List of most expensive cards from collectible card games
A collectible card game, also called a trading card game among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. Cards in CCGs are specially designed sets of playing cards. Each card represents an element of the theme and rules of the game, and each can fall in categories such as creatures, enhancements, events, resources, and locations. All cards within the CCG typically share the same common backside art, while the front has a combination of proprietary artwork or images to embellish the card along with instructions for the game and flavor text. CCGs are typically themed around fantasy or science fiction genres, and have also included horror themes, cartoons, and sports, and may include licensed intellectual properties.
The value of a CCG card depends on a combination of the popularity of the game, the popularity of the intellectual property on which the card is based, the card's condition, the scarcity of the card, whether the card has an artist's signature, and the gameplay value of the card. In some cases, the cards have become collector's items of considerable value. Most of the priciest cards come from the first CCG, Magic: The Gathering, or from some of the other most popular CCGs such as Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh!.
List of highest prices (US$300,000+) paid
This list only contains cards actually sold, not estimated prices of unsold cards, at a price of US$300,000 or more.The list is ordered by default by original sale price but can be re-sorted by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value in United States dollars in.
Cards are evaluated by third-party services, most often Professional Sports Authenticator, Certified Guaranty Company, Beckett Grading Services, or Sportscard Guaranty Corporation, and given a grade on a 10-point scale based on condition.
The population column is the number of copies of the card in the original print run, not the number of known surviving copies in the present or of the graded quality.
| Original price | Inflation-adjusted price | Date of sale | Card name | Year printed or released | Set | Game | Grade | Auction house | Seller | Buyer | Population in original print run | Notes | References |
| $5,275,000 | $ | Pikachu Illustrator | 1998 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | private sale | Marwan Dubsy | Logan Paul | 41 | purchased with combination of $1.275 million PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator and $4 million cash | ||
| $3,000,000 | $ | Black Lotus | 1993 | Alpha | Magic: The Gathering | CGC 10 | private sale | Adam Cai | Benjamin Be | 1,100 | purchased with bitcoin; unlike most of the other most expensive Black Lotuses, not signed by artist Christopher Rush | ||
| $2,000,000 | $ | The One Ring | 2023 | The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth | Magic: The Gathering | PSA 9 | private sale | Brook Trafton | Post Malone | 1 | one-of-a-kind printing with unique art and Tengwar instead of English text | ||
| $1,275,000 | $ | Pikachu Illustrator | 1998 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 9 | private sale | Matt Allen | Logan Paul | 41 | |||
| $900,000 | $ | Pikachu Illustrator | 1998 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 7 | Goldin Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 41 | |||
| $800,000 | $ | Black Lotus | 1993 | Alpha | Magic: The Gathering | private sale | private seller | Post Malone | artist proof signed by artist Christopher Rush | ||||
| $672,000 | $ | Pikachu Illustrator | 1998 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | CGC 9.5 | Goldin Auctions | Blake Martinez | private buyer | 41 | |||
| $615,000 | $ | Black Lotus | 1993 | Alpha | Magic: The Gathering | CGC 8.5 | Heritage Auctions | Jeff Ferreira | private buyer | artist proof signed by artist Christopher Rush | |||
| $540,000 | $ | Black Lotus | 1993 | Alpha | Magic: The Gathering | PSA 10 | PWCC Marketplace | private seller | private buyer | 1,100 | signed by artist Christopher Rush | ||
| $511,100 | $ | Black Lotus | 1993 | Alpha | Magic: The Gathering | PSA 10 | eBay | private seller | private buyer | 1,100 | signed by artist Christopher Rush | ||
| $493,230 | $ | Charizard | 1997 | Topsun chewing gum promos | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | Goldin Auctions | private seller | private buyer | ||||
| $444,000 | $ | Silver No. 2 Pikachu Trainer | 1997 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | Goldin Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 14 | originally awarded as a trophy/prize to 2nd-place finishers in the 1997-1998 Lizardon Mega Battle Tournament series | ||
| $420,000 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | PWCC Marketplace | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | |||
| $369,000 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | SGC 10 | Goldin Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | one of two Charizard cards sold for similar prices on different auction websites on the same day | ||
| $360,000 | $ | Blastoise | 1998 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | CGC 8.5 | Heritage Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 2 | one of only 2 test printings of this card, created by Wizards of the Coast to convince Nintendo to let them publish the English release of the Pokémon TCG, and the whereabouts or survival of the other copy is unknown | ||
| $350,100 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | eBay | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | one of two Charizard cards sold for similar prices on different auction websites on the same day | ||
| $336,000 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | Heritage Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | |||
| $324,000 | $ | Charizard | 1996 | Japanese Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | PWCC Marketplace | private seller | private buyer | signed by artist Mitsuhiro Arita | |||
| $311,800 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | eBay | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | |||
| $311,211 | $ | Tyler the Great Warrior | 2005 | none | Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game | BGS 7 | eBay | Tyler Gressle | private buyer | 1 | only one copy of card printed, as a Make-A-Wish Foundation gift to seller, whom the card is named after | ||
| $300,000 | $ | Charizard | 1999 | English Base Set 1st Edition | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 10 | Heritage Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 4,000+ | |||
| $300,000 | $ | Bronze No. 3 Pikachu Trainer | 1997 | none | Pokémon Trading Card Game | PSA 8 | Heritage Auctions | private seller | private buyer | 4 | originally awarded as a trophy/prize to 3rd-place finishers in the 1997 1st Official Pokémon Card Game Tournament series |