Most Valuable Pokémon Cards: Record Sales and Current Prices

These are the highest Pokémon card sales in Wikipedia's list of the most expensive collectible card game cards, plus two sales reported in other Wikipedia articles. Each line gives grade, price, date and venue where the source names them.

• Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 10: $16,492,000, February 16, 2026, Goldin; seller Logan Paul, buyer AJ Scaramucci.
• Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 10: $5,275,000, July 22, 2021, private sale to Logan Paul.
• Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 9: $1,406,250, March 2026, Heritage Auctions (Wikipedia's Heritage Auctions and Pokémon TCG articles).
• Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 9: $1,275,000, June 2021, private sale to Logan Paul.
• Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 7: $900,000, February 23, 2022, Goldin.
• Pikachu Illustrator, CGC 9.5: $672,000, October 29, 2022, Goldin.
• Raichu prerelease error card: $550,000 in 2025 (Wikipedia's Base Set article, which calls it the third-most expensive Pokémon card sold).
• Charizard, Topsun blue back (1997), PSA 10: $493,230, January 2021, Goldin.
• Silver No. 2 Pikachu Trainer trophy card, PSA 10: $444,000, September 2023; 14 copies.
• 1st Edition Base Set Charizard, PSA 10: $420,000, March 2022, PWCC Marketplace.
• Commissioned presentation galaxy Blastoise, CGC 8.5: $360,000, January 2021; 2 copies.
• Japanese holo Charizard (1996), PSA 10, signed by Mitsuhiro Arita: $324,000, April 16, 2022.
• Bronze No. 3 Pikachu Trainer trophy card, PSA 8: $300,000, April 2023, Heritage Auctions.

Record sales are mostly one-off prize cards. For cards that came out of normal packs, this is the top of PriceCharting's PSA 10 values across the 34 sets we track (retrieved 2026-09-25), with the ungraded price after each.

• Charizard 1st Edition #4 (Base Set): PSA 10 $335,180.14 · raw $9,526.88
• Pikachu Reverse Holo #86 (Legendary Collection): PSA 10 $233,328.47 · raw $895
• Gengar Reverse Holo #11 (Legendary Collection): PSA 10 $207,678.50 · raw $1,468.82
• Mew #19 (Expedition): PSA 10 $150,000 · raw $453.72
• Charizard Reverse Holo #3 (Legendary Collection): PSA 10 $120,550 · raw $2,232.50
• Treecko Gold Star #109 (EX Team Rocket Returns): PSA 10 $114,000 · raw $2,652.59
• Chansey 1st Edition #3 (Base Set): PSA 10 $102,500 · raw $400
• Charizard #146 (Skyridge): PSA 10 $100,301.50 · raw $5,797.02
• Charizard #6 (Expedition): PSA 10 $85,484.50 · raw $403
• Torchic Gold Star #108 (EX Team Rocket Returns): PSA 10 $80,620.48 · raw $2,528.43
• Lugia #149 (Aquapolis): PSA 10 $79,584.25 · raw $2,818.75
• Shining Gyarados 1st Edition #65 (Neo Revelation): PSA 10 $79,580 · raw $1,984.67

Reading the two lists side by side, four patterns explain almost every entry:

• Tiny, known print runs. Contest and trophy cards (41 Pikachu Illustrators, 14 Silver No. 2 trophies) outsell anything from a pack.
• First prints of Charizard. Charizard appears in both lists more than any other Pokémon; Wikipedia's Charizard article says cards of it were the most desired of the series.
• Cards that are hard to find in top grade. Legendary Collection reverse holos and e-Card era holos have modest raw prices but huge PSA 10 premiums: Gengar Reverse Holo is about 141 times its raw price in PSA 10, and Expedition Skarmory #27 about 918 times ($57.97 raw, $53,242.24 PSA 10).
• e-Card and Gold Star cards from 2002 to 2004. Expedition, Aquapolis, Skyridge and EX Team Rocket Returns hold six of the twelve spots in the PSA 10 list.

Modern cards are not in the top tier. The highest we track is Umbreon VMAX #215 at $4,125 in PSA 10.

PriceCharting ungraded and PSA 10 values, retrieved 2026-09-25:

• Umbreon VMAX #215 (Evolving Skies): raw $1,931.18 · PSA 10 $4,125
• Rayquaza VMAX #218 (Evolving Skies): raw $1,050 · PSA 10 $2,310.61
• Mew ex #232 (Paldean Fates): raw $881.19 · PSA 10 $3,000
• Charizard GX #SV49 (Hidden Fates): raw $643.60 · PSA 10 $1,411.75
• Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX #221 (Cosmic Eclipse): raw $540 · PSA 10 $3,847.76
• Charizard ex #199 (151): raw $327.08 · PSA 10 $1,412.50

Logan Paul bought a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator in a private sale for $5,275,000 in July 2021 and sold it through Goldin for $16,492,000 on February 16, 2026 (Wikipedia). Wikipedia's Pokémon TCG article says the card was a prize for the 1997–1998 CoroCoro Comic illustration contests, that 41 were printed, and that it is the only Pokémon card to say Illustrator where other Trainer cards say Trainer. Wikipedia's Charizard article also credits Paul with raising demand for Charizard cards after he wore one around his neck at his fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight and photograph it straight on with the whole card in frame, then take a close-up of the lower edge where the set symbol or set code, the card number and any edition mark sit. Tilt holo cards for a second shot so the foil pattern shows, and photograph the back. FoilLens reads the card name, set and number from the photo and shows a market reference; the edition, print and condition checks on this page decide which price line applies to your copy.

Every card in the lists above shares at least one of these traits. A card with none of them is very unlikely to be high value.

• It was not sold in packs. Contest prizes, trophies and staff or prerelease promos: the Pikachu Illustrator, the No. 2 and No. 3 Pikachu Trainer trophies, and stamped promos such as the Evolutions Charizard with a prerelease staff stamp ($1,500 raw against $69.99 for the regular card, PriceCharting, 2026-09-25).
• It is an early print. A 1st Edition stamp or missing art-box shadow on a 1999–2002 English card, or no rarity symbol on a 1996 Japanese Base Set card.
• It has a special rarity from 2002 to 2007. Gold Star cards and e-Card era holos: Charizard Gold Star #100 (Dragon Frontiers) is $3,161.41 raw and $85,066.51 in PSA 10 (PriceCharting, 2026-09-25).
• It is in top condition. A PSA 10 often multiplies vintage prices many times; Expedition Charizard #6 is $403 raw and $85,484.50 in PSA 10.
• It is a sought-after Pokémon. Charizard and Pikachu fill most of the record list.

Then confirm it: match the exact set, number and print, and look up sold prices for that version.

No official top 10 exists, because The Pokémon Company has not published print runs for most cards. Ranked by the highest public sale in Wikipedia's list, the ten most valuable distinct Pokémon cards are:

• Pikachu Illustrator: $16,492,000 (PSA 10, 2026); 41 printed
• Raichu prerelease error card: $550,000 (2025, Wikipedia's Base Set article)
• Topsun blue back Charizard: $493,230 (PSA 10, 2021)
• Silver No. 2 Pikachu Trainer trophy: $444,000 (PSA 10, 2023); 14 copies
• 1st Edition Base Set Charizard: $420,000 (PSA 10, 2022)
• Commissioned presentation galaxy Blastoise: $360,000 (CGC 8.5, 2021); 2 copies
• Japanese holo Charizard (1996), signed by Mitsuhiro Arita: $324,000 (PSA 10, 2022)
• Bronze No. 3 Pikachu Trainer trophy: $300,000 (PSA 8, 2023); 4 copies

That list has eight cards; the next two by PriceCharting's PSA 10 guide values (2026-09-25) are the Legendary Collection Reverse Holo Pikachu #86 at $233,328.47 and Reverse Holo Gengar #11 at $207,678.50.

The pages that rank for this search give different numbers for the same cards, and the reason is usually the source behind each figure:

• Record sales vs guide values. Wikipedia lists individual public sales with dates. PriceCharting gives a current value per grade from recent sold listings. A record sale can be years old; a guide value can rest on one or two sales a year.
• Undated or unverified sales. A UK retailer's list (Display Armour, updated September 20, 2026) gives $954,800 for a 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard and $1,769,000 for the Bronze No. 3 Pikachu Trainer; Athlon Sports (February 28, 2026) reports a $550,000 PSA 10 1st Edition Charizard at Heritage in late 2025. We could not confirm these in Wikipedia's list, whose highest figures are $420,000 and $300,000 for those two cards.
• Raw price lists. Some tools rank ungraded cards only; PokéCardValues ranks near-mint raw cards in pounds from TCGplayer and eBay data, and Pokémon Wizard shows hourly-updated prices for about 40,710 cards. Those rankings favour modern cards that trade raw.

When two numbers differ, look for the date, the grade and the venue of the sale behind each.