A woman was left stunned when she discovered that husband was sitting on a small fortune - thanks to his childhood Pokémon card collection.

Madeline Brice, 31, had no idea that her husband Juan Pardo, 29, had been sitting on a treasure trove of rare cards.

Juan began collecting Pokémon cards at the age of five after becoming obsessed with the Pokémon show.

Now he owns 1,500 cards and has preserved them safely in a laminated card collection book.

Juan has used an app to scan the first 670 cards, which alone are valued at around £1.5k ($2k).

He estimated his entire ungraded collection to be worth between £3k ($4k) and £4k ($5k).

Madeline, a social media manager, in Kansas City, Missouri, USA said "I knew he was a Pokémon fan."

"But I was shocked when he told me how much they are worth for."

Many of the cards were bought by Juan's mum from Walmart for just $25 or $30 per box.

Juan, who used to play the Pokémon trading card game regularly, stopped collecting after going to university but his mom kept the collection going.

Juan, who works in the music industry, said: "It's my collection but it's mainly her thing."

"I was totally shocked when I realized how much they're worth. "

"I thought it'd only be a few hundred dollars."

Juan's most valuable card is a Reverse Holo Charmander currently valued at £175 ($229).

Though the collection could fetch a decent sum, Juan has no plans to sell his childhood treasure anytime soon.