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The June 1938 cover of Action Comics No1 featuring Superman

A rare comic featuring Superman has sold for a record $1 million at auction

A rare copy of the first comic book to feature Superman sold for an astounding $1m (£640,000) this week, smashing the previous record for a comic.

The issue, whose cover features Superman using his super-human strength to lift a car, would originally have cost just 10 cents. It was sold to an anonymous buyer.

The high value transaction was conducted through the auction site ComicConnect.com. Stephen Fishler, the co-owner of the site and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles, coordinated the sale.

Fishler has revealed that the seller was a "well-known individual" in New York with a reputation for having an eclectic collection and the buyer had previously purchased an Action Comics No1 of lesser importance.

"It [Action Comics No1] is considered by most people as the most important book," said John Dolmayan, the comic book enthusiast and dealer best known as the drummer in the rock band System of a Down. "It kind of ushered in the age of the superheroes." Dolmayan, who owns Torpedo Comics, paid $317,000 for an Action Comics No1 issue on behalf of a client last year.

That purchase is considered the "official public record" for a comic book sale, Mark Zaid, the marketing director for the Comic Book Collecting Association, said. Zaid added that there had been other private sales in the $300,000 to $450,000 range.

This version commanded a higher selling price due to its well preserved condition. It has officially been rated as a grade 8.0 – marked out of 10.

"The fact that this book is completely unrestored and still has an 8.0 grade, it's kind of like a diamond or a precious stone," Dolmayan said. "It's very rare."

Only around 100 copies of Action Comics No1 are believed to remain in existence, and only a handful have ever been rated so highly. It is considered even more unusual for such copies to actually be made available for sale.

"It is still a little stunning to see 'a comic book' and '$1m' in the same sentence," Fishler said. "There's only one time a collectible hits the $1m threshold."