Most expensive trading card sold at auction (overall)

The most expensive trading card sold at auction (overall) is a PSA Gem Mint 10 graded "Pikachu Illustrator" Pokémon TCG card which was sold for $16,492,000 (£12,074,206) by Logan Paul (USA) through Goldin Auctions, on 16 February 2026.

The sale surpassed the $12.9m (£9.5m) paid for a 1-of-1 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Jordan & Bryant card in 2025, and $12.6m (£10.7m) for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card in 2022.

Pikachu Illustrator is extremely popular with collectors due to it being designed by Atsuko Nishida (Japan), who is credited as the original creator of Pikachu. It was never originally sold and was only released as a prize in a 1998 illustration contest.

This card is the only known copy graded at PSA's unsurpassable GEM MT 10 tier. It was bought by Logan Paul for $5,275,000 (£3,862,424) in 2021, setting a record at the time for the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale.

The online auction - which lasted over one month - also included a custom diamond necklace once worn by Logan Paul (worth a reported $75,000) and hand delivery to the winning bidder by Logan himself. The record total includes Buyer’s Premium.