A POKEMON card graded as the best example of its kind in the word is being sold by a Lichfield auctioneer.
The BGS fourth print Charizard card will go under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers on 30th September.
It has a guide price of between £8,000 and £12,000, but experts believe it could go much higher.
The card is from a scarce print run and has been rated as a nine – higher than any other one in the world – by Beckett Grading Services.
It is being auctioned by Pokemon collector Jon Free, 32, from Suffolk.
He said:
“The fourth print for 1999-2000 Base Set was printed due to copyright issues around the turn of millennium.
“Non-holo fourth print cards were printed worldwide, however the holographic cards were only printed in the UK for around two weeks.
“It is worth noting that the Charizard fourth print is the only holo card to exhibit slightly altered artwork, with the black stripes behind the Charizard being changed to red – you can compare this to regular unlimited cards to see the difference.
“So this is literally the rarest print run of the most well-known set in the world. It is estimated that the first edition print run was over five times larger than the fourth print.”
Jon is one of the world’s largest collectors of fourth print Pokemon cards and has carefully built up his collection over a number of years.
He said:
“I’m sad to see this particular card go but sometimes life has to take priority.”
Richard Winterton Auctioneers has become a major destination for Pokemon collectors in recent years, with bidders from across the world competing to reach impressive hammer prices.
In May, a single owner collection of Pokemon totalled £55,270.
Auctioneer Richard Winterton yielded the gavel on the day.
He said:
“We are inundated with emails and calls from people wanting to auction their Pokemon, which remains a seriously hot market internationally.
“It’s a privilege to be auctioning Jon’s card, the highest grade Beckett fourth print Charizard in the world, from our base in Lichfield.
“This is the highest value single Pokemon card entrusted to us and we are anticipating a huge amount of interest from all over the globe.
“Once again Lichfield’s place on the international Pokemon map is secured.”
The catalogue for the auction can be viewed a week before the sale via www.richardwinterton.co.uk/auction-dates.