Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Action Comics No. 1 Sells for Record $15 Million in Private Deal

Celebrity provenance, including a theft-to-recovery saga linked to Nicolas Cage, helped drive a CGC 9.0 copy to an unprecedented price.

Overview

  • Metropolis Collectibles/ComicConnect announced on Jan. 9 that it brokered the private sale to an anonymous buyer and seller.
  • The $15 million price surpasses the $9.12 million auction record set in November 2025 by a copy of Superman No. 1.
  • Certified Guaranty Company graded this issue 9.0, and specialists estimate roughly 100 surviving copies of Action Comics No. 1.
  • This copy was bought by Nicolas Cage in 1996 for $150,000, stolen from his Los Angeles home in 2000, recovered in a Southern California storage locker in 2011, and sold six months later for $2.2 million.
  • Metropolis executives say the notoriety of the theft and recovery increased the comic’s value, with CEO Stephen Fishler likening its story to the Mona Lisa’s.