Several Pokémon cards have been donated to a charity shop in Chalfont St Peter.

Currently based at the village’s British Red Cross branch in Market Place, numerous variations of the items were handed in at the start of this year, but it is not fully known what is on all the collectables.

Some cards have since been sold, but at the time of writing, several are still up for sale in the South Bucks shop.

Bucks Free Press: Many cards were donated to the charity shop in Chalfont St PeterMany cards were donated to the charity shop in Chalfont St Peter (Image: NQ)

Recent reports have revealed some cards could be worth up to £20,000 whilst the rarest item, a 1998 Pikachu Illustrator with Japanese writing, has an estimated value of around £5m.

This is because only 20 were produced for purchase between 1997 and 1998.

Internet celebrity, wrestler and podcaster, Logan Paul, is one of the 20 people to have the card, after he paid approximately £4m for the collectable in 2021.

He then showed off his purchase in a gold-encrusted chain at Wrestle Mania 2022.

The history of the cards

The cards were first introduced to the world in October 1996, and to this day, remain incredibly popular amongst teenagers and young adults.

In all, nearly 60b cards have been produced worldwide but the game’s success hasn’t come without controversy.

In 2000, several primary schools in the UK banned pupils from bringing the cards due to hostilities and aggressive behaviour.

Some students would have their items stolen or destroyed, while others spent their lunch money on the collectables.

Bucks Free Press: Some cards could be worth a lot of moneySome cards could be worth a lot of money (Image: NQ)

Fights and arguments were reported to teachers before things escalated outside of school.

It was reported in the first year of the century that teenagers were breaking into several corner shops to steal packs of Pokémon cards.

In Swindon, one child was held at knifepoint on a railway footbridge and had £200 worth of cards taken.

But why are they so popular?

The television series in the 1990s boosted its trend, but the release of the franchise’s first movie in the spring of 2000 caused a worldwide boom in cards being bought.

And to this day, the Pokémon brand has made a staggering £150b since it first launched in 1996.