One of the rarest Pokemon cards ever made just sold for $195,000

The Pokémon Company/Weiss Auctions

• A Pokémon card was sold at auction for $195,000 on October 23, based on an auction listing spotted by Kotaku.
• "Pikachu Illustrator" is considered the rarest Pokémon trading card in existence, and only 39 were produced back in 1998.
• The card features artwork by Pikachu's creator Atsuko Nishida, and was only given away to the winners of an illustration contest.
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One of the world's rarest Pokémon cards sold for $195,000 at an auction in Lynbrook, New York, earlier this month.

Kotaku spotted the auction listing for "Pikachu Illustrator," which explains why the card is one of the most valuable in the long-running trading card series. The Pikachu Illustrator card was given away to 39 people who finished first or second in three special illustration contests run by CoroCoro Comic in 1998. The card features artwork by Atsuko Nishida, the creator of Pokémon's mascot, Pikachu.

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There are only 10 confirmed copies of the Pikachu Illustrator card remaining, making it the rarest card overall. According to Kotaku, the last Pikachu Illustrator card sold at auction was purchased for $54,970 in 2013.

Earlier this year, a Pokémon card worth $60,000, Trainer No. 3, was lost in the mail after being sold on eBay. While it's not quite as rare as Pikachu Illustrator, Trainer No. 3 is another incredibly rare card given away as a contest prize.