Dad Discovers His Forgotten Pokémon Card Collection Is Worth Over $2 Million After 15 Years In The Attic

Nov 04, 2026 by apost team

Sometimes, the biggest treasures are the ones we forget we have. A retired father in England discovered just how valuable his old Pokémon card collection was after leaving it untouched in his attic for 15 years.

The anonymous collector decided to revisit his childhood-era stash after reading about a newly married couple who reportedly paid for their entire wedding by auctioning just three rare Pokémon cards. Curious about whether his own collection might be worth something, he contacted Ewbank's Auctions to have it assessed. 

"When we saw what he had — all in mint condition — we couldn't believe it, or the fact that he had no idea what they were worth," James Spooner, head of trading cards at Ewbank's Auctions, said in an Oct. 21 news release.

The retired decorator had started collecting Pokémon cards when they first arrived in England in 1999. At the time, his son was among the children trading cards at school, and he wanted to take an interest in something his child enjoyed.

"When my son was young, in the late 1990s, he started getting cards and swapping them at school," the collector recalled. "I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment."

His curiosity eventually led him to look beyond the cards his son was collecting. Through eBay, he found a seller in Malaysia who offered complete Pokémon card sets. What began as a couple of purchases soon turned into something much bigger.

"The first set I bought cost me around [$400]. It's the Sky Ridge Charizard set," he said.

Over the years, he continued adding to his collection, eventually acquiring dozens of complete sets. He stored them carefully in Pokémon binders, keeping them away from everyday handling and preserving their condition.

When Ewbank's Auctions examined the collection, the team discovered that the retired father had accumulated 42 complete Pokémon card sets. The collection's scale and condition surprised the specialists.

"When we then discovered that he had 42 [complete] sets, our jaws hit the floor," Spooner said. "We got to sell 41 of them, and he kept one."

The collection, titled "Pokémon: A Decade of Masters (1999-2009)," included some highly sought-after cards and sets. 

Andrew Ewbank, a partner at the auction house, said the collection's condition and completeness made it especially appealing to the market.

"Collectors could not believe how good this collection was — extensive, untouched, complete, and with just about every rarity you could hope for," he said in the release.

The auction attracted interest from collectors, YouTubers and other bidders, with 41 of the 42 complete sets going under the hammer. Together, they fetched more than $2 million, equivalent to £1.56 million, making it the most valuable trading card auction in the United Kingdom, according to Ewbank's.

For the father, the discovery was almost as surprising as the final sale price. He had spent years keeping the cards in good condition without realizing the fortune they might represent.

"[My son] had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I'm glad to say," he said. "I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true. I had no idea what I had until the team at Ewbank's explained it to me."

After 15 years in storage, a collection originally built around a father's interest in his son's hobby became a multimillion-dollar discovery. And he still has one complete set left.

apost.com

If you discovered that something you had kept for years was suddenly worth millions, would you sell it or hold on to it? Tell us what you'd do in the comments!