Regular readers may recall I try to offer gift ideas for collectors this time of year. Mixed in, I’ve always included a few gems that are well out of reach for many of us – certainly, for those I know. While most are on modest budgets, a few still have very deep pockets. And, they dig into those pockets during the holidays. For the rest of us it’s fun to sometimes just dream.
I thought of that last week thanks to a discovery in northern California near San Francisco. Three brothers were going through their late-mother’s attic. As would be expected, the attic was filled with boxes of knick-knacks and general family junk. Years prior, their mother mentioned she owned some valuable old comic books but didn’t know where they might be. The brothers searched the house. No luck. They figured her recollection was fleeting or merely imaginary.
In the attic, after she died, one brother saw a box filled with a stack of old newspapers. There’s little or no collector market for those. However, instead of just tossing the papers, he took the time to look through them. Between two papers was an old, dime comic. On the cover was an illustration of Superman flying above some buildings. It was in pristine condition....
The brothers knew of the early 1938 “Action” comic when Superman first appeared being quite valuable. Okay, that’s an understatement. Copies of that first comic now sell for tens of thousands of dollars. One in particularly fabulous condition recently sold for a whopping six million dollars.
The comic book the brothers found was almost as old, printed a year after the “Action” comic. But, it proved to be the first comic book devoted entirely to just one super hero – Superman. That’s big for comic collectors. Clearly, mom had owned at least one vintage comic. Did she ever.
The brother’s find was printed in 1939, the era when young boys idolized fictional champions of justice. Figuring it might have some value, they contacted Heritage Auctions in Texas. Their description enticed representatives from Heritage to fly to California. When the Heritage crew saw the comic, they knew just how valuable it could be. It was one of only a handful known to exist.
An example of that comic in very good condition sold three years ago for just over five million dollars. This one was much better – rated a “9” on a top scale of “10.” It was put up for auction. Just over a week ago, it sold to someone with very deep pockets for $9.12 million. A new comic book record.
The fact is, there surely are those out there of great means who are eager to spend it. That certainly was the case at last month’s Sotheby’s auction when a buyer paid over $12 million for a solid gold toilet made by “artist” Maurizio Cattelan. Given the toilet’s weight of over 230 pounds, the price paid was pretty much in line with the commode’s gold content value. For the record, Cattelan was also the person who duct-taped a banana to a wall and convinced a few it was “art.” That masterpiece sold for (I’m not making this up) over six million dollars. Again, deep pockets are abundant.
For those who don’t believe they will find unknown riches, consider something as common as proof sets of coins issued by the US Mint in 1975. Almost three million of those sets were made. Many were collected. Others were given as gifts for birthdays, graduation, Hanukkah or Christmas. Most of those are long forgotten and gathering dust in drawers or closets. That’s unfortunate.
A few of those sets have been found to contain proof Roosevelt dimes missing the San Francisco “S” mintmark. No one knows why. But, they don’t have that important mintmark. To date, only two of the “No-S” dimes have been found. And, deep pocket collectors pay dearly for them.
One sold just last year for $506,250. Are there more out there waiting to be found? Count on it. As with the Superman comic book, it’s just a matter of taking the time to look a little closer. For the dime, a half-million dollars could be riding on it.
In the end, excitement abounds in what rarities may and will be uncovered. For those who don’t believe they will be lucky enough to find something historic, collectible or rare, remember these recent examples have surely made for a very Merry Christmas to people who may have once felt the same way.
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