If you have an old comic book hanging around the house, stick it in a plastic bag immediately, vacuum seal it and store it away for 80 years. Then maybe, just maybe it”ll be worth a boatload.
The Holy Grail of comic books, Action Comics #1, sold at auction last week for an astounding $956,000. The 1938 comic, which originally retailed for just a dime, is of major significance because it featured the first appearance of Superman.
“Few copies of this comic survive, let alone come to auction with such a bright cover. It displays beautifully,” Lon Allen, Managing Director of Comics & Comic Art at Heritage Auctions, said in a statement.
According to the auction house, only about 100 copies of this particular book are known to exist. This particular copy had been purchased by a private collector in the 1990s for $26,000.
Amazingly, this isn't the highest fee this comic has sold for. In 2010, a copy in slightly better condition than the one sold last week went for $1 million.