Pokémon Coins Explained for Beginners
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By: Oliver Copeland
- Published:
- Last Updated: January 31, 2025
How Much Are They Worth?
Some of you guys asked me to make a video about Pokémon flipping coins—something I didn’t really care about too much. But after days of research and some friends donating their collections, I can honestly say that Pokémon coins are just as fascinating as the cards. I got so obsessed that I even made a gigantic Pokémon coin just for fun.
I’ll link the video here, but you can keep reading to get the basic TLDW.
Let’s address the biggest question you probably have right now: Are your coins worth anything?
Just like Pokémon cards, most coins do not sell for very much. Coins that come inside blister packs or collection boxes are mass-produced and carry a similar value to the promo cards that accompany them. But some coins will sell for big bucks on the secondary market.
The fan-favorite Pokémon, like Umbreon and Darkrai GX or Gengar VMAX, carry a higher value. Just to name a few, here are some coins you might have that sell for at least $20.
Now, if you had to be in the right place at the right time to obtain the coin, then it’s probably pretty valuable—like the most expensive and sought-after Pokémon coin ever: the Gold Cracked Ice Holo Chansey.
The only way to get one of these was to participate in the official Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament in 1997 in Chiba, Japan.
Some other rare coins include an Arceus with a Gold Rainbow Holo, Dialga with a Silver Cracked Ice Holo, and a Mew and Pikachu combo, which are non-holo coins. All of these were released in limited quantities at different events.
Of course, condition comes into play. These are flipping coins, after all, which means they’ve been subjected to hundreds—if not thousands—of impacts on tabletops over the years.
So some of them are pretty beat up, effectively lowering their resale value and potentially their grade. But just like the cards, prices start low with raw copies but increase once you start browsing graded coins.
And yes, you can get your coins graded! In fact, coin grading is an industry older than Pokémon itself. So, to answer your question—coins with popular Pokémon or those obtained from special events might be worth selling or grading.
Vintage Pokémon Coins
But wait—if you have vintage Pokémon coins, things are about to get interesting. These 15 coins are considered the original series of vintage Japanese Pokémon coins. If you want to start a vintage coin collection, this is a great place to start. Most of them are surprisingly affordable; however, you’ll find a few that like to play hide and seek.
The very first Pokémon flip coin ever released was Chansey. This coin came out in 1996, debuting alongside the Pokémon TCG itself.
The front had a splotch holofoil pattern, but its main color was silver. The back had the original Japanese design, featuring seven energy symbols and a copyright.
Many vintage coins, including Chansey, have two copyright variations—one where the “M” was removed from the copyright since Media Factory didn’t always handle the distribution of the coins.
If you want to build a vintage coin master set, you’ll have to hunt for both versions. Things started to heat up in 1998, when four new coins were released with theme decks. Each had a unique holo pattern and also two copyright variants:
- Gloom had a green pixel pattern.
- Raichu had a yellow Cracked Ice pattern.
- Onix had brown circles.
- Starmie had blue confetti.
The Quick Starter Gift Set also introduced two new holo patterns for the Chansey coin: Pink Rainbow and Green Rainbow.
There have even been photos of a design being printed onto the wrong holo pattern, which might be one of the rarest vintage coins ever documented in Pokémon! It’s kind of like a coin fusion.
In 1999, one more Chansey coin was released with a Pink Mirror Holofoil, along with two more decks featuring the Arcanine Red Mirror Coin and the Alakazam Purple Cracked Ice Coin. Four more coins were released this year but were only obtainable through various events:
- Doduo with a Brown Mirror Holofoil
- Mewtwo with a Purple Glitter Holofoil
- Exeggutor with a Green Mirror Holofoil
- Imakuni’s Doduo with a Brown Pixel Holofoil
Since these were only available at certain events, they carry a higher value.
Pokémon Coins Outside Japan
Let’s see what was happening with coins outside of Japan in 1999. All Base Set theme decks—like Blackout, Brushfire, Overgrowth, and Zap—came with a Chansey coin, which ended up with multiple variants you might be interested in collecting.
Oh yeah, we also got a League Coin distributed through Toys “R” Us stores. Other notable releases include:
- Vileplume from the Jungle theme deck.
- Eevee from the Starter Gift Set.
- Aerodactyl from the Fossil theme deck
And this Aerodactyl coin? It’s not plastic! These early coins were actually made of cardboard. They still had holofoil patterns and even had multiple variations on the reverse side.
Some of these cardboard coins have extremely rare variations, making them one of the most mysterious parts of vintage Pokémon coin collecting.
Recently on E4, an Aerodactyl coin was revealed to have a Cosmos variant that was only available in Australian theme decks. It’s believed that there are other rare variations out there, just not documented yet.
By 2000, we got the first-ever international metal coins:
- Pikachu from the Thunderstorm Gift Set
- Lugia from the Neo Genesis theme deck
We also got four more cardboard coins: Alakazam, Starmie, Meowth, and Pikachu. After this, the cardboard coins were mostly discontinued in favor of plastic ones, with a few exceptions—most recently, the 2023 McDonald’s collection.
The Pokémon Company introduced larger plastic coins in 2013 to qualify for the removal of the “Not for children under 3” warning. Today, there are three sizes of Pokémon coins: Small, Large, and Jumbo.
The sheer number of holofoil patterns and regional exclusives is insane. Some coins aren’t even black on the back—like the 2022 World Championships coin (blue) or the Arceus coin (white). Even more interesting, some white coins turn yellow after exposure to UV light, making mint-condition ones rarer.
Final Thoughts
I could go on about Pokémon coins, probably forever. Maybe I will one day, but I’ve got to get back to YouTube for now!
If you haven’t watched my coin video yet, check it out. There is way more information than this article 🙂
Hi, I'm Oliver. I've been collecting Pokémon cards for 25+ years. I hope you enjoyed your read and learned something. Learn more about me on the About page.
