CGC Sports Card Acronyms & Abbreviations Guide


Common hobby abbreviations and acronyms that are seen in price guides, message boards, books and magazine articles are found below.


A

  • A: The American Card Catalog designation for tobacco albums
  • AL: American League
  • ALCS: American League Championship Series
  • AS: All-Star card
  • ATG: All-Time Greats
  • ATL: All-Time Leaders
  • AW: Award Winner

B

  • B: The American Card Catalog designation for blankets / rugs
  • BC: Bonus Card
  • BF: Bright Futures
  • BL: Blue Letters

C

  • C: The American Card Catalog designation for Canadian issued tobacco cards
  • CC: Curtain Call
  • CG: Cornerstones of the Game
  • CL: Checklist card
  • CO: Coach
  • COMM: Commissioner
  • COOP: Cooperstown
  • COR: Corrected Card
  • CP: Changing Places
  • CT: Cooperstown
  • CY: Cy Young Award

D

  • D: The American Card Catalog designation for bakery / bread cards
  • DD: Decade of Dominance
  • DK: Diamond Kings. A popular insert card originally produced by Donruss using the art of legendary artist Dick Perez.
  • DL: Division Leaders
  • DP: Double Print
  • DT: Dream Team

E

  • E: The American Card Catalog designation for caramel / candy cards
  • ERR: Error card

F

  • F: The American Card Catalog designation for ice cream & dairy issued cards
  • FC: Fan Club
  • FDC: First Donruss Card
  • FDP: First or First-Round Draft Pick
  • FF: Future Foundation
  • FF: Fleer Future
  • FP: Franchise Player
  • FR: Franchise
  • FS: Father/son card
  • FS: Future Star
  • FTC: First Topps Card
  • FY: First Year

G

  • G: The American Card Catalog designation for banners / labels
  • GG: Gold Glove Award
  • GG: Griffey Gallery (Upper Deck)
  • GL: Green Letters
  • GM: Golden Moments
  • GOTG: Greats of the Game

H

  • H: The American Card Catalog designation for advertising / trade cards
  • HG: Heroes of the Game
  • HH: Hometown Heroes
  • HL: Highlight card
  • HOR: A trading card that has a horizontal orientation as compared to the more common vertical orientation
  • HRD: Home Run Derby

I

  • IA: In Action card. A popular Topps insert card from the 1970s and early 1980s.
  • IF: Infielder

J

  • J: The American Card Catalog designation for soda company issued cards
  • JBR: Catalog designation for Japanese bromide cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JCM: Catalog designation for Japanese menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JDM: Catalog designation for Japanese die-cut menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JF: Catalog designation for Japanese gum / candy cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JGA: Catalog designation for Japanese game cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JK: Catalog designation for Japanese karuta cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.
  • JRM: Catalog designation for Japanese round menko cards as cataloged in the Japanese card Price Guide by Gary Engel.

L

  • L: The American Card Catalog designation for cards made of leather
  • LL: League Leaders
  • LUM: Lumberjack

M

  • M: The American Card Catalog designation for newspaper / publication issued cards
  • MB: Master Blasters
  • MEM: Memorial card
  • MG: Manager
  • MI: Maximum Impact
  • ML: Major League
  • MLP: Major League Prospects
  • MM: Memorable Moments or Magic Moments
  • MOG: Measure of Greatness

N

  • N: The American Card Catalog designation for 19th century cards. The original ACC had no letter for 19th century card set but a catalog number without a letter prefix was confusing.
  • NAU: No autograph on card
  • NG: Next Game
  • NH: No-Hitter
  • NL: National League
  • NLCS: National League Championship Series
  • NNOF: No name on front
  • NOF: Name on Front
  • NT: Now and Then

O

  • OF: Outfield or Outfielder
  • OJ Cards: Old Judge Cards
  • OLY: Olympics Card
  • OPC: O-Pee-Chee

P

  • P1: First Printing
  • P2: Second Printing
  • P3: Third Printing
  • P: The American Card Catalog designation for pins / buttons
  • P: Pitcher or pitching pose
  • PC: The American Card Catalog designation for postcards
  • PF: Profiles
  • PG: Postseason Glory
  • PP: Power Passion, Power Play
  • PR: Printed name on back
  • PRES: President
  • PROS: Prospects
  • PS: Pace Setters
  • PSH: Post Season Highlights
  • PT: Power tools
  • PV: Pro Visions
  • PVC: Polyvinyl chloride. A substance used to make inferior trading card protection products.

Q

  • Q: The American Card Catalog designation for stereoscope issues

R

  • R: The American Card Catalog designation for gum cards beginning in the 1930s
  • RB: Record Breaker
  • RT: Round Trippers
  • ROY: Rookie of the Year
  • RP: Relief Pitcher
  • RR: Rated Rookies (Donruss, Panini)
  • RTC: Rookie True Colors

S

  • S: The American Card Catalog designation for silks and stamps
  • SA: Super Action card
  • SB: Stolen Bases
  • SCR: Script name on back
  • SF: Starflics
  • SG: Spirit of the Game
  • SH: Season Highlights
  • STP: Star Power

T

  • T: The American Card Catalog designation for 20th century tobacco cards
  • TBC: Turn Back The Clock
  • TC: Team Checklist
  • TL: Team Leaders
  • TP: Triple Print. A card printed in 3x the quantity than those of other card in the same set.
  • TR: Trade reference on card
  • TR: Prefix associated with the card number on Topps Traded sets
  • TS: Team Stars

U

  • U: The American Card Catalog designation for matchbooks / miscellaneous. U is a catch-all in the ACC.
  • UER: Uncorrected Error
  • UH: Prefix associated with the card number on Topps Update and Highlights baseball card sets.
  • UMP: Umpire
  • USA: Team USA trading card
  • UWS: United We Stand

V

  • V: The American Card Catalog designation for non-US, non-tobacco issued cards

W

  • W: The American Card Catalog designation for strip cards / exhibits
  • WC: What’s the Call?
  • WG: The American Card Catalog designation for game cards
  • WL: White Letters on front
  • WS: World Series card
  • WS: World Stage (Upper Deck)

Y

  • Y: The American Card Catalog designation for awards / merits
  • YL: Yellow letters
  • YR: Year of the Record (Upper Deck)
  • YT: Yellow team name

Z

  • Z: The American Card Catalog designation for paper dolls