Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) has released a new Pedigree Certification Label to differentiate top tier comic book collections known as pedigrees. This new black and white label will display “CGC Universal Pedigree” in place of “CGC Universal Grade.” Only pedigrees that qualify for a Universal grade will receive the new label.

These new labels will be applied to books submitted as a CGC recognized pedigree through the online submission form starting on July 12, 2019 and first available for show submissions at Comic-Con International: San Diego on July 17.

A new pedigree designation is considered when a collection of vintage books in high grade condition is introduced to the collectors market by the original owner. Many pedigree collections were recognized and accepted by the hobby before CGC came into existence.

CGC has also added five new collections to the list of recognized pedigrees. This brings the total number to 59 pedigrees, all of which will be featured on the CGC website pedigree page next week. The five new pedigrees are New Hampshire, Cookeville, Eldon, Harold Curtis, and Murphy Anderson.

Assembled by a young man who was born around 1929, the New Hampshire pedigree contains approximately 1,400 books mainly representing the western genre of the late 1940s and ’50s. This collection contains more western comics than almost any other pedigreed collection. In 1989 the man sold his collection through an agent to Jim Payette, who in turn offered the books in his catalog. This was named the New Hampshire collection after the city in which the books surfaced. Many were subsequently purchased by The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide creator, Robert Overstreet. They are easily identified because of a distinct penciled date on each cover. Long considered a pedigree by collectors, CGC has finally recognized the collection’s status.

Named for its point of origin in Cookeville, Tennessee, the Cookeville collection was assembled by Leroy Mackie and his brother, and later acquired by Diamond Comic Distributors President & CEO, Steve Geppi in 1992. It contained nearly 5,000 superhero comics from the late ’30s to the early ’50s. In 2019, CGC officially recognized its pedigree status. Cookeville copies are identifiable by an “SN” mark written by Mackie’s sisters who worked at the store where he and his brother purchased comics. Occasionally the name “Leroy Mackie” was also written on the cover.

Even though it appears the Eldon collection surfaced in the late ’80s, CGC did not officially recognize it as a pedigree until now. The size of the collection is unknown, but many comics from the ’40s have surfaced over the years with the name “Eldon” written on the cover in pen, either printed or in cursive. Subsequent research has revealed that his last name was Hamman, born in 1934 in Iowa, and he served in the Army during the Korean War. He passed away in 1987, likely leading to the sale of his collection. Many rare and key issues were present, including a Captain America Comics #1.

One of the few collections to be almost completely CGC-graded and sold at once, the Harold Curtis collection is exactly 519 books and spans over a decade, starting in 1940 and peaking during 1941-1946. The focus was predominantly DC superhero titles. An interesting note about the collection is that it is void of any titles beginning with the letters E through O, as well as any Superman issues. Over 65% of the collection exhibits identifying marks, usually Harold Curtis’ name written on the front covers in pen. Other markings include arrival dates and distributor letters. The entire collection was auctioned through Heritage Auctions in 2006.

The Murphy Anderson File Copy collection is the newest pedigree recognized by CGC this year. Heritage’s first offerings of the just-announced Murphy Anderson File Copy CGC pedigree will appear in their weekly auction dated July 28-August 4, along with some books from the Annie Gaines Collection.

In addition to the substantial Silver and Bronze Age original art from the Murphy Anderson Collection, this new pedigree consists of the famed DC artist’s file copies spanning the 1950s-1980s, including such classics as Showcase #4 and incredible white page, high grade Silver and Bronze keys. Impressive selections can be found in all of Heritage’s weekly online comic auctions following the initial offering.

Featured in Heritage’s special format online monthly auction “The MAD Collection of Annie Gaines Ashton,” the Annie Gaines Ashton Pedigree offerings include entire MAD and Panic runs of Gaines File copies. This new pedigree of high grade examples comes from the collection of Bill Gaines’ estate, the greatest provenance for EC and MAD. The devoted auction runs from September 12-October 17.