‘I discovered one of many world’s rarest Pokémon playing cards – and now I’m set to make £40K’

Pokemon lovers are set to splash the cash after a single card, thought to be one of the rarest in the world, could sell at auction for a whopping £40,000.

A dedicated Pokephile, named Jon Free, is one of the world’s largest collectors of the cards and has built up an impressive collection over his 32 years of life. His gold-mine collection even boasts the ultra-rare BGS fourth print ‘Charizard’, said to be, “the most iconic card ever made.”

Jon has now decided to retire some of his much-loved collection to a loving home. He took the highest ever graded Charizard card to an expert, who said it would fetch £8,000-£12,000 at auction.

READ MORE: Iconic Pokémon star, 46, dies as shocked fans pay tribute to ‘voice of my childhood’

They added that it could even go for thousands more than that, if the right bidders are interested. A similar exchange happened recently elsewhere and their card sold for a crazy £40,000.

Jon’s card is dubbed the best example of its kind in the world, with Pokemon fans sure to go crazy for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Jon, of Great Blakenham, Suffolk, 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 holo 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 Charizards to see the difference. So this is literally the rarest print run of the most well-known set in the world.”

Jon admitted he was sad to see his card go, but life has other priorities. All fourth print Pokémon boxes and packets from the USA and Australia contain only unlimited holographic cards, so fourth print holos are only found in some UK boxes or packs.

Even then it is estimated that only around 20 per cent of UK boxes contain them, making the card the rarest print run of the Base Set. It will go under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield, Staffshire, on September 30.

Even a month before its release, keen collectors are making arrangements to get their hands on the hot-commodity. Auctioneer Richard Winterton said: “We are inundated with emails and calls from people wanting to auction their Pokémon, 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 Pokémon card entrusted to us and we are anticipating a huge amount of interest from all over the globe.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here .