Since its beginning, there have been numerous valuable national geographic magazines that have provided knowledge in abundance to its readers. People are searching for the most sought-after National Geographic magazines which contain detailed information about various topics; even more, those that were printed in the bygone decades. During the 80s, the magazine dropped a bomb with one of the most famous National Geographic covers of an Afghan Girl. The Afghan girl on the National Geographic cover asked thousands of questions to world leaders. To find out more about such editions, read on.
1. What are Some Valuable National Geographic Magazines?
In terms of value, there are numerous crucial elements to consider. We’ll post them here, along with the average price they’ll possibly bring. The fine condition classification system used by magazines is:
mint > near mint > very fine > fine > very good > good > fair > poor.
This is used to determine average pricing.
Note: Please keep in mind that this is not a final guide; values are dependent on a variety of circumstances and cannot be stated absolutely.
However, some of the valuable National Geographic magazines are as follows:
- National Geographic Magazine, The year 1888, first publication, Volume 1. You can fetch around $7000-9000 by selling the first copy.
- Brochure issues, The year 1891-1895, Volume 3-6. You can sell it for $210-340.
- Regular publication on a monthly basis, The year 1896. The average price for this magazine is $175.
- If you have the monthly publication of 1904’s issue (with pictures), then you can easily earn up to $115.
2. What are the Most Sought After National Geographic Magazines?
The most sought-after National Geographic magazines since 1880 are:
- Title: Discovery of the North Pole, Month and Year: October 1909.
- Title: Glimpses of the Russian Empire, Month and Year: November 1912
- Title: In the Wonderland of Peru (First Images of Machu-Pichu), Month and Year: April 1913.
- Title: Map of Alaska, Month and Year: February 1914.
3. How much is a National Geographic Magazine?
The subscription to valuable national geographic magazines varies from region to region.
- In the US (the print+digital) magazine costs can be around USD $39.
- In Canada (the print+digital) magazine costs USD $50.
- In India, the National Geographic Magazine’s cost is INR 275.
4. How do you find Old National Geographic Articles?
- If you are looking for certain articles from some valuable National Geographic magazines, then there are two ways to do it – first, either you search the keywords of the article’s title on the internet, as there are chances that you may find the digital version of the article that you are looking for, or, second, if you are currently a subscriber of National Geographic Magazine’s Digital Portal then you can search their online archive with all the articles dating back to 1888.
- If you remember the article’s title and author’s name then you can get information that in which year the article was published. You can also get many related articles to the title you are looking for.
- To search the archive of National Geographic Magazine, go to NGM Digital Access Page, and if you are living outside US/Canada, then visit NGM Get Digital Access.
- However, National Geographic does not have any staff to assist you in finding articles or issues. Instead, you can post your question or look for the answers here at National Geographic Archives.
5. Does anyone buy Old National Geographic Magazines?
Yes, If you have a collection of old valuable National Geographic magazines, say around 50 or 100 magazines or more, then you can visit the Collectors Corner on the National Geographic Magazine’s website. There you can get a list of dealers’ names and also, and you can put a notice on the forum regarding your magazines’ collection. Here is the link to their Collector’s Forum. (See How this Book was Made?)
6. Are National Geographics from the 60s worth anything?
Yes, why not. Below is the list of websites and their quoted prices in which they are selling National Geographics’ 60s issue.
| Website | Issue | Price |
| Amazon.com | March 1960 | $12.95 |
| Amazon.com | May 1960 | $4.99 |
| Etsy.com | 1965, 1968, 1971, 1977 | INR 381 |
7. When was the First National Geographic Magazine made & published?
The first National Geographic magazine issue came on September 22, 1888. Nathan Lump was the editor of the first issue. And the magazine was first released in America. The magazine issue was printed in New Haven, Connecticut and it cost around 50 cents. Till 1905, there were no pictures included in the magazine, however, things changed gradually. And now, if you pick up a National Geographic Magazine, then there are such great quality pictures on almost every page of the magazine.
The first magazine contained research papers that were presented in meetings conducted by Society on a biweekly basis at New York’s Columbia University. (See Importance of Books in Our Life)
8. What is the Most Famous National Geographic Cover?
The most famous National Geographic cover came in 1985 of an Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula. This was the time when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan when American troops returned back. The picture became famous due to Sharbat’s green-eyed piercing gaze as if she is staring right at the world’s political system. Sharbat was around 16 when this picture was taken and she had no idea how famous she had become.
Sharbat has lived most of her life in Pakistan. She also lived in Italy as a refugee from Afghanistan during the late 80s, and in a press meeting, the then Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi granted refugee status to Sharbat. (See What Was Howard Hughes Net Worth When He Died?)
9. What is the Most Recognized Photograph in the History of National Geographic?
The Afghan girl is the most recognized photograph in the history of National Geographic Magazine. The picture was taken at Pakistan’s refugee camp by Steve Mc Curry. (See Who is the most Famous Person in the World?)
10. What happened to Afghan Girl on National Geographic?
Afghan girl, Sharbat gula faced a lot of hardships whenever she tried to return to Afghanistan. She has lived most of her life as a refugee in Pakistan or Italy.
11. Why is the Photo of Afghan Girl on National Geographic famous?
The photograph of the Afghan Girl showed the negative aspect of the Afghan war. Her eyes showed how much children suffered during the battle between American troops and the Talibani terrorists. The photo was taken by Steve Mc curry with Kodachrome 64 color slide film using a Nikon camera of FM2 model. He used Nikon 105mm Ai-S F2.5 to capture the plight of the war-torn country children. (See What were the Causes and Effects of the War of 1812?)
