A book with the first appearance of Captain America, graded by Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), set a new sales record when it realized six figures in Goldin’s Winter Comics, Video Games & TCG Elite Auction on March 8, 2023. The auction also included CGC-graded first appearances of Spider-Man, X-Men, Wolverine and more that each sold for five figures.
The CGC-graded comic at the top of the sale was a Captain American Comics #1 graded CGC 3.0 (lot 1) that sold for $146,400. This sale tops the previous record for this grade of $144,000 in 2022.
Featuring the first appearances of Captain America, Bucky and the Red Skull, this comic was published by Timely Comics (later known as Marvel) in 1941. Captain America remained popular with readers throughout World War II, but sales plummeted by the mid-1950s. The character was kept on ice until Kirby and Stan Lee revived Captain America for the Silver Age in Avengers #4 in 1963.
Other CGC-graded comics in this auction included:
a Fantastic Four #1 graded CGC 7.5 (lot 3) that realized $84,000
an Incredible Hulk #181 graded CGC 9.8 (lot 2) that realized $79,200
a Superman #1 graded CGC .5 (lot 16) that realized $61,200
an X-Men #94 graded CGC 9.8 (lot 129) that realized $56,533
a Silver Surfer #4 graded CGC 9.8 (lot 107) that realized $51,600
a Detective Comics #33 graded CGC 4.5 (lot 15) that realized $45,600
an X-Men #1 graded CGC 8.0 (lot 17) that realized $43,200
an Incredible Hulk #1 graded CGC 6.0 (lot 76) that realized $42,006
a Marvel Spotlight #5 graded CGC 9.6 (lot 90) that realized $36,120
an Amazing Fantasy #15 graded CGC 4.0 (lot 14) that realized $33,600
Prices realized include a buyer’s premium.