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Pence Comics2550

Collector ThorneArt private msg quote post Address this user
What is your feeling towards Pence (uk price) variants? I am looking at a comic (bronze age)that I want, but it is a Pence copy. I know the 30/35 cent variants are crazy expensive but then pence variants don't seem to be very popular...

Here is an example


Post 1 IP   flag post
I had no way of knowing that 9.8 graded copies signed by Adam Hughes weren't what you were looking for. drchaos private msg quote post Address this user
I have at least one pence copy of a Byrne X-Men book.

From what I understand the pence copies are worth 60-70% of the USD equivalents.
Post 2 IP   flag post
Collector DLAComics private msg quote post Address this user
GPA and eBay shows your right but im not sure why. I own a few and a chesper way to own a key. I have an X-men #101 pence. Still love the cover.
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COLLECTOR DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user
If a key were out of my price range, I'd have no problem grabbing a cheaper UK print.
Post 4 IP   flag post
Collector TimBildhauser private msg quote post Address this user
I've discussed this before but I don't think I've done so here on the CBCS forum. For decades there has been a bit of an unwarranted stigma against Pence copies for many collectors. These books were printed at the same time and on the same presses as the U.S. versions, in some cases they may have even been run off first. At various times, while they were being produced, the print runs on Pence copies fluctuated somewhere between 5% & 20% of the entire print run. As such there are now collectors (even here in the States) that are taking notice of Pence books and actively seeking them out.
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Collector BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user
I think the Pence copies are pretty cool and somewhat unique. I just do not see many in real high grades that I would want to purchase at shows or in comic book shops. Maybe easier on line. But I have not looked close enough on line to make an opinion. But like @DarthLego said, I would have no problem picking up a key in high grade if the price was right.
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Collector Homer private msg quote post Address this user
A pence copy is not something I would consider for my personal collection if one came up in a grade I was interested in. I classify them as foreign editions.
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COLLECTOR DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Homer
I classify them as foreign editions.

And correctly so.
Post 8 IP   flag post
Collector rtdcomics private msg quote post Address this user
its always been something we've looked at since collecting. Selling value wise the UK 'p' or 'd' hold a fairly competitive price within the UK market to your average collector against the US version but when selling within the US market the value drops drastically. The flip side is that it is much easier to purchase these versions at lower prices with a bit of a push as a lot of ex-collectors also believe them to have lower values throughout without actually looking at current selling prices.

I've only ever come across a handful of customers who wanted the UK versions based on their much lower print runs, making them much more collectible in their eyes.

A lot of the UK versions were printed at the same time and on the same machinery as the US counterpart before being shipped over. At the end of a US print run the price stamping was just changed before production continued. The misconception is that they were all printed separately or within the UK. With DC comics it tended to be a date stamp rather than changing the cover price.
Post 9 IP   flag post
COLLECTOR DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user
I've never understood the lower print run as the sole source of collectability for a comic.

It's like placing higher value on a 5th printing because of low print run. It doesn't make logical sense, the print run was low for a reason, it was a 5th print, duh.
Post 10 IP   flag post
COLLECTOR Foghorn_Sam private msg quote post Address this user
What about books like this that have the stamp on them? I see plenty of these around too. Are these not also books that were sold in the UK but were printed like American books with the 25 cents price?


Post 11 IP   flag post
Collector rtdcomics private msg quote post Address this user
@DarthLego completely agree with lower print runs on modern being fairly pointless and the non key vintage but i can kinda see the attraction to something like a ASM 129, for example, if the UK print (which has come from the exact same print run as the US) was limited to 1000 copies

@Foghorn_Sam yes that was the stamped pricing which was the alternative to the cover change. Again they would have been part of the exact same print run as the non-stamped and non UK price print more likely than not.

Its often judged from a purist point of view. A lot of avid collectors want the traditional cents "original" version

May be wrong on this but do the grading companies not give the stamping (as long as its not too intrusive) a miss when grading as it was a common part of many comic books of the time.
Post 12 IP   flag post
Collector CopperAgeKids private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimBildhauser
I've discussed this before but I don't think I've done so here on the CBCS forum. For decades there has been a bit of an unwarranted stigma against Pence copies for many collectors. These books were printed at the same time and on the same presses as the U.S. versions, in some cases they may have even been run off first. At various times, while they were being produced, the print runs on Pence copies fluctuated somewhere between 5% & 20% of the entire print run. As such there are now collectors (even here in the States) that are taking notice of Pence books and actively seeking them out.


Absolutely spot on.

Foreign editions (pence and Canadian) copies of SA and GA books, used to be thought of as inferior by most SA and GA collectors.

I remember having a GA Superman key.a Superman #53 pence copy....this was at least 15 years ago, closer to 20 years ago, before CGC came around and selling virtually any comics through auction format wouod bring full Overstreet.

Back then you would get full Overstreet for virtually any SA or GA book....and FR Gold books would bring GD Overstreet prices.

I remember getting around or slightly more than half of Overstreet guide (maybe 60%) for my Sups #53 in auction.

Just like U.S. newsstand copies of copper/modern books were considered largely to be less desirable than their U.S. direct edition counterparts generally.

The market has shifted somewhat positively on SA/GA pence editions, over the few years, as collectors started to note increased prices of US newsstand to US direct market books.

I think that Pence copies of books do have a lot of potential for growth, I just think it will take more time.

What I thimk will also be a driving force, along with the facts that Tim B summed up above, will be (gradually higher) realized prices for sales recorded in GPA/GoCollect.

There have been a couple threads on this forum and the CGC forum, for those interested in reading more on Pence vs. US copies.
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Collector Mio private msg quote post Address this user
I like pence copies. The same as the cents copies, but for a discount! And since the hunt is a big part of the fun for me, the increased rarity is a plus.
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COLLECTOR JLS_Comics private msg quote post Address this user
I came in here thinking it was a political thread.

I don't really go for the UK-priced books, not that there's anything wrong with them.
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Collector Redshade private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Homer
A pence copy is not something I would consider for my personal collection if one came up in a grade I was interested in. I classify them as foreign editions.


And yet, as I have said before, the Grand Comic Database puts UK and Canadian issues alongside their US counterparts and NOT in the foreign section.

When I was a child in the 60s these pence variants were American comics to us and we used to so want to own all the toys that were advertised but were unobtainable over this side of the pond.
Post 16 IP   flag post
Collector Homer private msg quote post Address this user
There are American edition comic books and there are comics that are foreign editions. A pence copy clearly is not an American edition as it was not sold in the United States.
Post 17 IP   flag post
Collector Redshade private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Homer
There are American edition comic books and there are comics that are foreign editions. A pence copy clearly is not an American edition as it was not sold in the United States.


As I stated above these were American comics to us kids in the 60s. Published and printed in America with all the same US ads etc.

I'll bet that if we tried to claim that these were British comics, then the purists would say "oh no they are NOT. They were published and printed in the USA" and so forth.

British publishers were reprinting US comics in black and white from the 50s onwards but these always had UK publisher and printer details in them as well as UK ads.(Not to mention different logos and fonts on the covers).
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COLLECTOR DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user
To me a UK edition is a UK edition, I don't care if it was printed in Mexico.
Post 19 IP   flag post
Collector Redshade private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthLego
To me a UK edition is a UK edition, I don't care if it was printed in Mexico.


Were not a lot of USA comics printed in Canada?
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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Dreamwave was headquartered in Canada and printed their comics there. Yet, those are considered US books.
Post 21 IP   flag post
COLLECTOR DarthLego private msg quote post Address this user
My point exactly, the edition to me is where they were sold at retail, not where they were manufactured. Like an iPhone is an American product, despite being manufactured in China.
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Collector Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user
I have had a few key pence comics and still have one biggie. However, I do not consider them innately "foreign" since they are American made products. The only thing that makes them any different is the price on the cover. Regardless, they are cool and RARE, especially gold and silver age copies so even if its not everyones bag, thats fine but there should be more recognition and acceptance of the particular collecting niches that price variants of all kinds fall into.
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Collector Thanatos private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foghorn_Sam
What about books like this that have the stamp on them? I see plenty of these around too. Are these not also books that were sold in the UK but were printed like American books with the 25 cents price?




How does CBCS grade a comic with these types of pence stamps? I found a silver age grail of mine on ebay for a great price in FN condition but it has a "10p" stamp near the title. Would they deduct points for it?
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