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There’s a small symbol in the bottom corner of every Pokémon card that tells you its rarity. Most guides explain what the symbols mean and stop there, which leaves out the part that actually matters: a card marked rare can be worth 20 cents, and a card marked common can be worth considerably more.
Rarity and value are related, but they’re not the same thing. Here’s how to tell if a Pokémon card is rare, and then how to tell whether that rarity is worth anything.
How can you tell if a Pokémon card is rare? Look at the bottom corner of the card for a small symbol. A circle means common, a diamond means uncommon, and a star means rare. Cards with foil treatment, full-art designs, or gold and rainbow colouring sit above standard rare and are printed in much smaller numbers.
Read the rarity symbol first
Every modern Pokémon card carries a rarity symbol, usually in the bottom-right corner next to the card number. On older cards it sits in the bottom-left.
The three base symbols have been consistent since 1996:
- Circle (●) means common. These fill most of a booster pack.
- Diamond (◆) means uncommon. Roughly 3 per pack.
- Star (★) means rare. Usually 1 per pack.
Above those, the system gets messier because The Pokémon Company keeps adding tiers. Depending on the era you might see a white star, a black star for promos, two or three stars together, or a star followed by a letter. Recent sets use a mix of symbols and colours that changes set to set.
The shortcut that survives all of it: if the card looks unusual, it probably is. Foil across the whole card, artwork that runs edge to edge, gold colouring, rainbow texturing, or a picture that breaks out of its frame all indicate something printed in smaller numbers than a standard rare.
What the rarity symbol does and doesn’t tell you
The rarity symbol describes a card’s print tier within its own set, and nothing else. A circle marks common, a diamond uncommon, and a star rare, with foil, full art, gold and rainbow treatments sitting above those. What the symbol cannot tell you is demand, and demand is what sets price. A secret rare of an unpopular Pokémon from a heavily opened modern set can trade for around $3, while a holo Charizard from the 1999 Base Set runs into the hundreds, despite both sitting in a high rarity tier. Four factors move price harder than the symbol: which printing the card is, since a 1st Edition and its Unlimited reprint share artwork and differ enormously; which Pokémon is on it; the card’s condition, where Near Mint to Moderately Played frequently halves value; and how large the print run was.
The rarity tiers that actually carry value
Standard rare (a plain star) is the bottom of the interesting range, and most standard rares trade for well under a dollar. The tiers people actually chase sit above it.
Holo rare. The artwork panel is foil while the rest of the card is matte. This was the top tier in the early sets, which is why Base Set holos still carry so much weight.
Reverse holo. The opposite arrangement: the card body is foil and the artwork panel is normal. Introduced in 2002. These are more common than true holos and usually worth less, though a reverse holo of a sought-after card can still do well.
Full art. The illustration covers the entire card with no border. Pulled at much lower rates than standard rares.
Alternate art. A completely different illustration of the same card, printed in small numbers. Some of the most valuable modern Pokémon cards are alt arts, and the gap between an alt art and the standard version of the same card is often 50x or more.
Secret rare. The card number exceeds the set size. A card numbered 190/185 is a secret rare, because the set only officially contains 185 cards. Gold and rainbow cards usually fall here.
Rarity doesn’t equal value
This is where most rarity guides stop being useful.
The rarity symbol tells you how many were printed relative to other cards in the same set. It says nothing about how many people want the card, and demand is what sets the price.
A secret rare of an unpopular Pokémon from a heavily-opened set can sit at $3 while a holo of Charizard from 1999 runs into the hundreds. Both are “rare” by symbol. The difference is that one has three decades of demand behind it and the other doesn’t.
Four things move a card’s price more than its rarity symbol:
- Which printing it is. The single biggest factor. A 1st Edition Base Set card and its Unlimited reprint share artwork, name and rarity symbol, and differ enormously in price.
- Who’s on the card. Charizard, Pikachu, Umbreon and a handful of others carry demand that unpopular Pokémon simply don’t, at identical rarity.
- Condition. The gap between Near Mint and Moderately Played is often more than half the value.
- Print run size. Modern sets are printed in vast quantities. A 2024 secret rare exists in far greater numbers than a 1999 standard holo.
So the honest process is: check the symbol to see what tier you’re in, then check the actual market price, because the symbol alone won’t tell you.
Older cards: where the symbol isn’t enough
Cards from 1999 and 2000 need a second look, because that era hides the most value behind details the rarity symbol doesn’t capture.
1st Edition. A small stamp to the left of the artwork. Only early print runs carry it, and it raises value substantially over the Unlimited version of the same card.
Shadowless. Base Set cards printed without the drop shadow along the right edge of the artwork frame. Hold two Base Set cards side by side and the difference is obvious once you’ve seen it. Shadowless sits between 1st Edition and Unlimited in value.
No set symbol at all. Base Set cards don’t carry one. If a card has no expansion symbol and looks like it’s from the original run, check it properly rather than filing it as common.
A Base Set Machop is a common. A 1st Edition Shadowless Base Set Machop is still a common, and still worth more than most people would guess. The symbol didn’t change. The printing did.
Checking a card properly, in order
Working through a binder goes faster with a fixed sequence:
- Find the rarity symbol in the bottom corner. Circle, diamond or star.
- Look at the finish. Foil on the artwork, foil on the body, full art, gold, rainbow.
- Check the card number against the set size. A number higher than the set total means secret rare.
- Look for a 1st Edition stamp on anything that looks like it’s from 1999 or 2000.
- Check the actual price. This is the step that turns “it’s rare” into a number.
Steps 1 through 4 tell you what you’re holding. Step 5 tells you whether it matters, and it’s the one people skip because looking up hundreds of cards by hand is miserable.
How Kardexy helps
Kardexy scans a card and identifies the exact printing, including which set it came from and its card number, then shows the live market price from TCGplayer in dollars and Cardmarket in euros. Prices adjust for condition across Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged.
That resolves the gap between “this card has a star on it” and “this card is worth $4.20 right now.” You also get the 30-day price trend, so you can see which way a card has been moving.
Cards can be saved into collections with quantity, purchase price and condition, and the app tracks the total value of each collection. If you’re working through a binder, that’s a faster way to find the 5 cards carrying the value than checking each one by hand.
It’s free to start on iOS and Android, or scan a card straight from your browser with the card value scanner.
Frequently asked questions
What do the Pokémon card rarity symbols mean? A circle means common, a diamond means uncommon, and a star means rare. Symbols above those vary by era and set, and generally indicate foil, full art, gold or rainbow treatments printed in smaller numbers. The symbol sits in the bottom corner beside the card number.
How do I check if my Pokémon cards are worth anything? Identify the exact printing first, then check its current market price. Rarity symbols only tell you the print tier within a set, not what collectors pay. Two cards with identical symbols routinely differ in price by 50 times or more depending on printing and demand.
Is a reverse holo rarer than a holo? No. Reverse holos appear more often in packs than true holo rares, and usually sell for less. A reverse holo of a highly sought-after card can still be valuable, but the treatment on its own doesn’t make it rarer.
What makes a Pokémon card secret rare? Its card number is higher than the total number of cards in the set. A card numbered 190/185 is secret rare, since the set officially contains 185. These are usually gold or rainbow and are pulled at low rates.
Are all old Pokémon cards rare? No. Cards from 1999 were printed in enormous quantities, and most 1999 commons are worth very little. Age helps only when combined with a scarce printing, like 1st Edition or Shadowless, and genuine demand for that specific card.
The short version
Read the symbol to learn the tier, read the finish and the card number to spot the higher tiers, and check for a 1st Edition stamp on anything old. Then look up the price, because rarity is a description of the print run and value is a description of what people will pay.
If you’d rather not check them one at a time, scan them with Kardexy and work from the prices. The rare ones will separate themselves quickly. If any turn out to be from 1999, how to tell if a Pokémon card is 1st Edition is the next check worth doing. For more on what drives those prices, see what Pokémon cards are worth money.
