Pokemon Card Rarity Codes Explained

Thai and Japanese Pokemon cards print a rarity code next to the collector number in the bottom corner. Learning to read it tells you immediately which tier of the set a card belongs to.

The base group: C is Common, the everyday pull. U is Uncommon, R is Rare, and RR is Double Rare, which is where most ordinary ex cards sit. These four make up the bulk of any pack and are usually modest in value.

Where prices start to move: AR stands for Art Rare, a full-art card that still uses a normal set number. SR is Super Rare, with reflective text and borders. UR is Ultra Rare, the gold cards in many sets.

The top group collectors actually hunt: SAR, or Special Art Rare, a special full-art treatment that is usually the most valuable card in its set. HR is Hyper Rare, and Mega-era sets add MUR above that again.

You will also see ACE for ACE SPEC cards, which are limited to one per deck, and TR on some trainer cards.

The thing to remember is that a rarity code tells you the tier, not the price. An SAR of a popular character is worth many times an SAR of one nobody collects, and an ordinary R that sees heavy competitive play can beat what its rarity suggests.

The reliable method is to use the code to place a card roughly, then open its page for the actual market price, because two cards with the same code in the same set can still be far apart.