09/18/2026
Their mother always said she owned a valuable comic collection. Only after her death did her three sons discover just how valuable it really was.
While clearing their late mother’s San Francisco home for sale, the brothers searched the attic and found an old cardboard box buried beneath stacks of newspapers. Inside was a collection originally assembled by an uncle between the Depression and World War II. Among the comics sat an extraordinary survivor: Superman No. 1 from 1939, the first comic book devoted entirely to Superman.
The copy had survived in remarkable condition. Certified at 9.0 out of 10, it became the highest-graded Superman No. 1 ever authenticated by CGC. Its firm spine, vivid colors and sharp corners were especially unusual for a comic approaching 90 years old. From an original print run estimated around 500,000 copies, only a small fraction are believed to survive today.
When the attic copy went to auction in November 2025, bidding reached an astonishing $9.12 million. That surpassed the previous comic-book auction record of $6 million, set by a copy of Action Comics No. 1 in 2024.
For decades, a multimillion-dollar collectible had been sitting unnoticed beneath old newspapers.
It could easily have ended up in the trash instead of the record books.
Source
Source: Associated Press reporting on the San Francisco attic discovery and auction; Heritage Auctions; Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) grading information for the 1939 Superman No. 1.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: The $9.12 million figure is the documented auction price for this specific CGC 9.0 copy, not the general value of every Superman No. 1. Estimates of how many copies survive vary, and condition has an enormous effect on collectible value. The sellers and buyer were not publicly identified.
