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How much does a date received ink stamp on cover affect value?
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39 posts in this topic

I have a handful of silver age marvel comics including stuff like Spidey's first appearance and The Fantastic Four #1 in really good condition (read once and stored) but  they have a date received by the news stand on the cover. Any idea how that affects the value because I'm think of selling some of these guys.

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If they've been read, they probably wouldn't grade high enough to be affected by a date stamp.

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There are alot of us (myself included) who love date stamps. 

For the FF1, does it have an August 8th date stamp? 8/8 is largely considered the first day it hit the sales rack, so a nerdy minority of us keep an eye out for those date stamps. 

I don't think it actually adds any value, but just a cool little piece of the books history. 

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Pertaining to Date Stamps only...

NM- 9.2 to MT 9.9 - Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location.

VF/NM 9.0 - Several lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable.

VG/FN 5.0 to VF 8.0 - Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present.

VG 4.0 - Store stamps, name stamps, arrival dates, initials, etc. have no effect on this grade. 

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On 3/10/2024 at 8:33 PM, KCOComics said:

 

There are alot of us (myself included) who love date stamps. 

For the FF1, does it have an August 8th date stamp? 8/8 is largely considered the first day it hit the sales rack, so a nerdy minority of us keep an eye out for those date stamps. 

I don't think it actually adds any value, but just a cool little piece of the books history. 

Sorry but I don't remember the exact dates other than they are very early 60's dates.

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On 3/10/2024 at 2:29 PM, Axe Elf said:

If they've been read, they probably wouldn't grade high enough to be affected by a date stamp.

OK, thanks. Finding copies that have not been read at least once must be really rare.

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On 3/14/2024 at 12:03 AM, Delfloria said:

OK, thanks. Finding copies that have not been read at least once must be really rare.

It is but also you have to understand how many times this type of question is asked. When someone states that the date stamp isn't going to be the hindrance on grade after being read it is usually do to what someone who isn't familiar with grading comics views as "really good condition" opposed to those who do grade comics. When someone new to grading makes the previous statement often the comic eventually posted looks like this:

image.png.e17a2ac3402d504759100f900e50b83c.png

If the comics you have mentioned are original they are worth grading to maximize value; I would recommend taking pictures of them and posting to the "Please grade my comic" subforum which will give you a better understanding of what you might be dealing with.

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On 3/13/2024 at 10:45 PM, DougC said:

It is but also you have to understand how many times this type of question is asked. When someone states that the date stamp isn't going to be the hindrance on grade after being read it is usually do to what someone who isn't familiar with grading comics views as "really good condition" opposed to those who do grade comics. When someone new to grading makes the previous statement often the comic eventually posted looks like this:

image.png.e17a2ac3402d504759100f900e50b83c.png

If the comics you have mentioned are original they are worth grading to maximize value; I would recommend taking pictures of them and posting to the "Please grade my comic" subforum which will give you a better understanding of what you might be dealing with.

I can understand how this can happen regarding how people describe the condition of their comics. The comics in question are actually in better shape than the one you posted. They don't have any wear and tear except for the date stamps, which why I thought I would ask about it. I really appreciate the feedback and when I get a chance to get to my safe bank deposit box I will post photos.

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On 3/15/2024 at 12:48 AM, Delfloria said:

I can understand how this can happen regarding how people describe the condition of their comics. The comics in question are actually in better shape than the one you posted. They don't have any wear and tear except for the date stamps, which why I thought I would ask about it. I really appreciate the feedback and when I get a chance to get to my safe bank deposit box I will post photos.

Please bear in mind that date stamps can affect the grade depending upon how large they are, the placement of them and other various factors. However, if they're small and neat they likely wouldn't affect the grade at all. Moreover, some stamps are associated with books from pedigree collections (such as the Bethlehem collection) which can actually add value to the books. 

Either way, it sounds like you have some real treasures and I'm sure many folks here would love to see them... 

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On 3/14/2024 at 1:17 AM, CHASEnBLUE said:

Can you post pics?

Sorry it took so long. Here is a sample of their quality. Fantastic 4 is the roughest of the bunch. What do you guys think??????

IMG_6570.jpg

IMG_6562.jpg

IMG_6566.jpg

IMG_6569.jpg

IMG_6567.jpg

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On 3/10/2024 at 8:33 PM, KCOComics said:

 

There are alot of us (myself included) who love date stamps. 

For the FF1, does it have an August 8th date stamp? 8/8 is largely considered the first day it hit the sales rack, so a nerdy minority of us keep an eye out for those date stamps. 

I don't think it actually adds any value, but just a cool little piece of the books history. 

As you can see it does have that date.

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On 5/21/2024 at 11:43 PM, Delfloria said:

Sorry it took so long. Here is a sample of their quality. Fantastic 4 is the roughest of the bunch. What do you guys think??????

IMG_6570.jpg

IMG_6562.jpg

IMG_6566.jpg

IMG_6569.jpg

IMG_6567.jpg

Congrats, you have some wonderful books.  It doesn't get much better than books like these.

So you describe them as read once and stored but I can see some pretty big spine tics and wear.  And yes, the FF1 shows quite a bit of wear.  I wouldn't worry about the date stamps, they're discreet  and I doubt they'll have a significant effect on the grade.

I would like to encourage you to post these into the grading forum.  The guys there are very experienced with CGC grading standards and will give you a good idea how these would grade out by CGC.  They'd also love to see them.  If you do post them there please post one book per thread and provide lots of pictures of the front and back cover and interior staples etc

https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/

Do you mind telling us how you acquired these books and what else you have?  We love hearing about books and collections like this.

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On 5/22/2024 at 1:43 AM, Delfloria said:

Sorry it took so long. Here is a sample of their quality. Fantastic 4 is the roughest of the bunch. What do you guys think??????

IMG_6570.jpg

IMG_6562.jpg

IMG_6566.jpg

IMG_6569.jpg

IMG_6567.jpg

I'm afraid those date stamps make them worthless.  

I'll PM you my address and you can ship them to me for proper disposal! 

 

Kidding aside - these are pretty special books and nerds like me love the date stamps.  

All 3 of these books are worth the investment to get graded. The date stamps won't hurt the grade in this condition.   

As @thehumantorch suggested, you can get grade estimates in the spare a grade section to give you a sense for condition and value. 

These books are highly desirable. They have tanning, spine tics and other wear - so they aren't "high grade", but they are certainly very valuable in their current condition. If you want to sell, get them graded. 

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On 5/22/2024 at 1:19 AM, thehumantorch said:

Congrats, you have some wonderful books.  It doesn't get much better than books like these.

So you describe them as read once and stored but I can see some pretty big spine tics and wear.  And yes, the FF1 shows quite a bit of wear.  I wouldn't worry about the date stamps, they're discreet  and I doubt they'll have a significant effect on the grade.

I would like to encourage you to post these into the grading forum.  The guys there are very experienced with CGC grading standards and will give you a good idea how these would grade out by CGC.  They'd also love to see them.  If you do post them there please post one book per thread and provide lots of pictures of the front and back cover and interior staples etc

https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/

Do you mind telling us how you acquired these books and what else you have?  We love hearing about books and collections like this.

Thanks for the feedback. I bought these from my local market newsstand the day they came out. I've kept them ever since.

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On 5/22/2024 at 5:43 AM, KCOComics said:

I'm afraid those date stamps make them worthless.  

I'll PM you my address and you can ship them to me for proper disposal! 

 

Kidding aside - these are pretty special books and nerds like me love the date stamps.  

All 3 of these books are worth the investment to get graded. The date stamps won't hurt the grade in this condition.   

As @thehumantorch suggested, you can get grade estimates in the spare a grade section to give you a sense for condition and value. 

These books are highly desirable. They have tanning, spine tics and other wear - so they aren't "high grade", but they are certainly very valuable in their current condition. If you want to sell, get them graded. 

I'll PM ASAP. Your so kind to do this for me. I've considered getting them graded but I've not overcome the fear of loosing them in the mail. Yeah, they are not in the best of condition but I figured they still had some life in them.

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