A rare first-edition Pokémon card depicting the character “Charizard” sold at auction for $336,000.
The card, a first-edition 1999 Pokémon Charizard No. 4 card, was from the game’s first print run in English and had been given a perfect grading, CNN reported. There have only been 121 cards given that rating.
The sale, part of a larger auction, netted more than $3.7 million in total, according to CNN.
Jesus Garcia, consignment director for Heritage Trading Card Games, told USA Today that the demand for rare Pokémon cards has increased in recent years, along with their price. “Back in 2018 that card was worth $25,000 and now goes for upwards of $300,000,” Garcia told the newspaper.
Last week, federal prosecutors announced a Georgia man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for using more than $57,000 in money meant for COVID-19 relief to buy a Charizard card.
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