User:Beatsandskies/identifyingprintings
Magic: the Gathering originally had a reprint policy where the Limited Edition of a set would be printed with black borders, but subsequent Unlimited printings would be printed with white borders. This resulted in situations where there were many different white bordered printings, often with only very subtle differences. Adding to complications, expansion symbols where only introduced to English printings of Core Sets from Sixth Edition onwards.
This article is an overview of the various white bordered sets from Magic's history, with notes of how you can identify these.
In addition to the information below, it is recommended that when attempting to identify a particular card you look up which set(s) it was printed in. For example, the only white bordered printing of Uncle Istavan was in Fourth Edition, while Atog could potentially be Revised, "Summer Magic" or Fifth Edition.
1993
Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Unlimited Edition (aka Second Edition) was released on December 1, 1993. It had no expansion symbol, and there was no date given in the copyright section at the bottom of the card.
Unlimited consisted of the same cards as its preceding set, Limited Edition Beta, but can be identified by its white borders.
1994
Revised Edition (3ED)
Revised Edition (aka Third Edition) was released on April 11, 1994. As with Unlimited there was no expansion symbol or copyright date.
One of Revised's most distinctive attributes is the how "washed out" its colors look. Cards from Revised can often easily be identified by this alone. However, it is more reliable to consider the bevelling of the outer frame, and the position of the artist credit. Where Unlimited has the artist credit centre justified, Revised cards were aligned to the base of the frame.
Additional differences between Unlimited and Revised can be seen in Basic lands, and other cards with tap abilities, due to the introduction of the 
tap symbol.
There can also be noticeable differences on a card to card basis. For instance Terror now "Buries target creature" instead of destroying it "without possibility of regeneration". Most cards will have differences in rules text, font size, or how their flavour text is formatted when compared side to side.
Summer Magic / Edgar
Summer Magic was a revised version of Revised Edition which was mistakenly released on June 21, 1994. The set, which Wizards of the Coast codenamed Edgar, was intended to fix many of the mistakes in Revised but it itself was subject to a recall due to the number of mistakes in its printing.
Like Unlimited, and other printings of Revised, Summer cards did not have an expansion symbol. It can, however, be easily identified from earlier releases by the 1994 date being inserted between the © and artist's name. Summer is one of only three releases which uses this format, the others being black bordered expansions Legends and The Dark.
<<< SOURCE FOR DATE: RANDOM FANDOM WIKI. WHICH WE CAN'T LINK? https://cardguide.fandom.com/wiki/Summer_Magic_/_Edgar >>>
Tirage Non Limité
Tirage Non Limité was the French language version of Revised Edition, one of the Foreign White-Bordered sets.
Tirage Non Limité is commonly confused with the later Fourth Edition, with a large number of changes made from English printings of Revised. These changes include less "washed out" coloring, use of the updated 
tap symbol, and further changes to the copyright information; things which are generally associated with Fourth.
Most, but not all, Tirage Non Limité cards can be identified by a 1994 copyright date[1], which is now on a separate line from the Artist credits.
1995
German + Italian revised
Very hard to tell apart from 4th. Same date.
Include list of cards in 3rd but not 4th? Or is there a section in another page which i can link to?
Fourth Edition
1995 copyright date. Had mana symbols been adjusted by this point? (The was with Ice Age, which was released after 4th?)
Chronicles
"Four horseman" sets. Technically part of 4th.
Alternate 4th
Glossier printing. As a test, shouldn't have been released? Is about the "Vibes" and hard to tell visually?
Rivals
Starter set. First precons. (hooray!)
Media promos
2 cards, english, no symbols (4th reprints?)
1996
Two player intro game
Similar to rivals, for euro/asia market. Many languages which may have differences which isn't even all that clear and librarities site.
Many cards have 1996 copyright. Rules text unique, often closer to 5th ed wording.
1997
5th
1997 copyright. First white border set with frame changes introduced in Mirage.
Chinese fifth
Has V logo and often alt art.
promos
APAC lands
Media promos
2 cards, japansese, no symbols (5th reprints?)
1998
anthologies
Reprints from editions don't have symbol
Reprints from black bordered sets do
1998 copyright date
promos
Euro lands
1999
6th edition
VI
battle royale
Original symbols
beatdown
Has mace symbol
2000
Starter 2000
like 6th but no quite / starter 99 but no star
Media promos
4 cards, japansese, orignial symbols and copyright dates
2001
deckmasters
Big D.
7th edition
7.
Media promos
Spined wurm, no symbol, 2000 copyright
Japanese Shivan Dragon - what are the differences between this an a 7th edition one?
New frame
Quick note on the following sets: 8th, 9th, Salvat, Tibalt SLD and MB2.
FURTHER NOTES FOR MYSELF WHICH WILL NOT BE PART OF ANY REAL ARTICLE: Limit to old frame sets only? 8th, 9th, Salvat and Mystery Box white border printings aren't really the things causing issues. It's the pre 6th edition / pre-beatdown sets which didn't have their own expansion symbols which are the big issues. In fact we could even limit things to 90s sets only. Hmm.
- ↑ FWB and 4th Edition. The Green Disenchant Project.