Logan Paul Sells Pikachu Illustrator Diamond Necklace to AJ Scaramucci for $16,492,000

The PSA 10 1998 Pikachu Illustrator trading card, mounted inside a custom Suny the Jeweler diamond necklace, fetched $16,492,000 in an online Goldin auction that closed Feb. 16, 2026, and a Guinness World Records adjudicator confirmed it set a new record for a trading card sold at auction. Goldin’s livestream ended with confetti and the adjudicator on camera as the hammer fell on the exact $16,492,000 figure, which several outlets rounded to $16.5 million in headlines.

Bidding on the lot began Feb. 15 at $13.3 million on Goldin’s online listing and ran for more than a month; Associated Press and ABC7 reported 41 days of bidding while CNN reported 42 days. The auction closed on YouTube, Logan Paul delivered on-screen remarks at the finish saying, “Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” and during the stream he added, “we may have tired someone out.” After the sale Paul placed the card and necklace around the neck of the winning bidder, A.J. Scaramucci, identified as a venture capitalist and son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Goldin’s lot description and Ludex reporting note the package included a personal hand delivery from Paul.

Logan Paul originally bought this same Pikachu Illustrator in 2021 for $5,275,000, a private-sale record at the time, creating a raw gross gain of roughly $11,217,000 before fees and taxes. CNN reported it is believed Paul earned more than $8 million in profit after auction fees; that figure was presented as an estimate rather than an audited margin.

The Pikachu Illustrator was designed by Atsuko Nishida for a 1998 CoroCoro illustration contest and was distributed to contest winners rather than sold in retail packs. Reporting on rarity varies: some accounts describe the card as one of 39 created for the contest while others note later discoveries brought the number of known copies to at least 41 by 2020; in 2013 one sold when the count was believed to be as few as 12. This particular example is notable as the only Pikachu Illustrator graded PSA 10, described by USA TODAY as “virtually perfect.”

The necklace by Suny the Jeweler was described on Goldin’s lot page and in USA TODAY coverage as Italian solid gold set with roughly 35 carats of natural diamonds, broken into a Pokéball pendant of about 6.5 carats and a chain with roughly 27.5 carats of baguette diamonds. Oxford Diamonds appraised the jewelry at $75,000 per the Goldin listing, and the card was sold mounted inside the holder Paul had worn publicly.

The card and necklace have had high-visibility appearances: Paul wore the piece at his WrestleMania 38 WWE debut in 2022, Ken Goldin reportedly wore the accessory to the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua match in 2025, and the lot appeared in Season 3 of Netflix’s King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch. Ken Goldin told CNN in December that “This is the most coveted trading card in the world,” and he added that collectible cards “have rocketed in value, outpacing sports cards and beating the S&P stock market by 3,000% in the past 20 years.”

Guinness adjudicator Sarah Casson appeared on the livestream to confirm the auction record for any trading card sold at auction. Have you sold a comparable collectible or meaningful piece? Tell us what you got.