A 1999 Pokémon Raichu 14 trading card has been auctioned in Dallas, Texas, for $550,000.
The card was sold by Heritage Auctions last Friday, September 19.
It was published in 1999. It’s full name is: Pokémon Raichu 14 Unlimited Base Set Prerelease.
The error in the card is the “prerelease”, which should have been stamped only on four cards given away as competition prizes and not on any of the Raichu cards.
Heritage Auctions said: “The error was never publicly acknowledged. The affected cards were dismissed as rumour until 2006, when a former Wizards of the Coast employee produced undeniable photographic evidence.”
The card is in great condition, protected in plastic now, and showing the error clearly on the bottom right of the character image. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
This example, described as a “holy grail”, is the only known survivor with a PSA grading, and a very high quality one of EX-MT 6 (excellent Mint 6 on a 10-number scale).
Jesus Garcia of Heritage Auctions told the Sun newspaper: “It was an honour to be able to offer this extraordinary card, which had been shrouded in mystery.
“These cards were once a child’s game, and now they’re a fully-fledged collectible market.”
Pokémon was born as a video game in 1995 in Japan after a long development process. The collecting cards were released shortly afterwards, and the Pokémon empire has continued to expand since then.
Some are now hugely valuable.
The most valuable card sold was a 1998-issued Pikachu Illustrator bought by YouTuber Logan Paul for $5.2 million in 2022. There’s a big drop off to the next most valuable card, a $420,000 sale, since usurped by the Raichu.
This card is now listed with an invitation to make an offer to buy. If you’d like to be its next owner you’ll need $687,500.
