Captain America #1 'soars to' $915k at Heritage Auctions

Heritage Auctions' Comics and Comic Art Auction (1-3 August 2019) welcomed the sale of 'one of the nicest copies ever seen' of Captain America #1.

This high grade, unrestored issue features the famous Adolf Hitler cover and the first appearance of Red Skull, Captain America and Bucky, all characters created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

It was offered without a reserve and the final sale price of $915,000 was $165,000 above the estimate, pushing Auction sales comfortably over $9.3m.

Identified by a distinctive "Tom Reilly" stamp in the middle of the back page, the issue came from one of the most famous collections of its kind - the San Fransisco Pedigree Collection - and is considered one of the most desirable lots Heritage Auctions has ever sold.

The San Fransisco Pedigree collection was started by Tom Reilly during World War II. Reilly was drafted into the army after just one year of collecting and had his parents continue to purchase comics for him until his death near the end of the war. The comics remained stored in his room until they were brought into a show in Berkeley, California in 1973. The superior white pages, fantastic cover colors and preservation quickly turned heads and is now considered the second best collection next to the Edgar Church/Mile High collection. It is thought the collection was as large as 5000 comics, though there is some speculation since it was sold without an original list.

A decent review of the auction including this and other top lots can be found here via artdaily.com.