Today, the concept of vintage comics being valuable is commonplace to many.
People are always on the lookout for first issue and key comics, as the value of
many of those 10-cent or 12-cent comics is currently in the hundreds, thousands,
and in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recently, we came across a
rather interesting article published in Vol. 24 No. 1 of Treasure Chest.

The two-page article compares comic books to stamps and coins regarding
collectibles and value. The article also makes mention of the early days of
comics and explains that early drawings existed in Egypt 5,000 years ago.
Vintage comic strips are also mentioned, as are the political uses of comics.
The Library of Congress is noted as having a collection of over 12,000 comics
with more being added.

Treasure Chest was a comic that first
appeared in March of 1946 and ran until 1967. The comic was a both entertaining
and educational for young readers such as historical adventures and also had
Catholic underpinnings.

The back cover of Treasure Chest Vol. 24
No. 1 featured a full-page color ad searching for the first issue of Treasure
Chest. The advertisement notes that while the interior article notes the
value of the inaugural issue at $5 the publishing company will pay you $15 for
the first copy to reach them. Obviously the company was looking to promote the
collecting of comics and by offering a high price hoped to spur interest. One
fascinating historical note regarding the back issue comic book market was that
the first issue of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide published two
years after this advertisement. Noted the mint value for Treasure Chest
#1 at $3.