FAC 501

All of Factory Records releases (both music and video) were given unique catalogue numbers in the form of FAC followed by a number. This numbering system was applied to all Factory productions including posters (FAC 1 advertised a club night), The Haçienda (FAC 51), a hairdressing salon (FAC 98), a broadcast of Channel 4's The Tube (FAC 104), sellotape (FAC 136), a bucket on a restored watermill (FAC 148), the Haçienda cat (FAC 191), a bet between Wilson and Gretton (FAC 253), and a radio advertisement (FAC 294).

Numbers were not allocated in strict chronological order - numbers for Joy Division and New Order releases generally ended in 3 or 0, A Certain Ratio and Happy Mondays in 2, The Durutti Column in 4. Factory Classical releases were 226, 236 and so on...

Why are you being told this?

The last ever Factory catalogue number was given to Tony Wilson's coffin (FAC 501). Brilliant.