Site Forum

A recent IR requested removal of the SN note on a set because the SN were unknown (the checklist by the company advertised those cards as SN40 or less).  
 

However, while reviewing the site guidelines today I happened upon this:

Rule V: Use SN only for Serial Numbered cards, meaning cards where each one of that type received a unique identifying number. Normally, SN will be followed by the number of cards issued, generically described as SN##. Use SN by itself only if the number of cards issued is not known, as may happen with sets described by the issuer as “numbered to 50 or less” or numbered cards issued with a TBD or To Be Determined comment. Use a PR## Note to indicate the Print Run of cards produced in a stated quantity but not individually numbered. While SN can be used alone, never use PR without identifying the number of cards issued, e.g., PR500 or PR10, because PR alone provides no actual information about the card. If the number issued exceeds 999, do not use commas in the Note. Never use a number alone to represent SN or PR cards, e.g., 500, 75.

So my question is, is this still accurate and we can have checklist with notes that are just SN with no number if the number is unknown?

I forgot we put that in there. (In my defense, it was more than 5 years ago.)

It makes sense, although I know we've moved away from using SN by itself for the most part. (I think that's mostly because knowing the serial numbers now is pretty common.)

As for the IR/set in question, do a little research and see what you can determine before wiping out the whole set's SN notes because of what might amount to a couple unknowns.

Thanks Dan.  Actually that IR was already completed, I found this rule a couple days later (again, purely by chance, I was actually looking for guidance on a different topic).  And that set was all just SN, none of them had any numbers.

The other topic that I didn't find was where to place the SN and PR.  Are they supposed to be at the end, or do they fall alphabetically?  Specifically, do I place it before or after the VAR note on a card?  (i.e. is it AU, MEM, PR25, VAR or AU, MEM, VAR, PR25)

SN and PR always go at the end unless there’s an EXCH. If a card has a serial number but only a portion of those numbered cards were used for a certain group (for example, 001-250 are die cut and autographed while 251-999 are base), put the SN before the PR. (ex: “ROO, AU, RC, SN999, PR250”)