Andrew Braund, a 37-year-old teaching assistant from Dorset, England, earned thousands of dollars selling his old Pokémon cards. He found his childhood collection in an attic and brought it to his friend’s trading card store. He assumed that the cards would be worth a few hundred dollars, but three of them were much more valuable than he expected.
“When my friend told me how much the Charizard cards might be worth, I got quite lightheaded,” he told the Daily Journal. “I almost had a panic attack, quite frankly.”
Three of his Charizard cards were estimated to be worth $20,000. However, he sold them at an auction and ended up earning $41,000.
According to People, “His mint-condition Skyridge Charizard Holo Pokémon broke an Ewbank's Pokémon record and was sold for $21,250, but was estimated to sell for $16,155 at the most. A near-mint copy of that same card sold for $16,250, but was valued at $13,462. The third Charizard card, a Reverse-Holo card, sold for $3,500, just above the $2,961 estimation.”
"I wasn't expecting them to be worth anything like that,” Braund said. “They have the highest monetary value, but the lowest sentimental value. The ones I loved as a kid look worn from being in my pockets all the time."
Since Braund is getting married to his fiancée, Rachel Moseley, in August, he claimed that he has "absolutely lucked out” and won’t have to “worry about where the money for the wedding is going to come from now.”
The cards were sold through Ewbank's Auctions. When discussing the situation, Andrew Ewbank said: “We have been specializing in trading cards like Pokémon and Magic The Gathering for the past five years. This is a double delight for us: taking a record in-house price for a single card and helping a young couple make their dreams come true."
For a closer look at the most expensive Pokémon card purchases, see here.
