General Forum

Other than actually having a SN on a card, what is the difference between the # of PR and SN? SN is more rare right?

Not necessarily more rare. There are PR cards out there where there is only one, or at least rumored to be that low. PR and SN both tell us how many of those cards were printed, but yes, onl the SN tells us the amount. There are other PR cards out there that tell us to the PR, many sets say 1 of XXXX, but other PRs are based on what the manufacturer may have told us. Everyone love the SN cards though.....

Something to add that's specific to this site: there are times where both SN and PR are used on the same card, which indicates that a portion of a serial numbered set had something different compared to the rest. For example, on this Dontrelle Willis card (SN100, PR25), he was given 100 serial numbered cards to sign but only signed 25 of them. The other 75 were inserted into packs unsigned, and that one is found here (SN100, PR75). There are other times where a serial numbered card had the first 50-100 or so separated off and die cut or handed out as promotional giveaways, and you'll see those noted in the database with both SN and PR as well.

I thought SN was for cards that were stamped with the serial number.  PR was when we know there was a print limit but it isn't stamped on the card.  

Yes, but PR cards can also those that say 1 of XXXX on them. If they all say of 1 of XXXX they are PR, if they said 1 of XXXX, 2 of XXXX, 3 of XXXX and so on then they'd be classified as SN.

ravensray52 wrote:

I thought SN was for cards that were stamped with the serial number.  PR was when we know there was a print limit but it isn't stamped on the card.  

PR is also used when the manufacturer identifies how many of a card or set was produced but it may not appear on the card itself. For example, On-Demand stuff, or "Limited to only 5,000 sets produced!" crap

Sadly, I have to magnify on the SN'd cards. There are many cards out there that were originally released with actual serial numbers on them and then the company went bankrupt and/or sold off all "vault" cards which had tons of copies of replacement cards for SN'd cards without the SN's on them. They were meant to replace damaged cards sent back to the manufacturer to be stamped with the actual SN of the specific card they were replacing. Collector's Edge and Press Pass are 2 of the most prolific for having SN'd cards out there without SN's on them now. Outside of Topps and Upper Deck, an SN'd card might have many copies in the secondary market that are missing those SN's. In those cases, there really is no idea how many copies actually exist. Otherwise, all the above replies are correct about SN vs. PR.