1st Edition Stamp: What It Means and How to Spot It

• The 1st Edition stamp's appearance: the number '1' inside a solid black circle, with the word 'EDITION' arching above the circle
• Where the stamp sits on the card (using a Pokémon card as the example)
• The stamp sits in a different position on Trainer cards and Energy cards
• How long the 1st Edition stamp was used: starting with Base Set, it continued for about three years across 10 sets, ending with Neo Destiny
• After Neo Destiny, English-language cards never used the 1st Edition stamp again
• The letters (D/E/F/G/H) that appear starting in the Sword & Shield era are the 'Regulation mark', not the '1st Edition' stamp — the two look completely different and sit in different positions, so do not confuse them

• Shadowless print run: The 1st Edition stamp and Shadowless (missing the artwork-box drop shadow) are two independent criteria that only both appear together on Base Set's earliest two print runs; check the stamp by looking for the circle, and check Shadowless by looking for whether the artwork box has a drop shadow on its right side/bottom.

The 1st Edition stamp appears only on the first print runs of 10 WOTC-era sets from 1999-2002 (Base Set through Neo Destiny); later sets such as Legendary Collection and Expedition never used this stamp (see the individual set entries for details).

• Bottom-left or bottom-right corner: the set symbol and the collector number (e.g. 4/102) tell you the set; older cards have no symbol at all, which itself narrows them to Base Set.
• Left of the number: a 1st Edition stamp, if present, sits below the art on WOTC-era cards.
• Regulation mark (a letter in a box near the bottom, D through H so far) dates modern cards to a two-year window.
• Back of the card: the blue Poké Ball back has changed little since 1999; a washed-out, blurry or wrongly colored back is the first sign of a fake.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight, straight on, with the whole card in frame, then a close-up of the bottom edge where the set symbol, number and any edition stamp sit. Tilt holo cards under the light for a second shot to show the foil pattern. Photograph the back too. The app reads the card and set; the edition and rarity checks above tell you which version you have.