Understanding comics can be a difficult area for some people. It is a field where age and rarity do not always reflect a high value. Here are some quick tips to point you in the proper direction of how to know if you have some hidden gems at all. Golden and Silver age comics are always going to be your bread and butter of high end collecting. The Golden Age of comics ranges from 1938 to 1956 and the Silver Age from 1957 to 1970. Quick history lesson here, the Golden Age of comics was started with Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Super-Man creating the mold to form every modern-day superhero to come. These early comics are the foundation behind every movie, television show, and contemporary comic published today. These comics all range from 10 to 15 cents in original cover price for standard size issues. However, not every vintage comic is necessarily valuable.
Do not get me wrong, everything has a value when it comes to comics. But you will learn very quickly that as profitable as it appears finding high value books are like a needle in a haystack. Your average Golden or Silver Age comic with no significant historical significance in middle of the road condition is worth less than $100.00, and most cases less than $50.00. What makes a book valuable is if it is a key issue. Is it a first appearance of a character, origin story, death of a character, costume change, or maybe it is just a #1 or anniversary issue. Your other factor is condition. Unless you have a X-Men #1 or first appearance of Spider-Man or Black Panther, the books need to be in near mint or better condition to be of high value, say over $1,000. Plus, in order to get the real money out of them they need to be professionally graded. Unless you truly know what, you’re looking at, you don’t want to tackle a comic collection alone. But even worse than tackling it alone, you do not want to sell your comics outright. Just think, even if you have a collection from the 70’s or 80’s you can have books worth tens of thousands. It’s best to work with a business on consignment so you make money as a team, you do not want to sell yourself short.
