Rare 1997 Pokemon Phone Card Sells for $2.255 Million

A rare 1997 Pokemon phone card, graded PSA 10, sold for $2,255,000 on October 23, 2026. OTIA Sports reported that it led five big Pokemon sales from October 17 to October 24 that added up to $5.353 million, and Sports Illustrated confirmed the sale and the price.

What Is the Rare 1997 Pokemon Phone Card?

It is not a phone, and it is not a regular trading card. Japan used prepaid telephone cards for public pay phones, and in the 1990s companies printed them with art and handed them out as gifts and promos. This one is tied to CoroCoro Comic, the Japanese kids' manga magazine that helped make Pokemon famous in its early years.

Sports Illustrated reported that the card celebrates the magazine reaching two million copies. Its full sale name is "1997 Pokemon Japanese CoroCoro Phone Card 2 Million Copies Gift Pocket Monsters," and Pocket Monsters is the Japanese name for Pokemon. SI pointed out that it came from Pokemon's first years in Japan, before the brand went worldwide.

OTIA Sports noted that the card never came out of a pack. It sits in a promo corner of the hobby that many collectors, especially those focused on English cards, rarely deal with.

When and Where It Sold, and for How Much

Here is what the two outlets reported about the sale:

• Date: October 23, 2026
• Price: $2,255,000
• Grade: PSA 10
• Where: a Fanatics Buy Now sale, according to Sports Illustrated
• Retail price: none. It was a promo gift, not a store product, so there is no list price to compare.

These are the figures the outlets published as of October 25, 2026. Reported totals sometimes get updated, so treat them as the numbers on record today.

The phone card was not the only big result. OTIA listed the top five Pokemon sales of the week, and four of them were:

SI added that the 1st Edition Charizard sold through Fanatics Premier on the same day as the phone card.

Early Resale Signs From the Week's Sales

Here is what named outlets have reported so far:

• Pokemon took every top spot. OTIA said all five of the week's top trading card sales were Pokemon items, and the weekly total beat the week before.
• Phone cards drew big money. OTIA counted $2,737,000 from the two Japanese phone cards alone, about half of the week.
• Same set, very different price. On its own lot page, Fanatics Collect shows a companion card, listed as Pocket Monsters 2 from the same CoroCoro gift, that sold on June 19, 2026 for $32,100 with buyer's premium. The page lists a PSA population of 1 of 5 for that card.

No outlet we checked has reported what this sale means for everyday Pokemon phone card prices. One record does not set the price for every old card with Pikachu on it.

If you find a vintage Japanese phone card at a garage sale, a card show or an estate sale, slow down before you price it:

1. Match the exact name and design. One small detail can be the difference between thousands and millions.
2. Check the grade and look up the cert number on the grader's own website.
3. Search eBay sold listings, not asking prices, for that exact card and grade. The same habit works for any item, and our guide on spotting hot items to resell walks through it.
4. Be honest about condition. Most cards that lived in a wallet in 1997 will not grade like this one.

For most resellers, the steadier Pokemon money is still sealed product bought near list price. Our roundup of Pokemon card releases in November 2026 covers the dates, list prices and store limits.

Bottom Line

A 1997 CoroCoro phone card sold for $2.255 million in PSA 10 on October 23, and it led a $5.353 million week of Pokemon sales. It is a rare promo piece, not a sign that every old Pokemon item is worth a fortune, so check the exact card and real sold prices before you buy or sell. If you hunt Pokemon and other collectibles at retail, the membership's price monitors and live in-store stock checks help you find them near list price. See how the membership works.