The most expensive Pokémon cards

This page answers two questions with dated figures. First, which Pokémon cards have sold for the most money in public: ranked by the price paid, as given on the auction house's own lot page or in a dated press report, with the grade, venue and sale date of each. Second, which modern cards are worth the most today: ranked by PriceCharting's ungraded (raw) price, read October 24, 2026, with the PSA 10 price beside it. The two lists are kept apart because a single record auction and a market average are different kinds of number. It is a reference, not buying or investment advice.

The most expensive Pokémon card ever sold

A Pikachu Illustrator graded PSA 10 holds the record. It sold for $16,492,000, including the buyer's premium (a $13.3 million winning bid before it), in an online auction run by Goldin; Guinness World Records lists it as the most expensive Pokémon card and the most expensive trading card sold at auction. Guinness dates the sale February 16, 2026 in its report and February 15 on the record page. The seller was Logan Paul, who had bought the card in a 2021 private sale for $5,275,000, which Guinness records separately as the most expensive Pokémon card sold privately. The card was a prize in a 1998 illustration contest; Paul said 39 were given to winners, and Guinness says this is the only copy graded PSA 10.

Highest public sales, ranked

Ranked by the price reported for a single card, highest first. Every copy is graded; a grade is part of what was sold, so the same card appears at three grades. Prices include the buyer's premium where the source says so, which is the case for rows 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8.

1. Pikachu Illustrator (1998 Japanese CoroCoro contest promo), PSA 10
2. Art Academy Mudkip by Daisuke Ochiai (2015 Japanese XY promo), PSA 10
3. Torchic ★ (Gold Star), EX Team Rocket Returns #108, PSA 10
4. Bronze 3rd Place Trophy Pikachu (1998 Japanese promo), PSA 10
5. Pikachu Illustrator (1998 Japanese CoroCoro contest promo), PSA 9
6. Art Academy Pikachu by Y. Fujishima (2015 Japanese XY promo), PSA 10
7. Rayquaza ★ (Gold Star), EX Deoxys #107, CGC Pristine 10
8. Mudkip ★ (Gold Star), EX Team Rocket Returns #107, PSA 10
9. Charizard #4, Base Set 1st Edition (1999), PSA 10
10. Gold 1st Place Trophy Pikachu, 1st Tournament (1997 Japanese promo), PSA 8
11. Pikachu Illustrator (1998 Japanese CoroCoro contest promo), PSA 8.5

Just below the table, three cards sold for $660,000 each in Fanatics Collect's Weekly Auction on October 11, 2026, all PSA 10: the Plasma Storm full art Lugia-EX #134, the 2015 Art Academy Competition Meli Pikachu and the 2001 Southern Islands reverse holo Mew #1. Not ranked: Sports Illustrated reported a PSA 10 1996 Japanese Base Set Charizard with no rarity symbol sold for $1,700,000 on March 3, 2026, the first Charizard above $1 million, and a second copy in a holder signed by the artist Mitsuhiro Arita for $1,232,200, but named no venue for either. Private sales are left out, since their prices cannot be checked.

Card images exist only for cards in the Pokémon TCG API, which covers English cards; the Japanese promos above have no image here.

• Torchic ★#108/109 · Rare Holo StarPSA 10 · $2,700,000 · Alt, Sept. 2026
• Rayquaza ★#107/107 · Rare Holo StarCGC Pristine 10 · $1,020,000 · Fanatics Collect, Aug. 28, 2026
• Mudkip ★#107/109 · Rare Holo StarPSA 10 · $1,020,000 · Fanatics Collect, Sept. 21, 2026
• Charizard#4/102 · Rare Holo1st Edition PSA 10 · $1,000,952.84 · eBay, Sept. 9, 2026 (image: the API's single Base Set #4 record, which does not show the 1st Edition stamp)

Why these cards sell for so much

• Very few were ever made. The Pikachu Illustrator was a contest prize (39 given out, by Logan Paul's account). The 2015 Art Academy cards reproduce ten winning artworks from a competition in Japan, and each winner received 100 copies of their own card, so 100 Daisuke Ochiai Mudkips exist.
• Trophy cards were tournament prizes. The trophy Pikachus were printed for Japan's first Pokémon tournament in 1997 and the 1998 Mega Battle events, for top finishers. PSA has graded five Bronze 3rd Place copies; the record copy is the only PSA 10, and the next best is a PSA 8.
• Top grades are scarce even for pack cards. The record Rayquaza ★ is, by its lot page, the only copy graded Pristine by any company. The Mudkip ★ lot page showed a PSA 10 population of 42, and the Art Academy Mudkip lot page a PSA 10 population of 2.
• The grade moves the price. The same Pikachu Illustrator brought $16,492,000 at PSA 10, $1,406,250 at PSA 9 and $727,120 at PSA 8.5 in the same year.

Most valuable modern cards

Here "modern" means English cards from the Sword & Shield era (2020) to the latest set. We read PriceCharting's price guides for 35 English sets in that range, sorted by price, and ranked the cards by ungraded price: the value of a raw copy, from recent sold listings. Numbered set cards only; promo, Prize Pack, staff, league and tournament stamps and product-exclusive versions are left out. All values as of October 24, 2026; they change daily.

Ranked by PSA 10 price instead, the order changes: Mew B/RGB ($14,000.00) leads Mew R/RGB, and Umbreon ex #161 ($4,696.29) passes Umbreon VMAX #215. Some cards are cheap raw and expensive in a 10: Magikarp #203 from Paldea Evolved showed $286.80 ungraded but $3,589.20 in PSA 10. Product-exclusive versions can top both lists in a 10; the Celebrations Charizard #4 from the Ultra Premium Collection showed a PSA 10 price of $16,046.93 against $246.46 ungraded. A PSA 10 figure tells you what a 10 sells for, not what a raw card will grade; see is it worth grading? for the arithmetic.

• Mew#R · Common30th Celebration · Ungraded $4,295.18 · PSA 10 $13,550.00
• Umbreon VMAX#215/203 · Rare RainbowEvolving Skies · Ungraded $1,725.00 · PSA 10 $3,750.00
• Rayquaza VMAX#218/203 · Rare RainbowEvolving Skies · Ungraded $1,000.00 · PSA 10 $1,977.50
• Umbreon ex#161/131 · Special Illustration RarePrismatic Evolutions · Ungraded $966.61 · PSA 10 $4,696.29
• Mew ex#232/091 · Special Illustration RarePaldean Fates · Ungraded $847.00 · PSA 10 $2,542.49
• Gengar VMAX#271/264 · Rare RainbowFusion Strike · Ungraded $834.56 · PSA 10 $2,250.00
• Giratina V#186/196 · Rare UltraLost Origin · Ungraded $787.00 · PSA 10 $3,085.47
• Mega Gengar ex#284/217 · Special Illustration RareAscended Heroes · Ungraded $760.91 · PSA 10 $1,552.45

Questions collectors ask

What is the most expensive Pokémon card in the world?

By public sale price, the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator: $16,492,000 at Goldin in February 2026.

What is the most expensive Charizard?

Among sales with a named venue, a PSA 10 1st Edition Base Set Charizard at $1,000,952.84 on eBay, September 9, 2026. The $1,700,000 Japanese no-rarity-symbol Charizard reported for March 2026 is higher but has no named venue. See the Base Set Charizard card file for prints, populations and earlier sales.

Are the most expensive Pokémon cards Japanese?

Most of the top results are: the Pikachu Illustrator, the Art Academy cards and the trophy Pikachus are all Japanese promos. The English record holders in the table are the Gold Star cards and the 1st Edition Charizard.

What is the most valuable modern Pokémon card?

On PriceCharting's ungraded prices as of October 24, 2026, the 30th Celebration Mew R/RGB at $4,295.18; among Sword & Shield cards, Umbreon VMAX #215 from Evolving Skies at $1,725.00.

Checklist before you quote a price

• ☐ The card, set, number and language match exactly; a Japanese promo and an English set card are different cards.
• ☐ The grade and grader match; a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 of the same card can be a million dollars apart.
• ☐ The price has a date and you know whether it includes the buyer's premium (see how card auctions work).
• ☐ Raw and graded prices are never compared as if they were the same thing.
• ☐ A record sale is one result, not a market price; check recent sold listings (see where to check sold prices).