Awarded to winners of a 1997-98 CoroCoro illustration contest, the Pikachu Illustrator was never sold in packs; roughly 39 copies are known and one PSA 10 exists. Its $5,275,000 private sale set the Guinness World Record for a Pokémon card. Benchmark: private sale (Guinness-recorded), 2021-07, a documented public sale, not an estimate. Graded trading cards trade per-card on tokenized venues such as Courtyard (Polygon, Brink's vault) and Collector Crypt (Solana, PWCC/ALT vaults); this reference listing is for research.
The rarest Pokémon card in existence, a Guinness world record.
Prism analyst note
The rarest Pokémon card in existence, a Guinness world record. The benchmark is a real, dated auction record (private sale (Guinness-recorded)); treat it as the card's documented high-water mark for that grade, not a live quote. Collectibles reprice at every sale.
Generated from issuer disclosures and reviewed against the sources listed below. Not investment advice.
Structure & compliance
- Underlying
- 1998 Pikachu Illustrator (PSA 10), the physical graded card.
- Legal structure
- Physical graded collectible; tokenized copies are per-card vault tokens on card venues
- Jurisdiction
- United States (grading & major auction venues)
- Custodian
- Owner custody, or venue vaults (Brink's via Courtyard; PWCC/ALT via Collector Crypt) when tokenized
- Administrator
- Graded by PSA/BGS/SGC/CGC; sales via public auction houses
- Reserve information
- The benchmark price is a specific, dated public auction result for the stated grade. Other grades of the same card trade at very different prices; the tokenized venues price each vaulted copy individually.
- Transfer restrictions
- Physical cards transfer by sale or shipment; tokenized copies transfer on their venue's chain and are redeemable for the vaulted card.
- Investor eligibility
- Open / permissionless
- KYC required
- No, permissionless transfers
Reserve verification
Contracts & on-chain data
Addresses shown only where independently confirmed against explorers and issuer documentation. Holder and transfer analytics are available via the linked explorers.
Documents & disclosures
Frequently asked
Is this price live?+
It is the documented record sale for this card at the stated grade (private sale (Guinness-recorded), 2021-07). Collectibles have no ticker; each sale sets the next benchmark.
How do I actually own one?+
Buy a graded copy at auction or on a tokenized venue: Courtyard vaults cards with Brink's on Polygon, Collector Crypt with PWCC/ALT on Solana, both redeemable for the physical card.
