pack, part VI of The First Ten Years, in a gatefold sleeve. The back sleeve carries barcode 0 077779 399215 with 793 992 1 and IRN 6 in red beneath it, and its print block reads SLEEVE PRINTED IN ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IN ENGLAND followed by a printer code that is too soft to read even at native resolution. The gatefold's inside panels are numbered IRN 61 and IRN 62, and the two records' labels read IRN 61 / IRN 61A / IRN 61B (2 Minutes To Midnight) and IRN 62 / IRN 62A / IRN 62B (Aces High). Of the six vinyl rows on the master only the UK 1810405 carries IRN 6, 793 992 1, IRN 61, IRN 62. The European 2593600 is 198 7 93992 1 / 198-79 3993 1 / 198-79 3994 1, the Italian 7391886 is 2-52 7939921, the Colombian 2242528 is 456000006, and 1721120 is an unofficial picture disc, which these black records with paper labels are not. The UK white label 12098398 is the IRN 62 record alone, on a white label, and Discogs records its run-outs as IRN 62 A - 1 - 1 - D / IRN 62 B - 1 - 1 - D. The discriminator is the Aces High record's run-outs: IRN 62 A-1-1-2 and IRN 62 B-1-1-2, both clean, are exactly what Discogs' release data for 1810405 records for its C and D sides (in both of its listed stamper variants), and neither the white label's -D run-outs nor the European row's 7939931-A1-style matrices carry them. Release data for 2593600 and 12098398 was read for this comparison; Discogs gives no matrix for the Italian or Colombian rows, but their catalogue numbers already rule them out. One wrinkle stays on the record: side IRN 61 A reads A-1-1-1 with a further dash at the edge of the glare, where Discogs lists IRN 61 A - 1 - 1 - 2 for both of 1810405's variants, so this side's stamper is either undocumented there or the run-out continues out of frame. Side IRN 61 B's last character can't be read, and that character is the only thing separating Discogs' two variants of this release (B-1-1-2 against B-1-1-3). A stand-alone stamped D appears in the deadwax as well, which 1810405's Discogs entry does not mention. The barcode only corroborates the commercial release: the Italian and European rows share it. The version list is never complete, so an uncatalogued UK variant can't be ruled out.
Reference: Discogs 1810405
Median sale: DKK 265
Sale range: DKK 71-503
On sale now: 27, from DKK 89
Last sold: 6 November 2026

What the record says

Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.

IRN 62 A: IRN 62 A-1-1-2; IRN 62 B: IRN 62 B-1-1-2; IRN 61 A: (I)RN 61 A-1-1-1 then a further dash at the edge of the glare, the leading I cut by the frame edge; IRN 61 B: IRN 61 B-1-1- then a final character that can't be read (a short dash-like stroke above a curved stroke); a stand-alone stamped D in the deadwax, side not established

Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 16 of them

Front sleeve: IRON MAIDEN logo over the 2 Minutes To Midnight artwork, 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT in red bottom right; The First Ten Years roundel top right reading THE FIRST TEN YEARS 1980 1990 EDDIE 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT ACES HIGH VI 666 UP THE IRONS

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Back sleeve: the Aces High artwork with ACES HIGH in blue, barcode and catalogue numbers top right, EMI box bottom left, red print block bottom right

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Back sleeve print block at native resolution: (P) 1984 EXCEPT LISTEN WITH NICKO PART VI (P) 1990 THE COPYRIGHT IN THIS SOUND RECORDING IS OWNED BY EMI RECORDS LTD (C) 1990 EMI RECORDS LTD SLEEVE PRINTED IN ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IN ENGLAND and a trailing printer code too blurred to read

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Back sleeve catalogue block close up: barcode 0 077779 399215, with 793 992 1 and IRN 6 in red beneath it

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Gatefold inside, left panel: IRN 61 top left and 12 EMI 5489 top right, band photo, 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (SMITH/DICKINSON) C/W 1. RAINBOW'S GOLD 2. MISSION FROM 'ARRY, THE WORLD SLAVERY TOUR UK LEG dates, (P) 1984 Original Sound Recordings made by EMI Records Ltd (C) 1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd, EMI box, Illustrations: DEREK RIGGS Packaging: THE COMPLETE WORKS

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Gatefold inside, right panel: IRN 62 top right, track list A ACES HIGH / B 1. KING OF TWILIGHT 2. NUMBER OF THE BEAST "LIVE VERSION" 3. LISTEN WITH NICKO! PART VI, the original Aces High back cover art with ACES HIGH KING OF TWILIGHT THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (LIVE VERSION), (P) 1984 Original Sound Recordings made by EMI Records Ltd

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2 Minutes To Midnight, side A label: A 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (SMITH / DICKINSON) Produced by MARTIN "JAH" BIRCH, IRN 61 / IRN 61A, EMI box, (P) 1984 THE COPYRIGHT IN THIS SOUND RECORDING IS OWNED BY EMI RECORDS LTD. (C) 1990 EMI RECORDS LTD ZOMBA MUSIC PUBLISHERS LTD, rim ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED COPYING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THIS DISC FORBIDDEN; no rights-society mark

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2 Minutes To Midnight, side B label: B 1. RAINBOW'S GOLD 2. MISSION FROM 'ARRY (HARRIS / McBRAIN) Produced & Engineered by BRUCE DICKINSON, IRN 61 / IRN 61B, EMI box, TRACK 1 ISLAND MUSIC LTD TRACK 2 ZOMBA MUSIC PUBLISHERS LTD

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Run-out groove, side IRN 61 A: RN 61 A-1-1-1 stamped (the leading I cut by the frame edge), then a further dash as the groove runs into glare

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Run-out groove, side IRN 61 B: IRN 61 B-1-1- stamped, then a final character that can't be read: a short dash-like stroke above a curved stroke

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Aces High, side A label: A ACES HIGH (HARRIS) Produced & Engineered by MARTIN BIRCH, IRN 62 / IRN 62A, EMI box, (P) 1984 THE COPYRIGHT IN THIS SOUND RECORDING IS OWNED BY EMI RECORDS LTD (C) 1990 EMI RECORDS LTD ZOMBA MUSIC PUBLISHERS LTD

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Aces High, side B label: B 1. KING OF TWILIGHT (NEKTAR) 2. NUMBER OF THE BEAST "LIVE VERSION" (HARRIS) Produced & Remixed by MARTIN BIRCH 3. LISTEN WITH NICKO! PART VI (N. McBRAIN) Produced by N. McBRAIN, IRN 62 / IRN 62B, EMI box, (P) 1984 EXCEPT TRACK 3 (P) 1990 TRACKS 1&2 ZOMBA MUSIC PUBLISHERS LTD

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Run-out groove, side IRN 62 A: IRN 62 A-1-1-2 stamped

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Run-out groove, side IRN 62 B: IRN 62 B-1-1-2 stamped

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A stand-alone stamped D in the deadwax; the frames show only label rim text or artwork, so which side each is on is not established

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Black records with paper labels, not a picture disc and not a white label: grey Eddie-under-the-streetlamp labels with the pink Iron Maiden logo and red EMI box on all four sides

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The photographs

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The object, and what marks it out

Sleeve, labels and inserts

Gatefold 12" sleeve with 2 Minutes To Midnight on the front and Aces High on the back, The First Ten Years roundel printed top right on the front; inside, the original 2 Minutes To Midnight back cover on the left panel and the Aces High back cover on the right. Corner wear and some edge splitting at the bottom right of the back.
Two black vinyl 12" records, one per single, each with the grey Eddie-under-the-streetlamp labels, pink Iron Maiden logo and red EMI box. The centre holes show light spindle marks.
No inner sleeves, voucher, inserts or stickers are visible in the photographs; Discogs notes a Collectors Box voucher came with this release.

What distinguishes this pressing

Labels numbered IRN 61 and IRN 62, with IRN 6 and 793 992 1 on the sleeve: the only vinyl row on the master carrying those numbers is the UK 1810405.
Run-outs IRN 62 A-1-1-2 and IRN 62 B-1-1-2, matching 1810405's recorded C and D sides, against the white label 12098398's IRN 62 A - 1 - 1 - D / IRN 62 B - 1 - 1 - D and the European 2593600's 7939931-A1-style matrices.
No 198- catalogue number anywhere on sleeve or labels, against the European 2593600's 198 7 93992 1 / 198-79 3993 1 / 198-79 3994 1.
SLEEVE PRINTED IN ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IN ENGLAND on the back sleeve.
Black records with printed paper labels, against the unofficial picture disc 1721120 and the white label 12098398.

Seven tracks, two sides, and the recording credits

Side A

A2 Minutes To Midnight
B1Rainbow's Gold
B2Mission From 'Arry

Side B

CAces High
D1King Of Twilight
D2Number Of The Beast (Live Version)
D3Listen With Nicko! Part VI

2 Minutes To Midnight, Rainbow's Gold, Aces High, King Of Twilight and the live Number Of The Beast produced and engineered by Martin Birch; Discogs credits no producer for Mission From 'Arry. Illustration by Derek Riggs; Aces High back-cover illustration and design by The Artful Dodgers; 2 Minutes To Midnight photograph by Ross Halfin; packaging design by The Complete Works. Published by Zomba Music Publishing Ltd. (Rainbow's Gold by Island Music Ltd.). Pressed by EMI Swindon.

Credits are sourced from Discogs release 383579, the UK CD IRN 6, and apply to the recording rather than to this pressing; the UK double 12" is release 1810405 (IRN 6). Where this copy's own packaging carries the producer, publisher or copyright lines, they are quoted in the evidence above.

Condition, from the photographs

A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.

Sleeve: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no splits or seam separation visible in these shots.
Vinyl: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches, warping or edge damage in these photographs. The labels are clean and unmarked.

Nothing on this page comes from playing the record. No Goldmine grade is claimed for it, or any other. I have no record of where this copy came from.

What is settled, and what is not

Pinned down to the UK 1810405 by the Aces High record's run-outs, which match what Discogs records for that release and for no other candidate. What's left is stamper detail inside the release: a clear raking-light shot of the last character of IRN 61 B-1-1- would say which of Discogs' two variants this is (-2 or -3), and a shot of side IRN 61 A past the glare would show whether its run-out really ends A-1-1-1 (undocumented on Discogs, which lists A - 1 - 1 - 2) or carries more. A sharper shot of the back-sleeve print block would read the printer code, which Discogs gives as SP9004JU. Standing caveat: the method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs.