1st Edition Pokemon cards: what the stamp means

A 1st Edition Pokemon card comes from the first print run of an early English set from Wizards of the Coast, and you know it by a small black "Edition 1" stamp just below the artwork, usually on the side opposite the set symbol (Base Set has no set symbol). Copies from later runs of the same set have no stamp and are called Unlimited.

That stamp is the whole story, and it only exists on some sets. English 1st Edition runs were printed for every set from Base Set to Neo Destiny except Base Set 2; Legendary Collection and every English set after it had none. Every 1st Edition Base Set card is also shadowless.

Before you buy one

• Find the stamp first. It's the only difference from Unlimited, so find it in the photo before anything else. If the photo is too small to see it, ask for a clear shot.

• Know which sets can't have one. A "1st Edition" title on a Base Set 2 card, or on an English card from after Neo Destiny, is mistitled. Japanese sets had their own 1st Edition mark, from 2001 until Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary, so check the language too.

• On a slab, read the label. It should name the print, so check it says what the title says.

On ChaseBoard, the 1st Edition chip shows only for catalog cards that had a 1st Edition print, and it makes "1st edition" (or "first edition") a required word in the listing title, so both of those spellings come through.