Goldin Announces Rollout of New Auction Category for CGC-Graded Magazines


Goldin is introducing its first major foray into the growing sector of CGC-Graded magazines. Highlighting the collection in Goldin’s May Elite Auction is the first Sports Illustrated magazine ever graded 9.9 by CGC, a December 2022 issue featuring Kylian Mbappé. After 15 years and more than 28,000 Sports Illustrated submissions, CGC's 9.9 is the highest S.I. grade on record.

"We're thrilled to have been chosen to handle such an important milestone magazine," said Khyber Oser, Director of Vintage Memorabilia and Photography at Goldin. "We've strived to surround it with a varied selection of impressive magazines ranging from the 1940s through today. Because well-known photographers have shot so many magazine covers, there's an exciting throughline between Graded Magazine collectors and Type I Photo collectors.”

The current record price for any Graded Magazine is Michael Jordan's Sports Illustrated 1st Pro Cover which sold in 2023 for $126,000. It was a CGC 9.8 newsstand copy that ranked above any other example in the CGC Census at the time. This meant that its population report was "Pop 1, None Higher." The ranking is subject to change as new examples are discovered. Being a newsstand edition  (without any subscription mailing label), the record-breaking magazine was even more rare.

High-grade newsstand magazines in Goldin's offering include:

• 6/4/56 Sports Illustrated Floyd Patterson 1st Cover (CGC 9.0 - Pop 1, None Higher)
• 6/21/65 Sports Illustrated Mickey Mantle Cover (CGC 8.5 - Pop 3, with 3 Higher)
• 1/1989 S.I. for Kids Michael Jordan 1st Cover (CGC 9.6 -  Pop 3, with 1 Higher)
• 4/3/00 Sports Illustrated Tiger Woods Cover (CGC 9.8 - Pop 9, None Higher)

Key autographed newsstand magazines include:

• 7/10/67 Sports Illustrated Signed Muhammad Ali Cover (CGC 7.5 - Pop 1, with 2 Higher)
• 8/14/95 Sports Illustrated Signed Greg Maddux 1st Cover (CGC 8.0 - Signature Series Pop 1, None Higher)
• 4/14/86 Sports Illustrated Signed, Inscribed Wade Boggs 1st Cover (CGC 7.5 - Signature Series Pop 1, None Higher)

Goldin’s first collection of graded magazines will be available through June 8.