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I collect MTG cards and after hoarding a huge collection I'm trying to get it all organized now from this mess.

I've found an xls file that has almost all of the cards on it but it's not updated for the latest 2-3 sets. I can find an input all the information required for those but I don't know where to find the info for this "CIN" column - it looks like it is just the abbreviation of the set name and then the card number within the set? How do I know what the abbreviation is and is there anywhere I can just look up this information?

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    Just from context clues, CIN is probably Card Identification Number, and that doesn't seem to be a standard thing for Magic cards.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Mar 11, 2015 at 18:49
  • I agree - I have never searched for anything with CIN or talked about it but from the files I've seen and collections a lot of them do include this column labeled CIN so it made me curious as to what it was. I also wanted the additions to my file to be complete when I add cards to it in the future
    – Little Bee
    Mar 11, 2015 at 19:02
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    You have the CIN for some cards, right? Provide a bunch of examples. The more the merrier. In fact, if you uploaded your spreadsheet to Google docs, made it public, and linked to that so we could have thousands of examples, that would be awesome. Maybe someone with a keen eye will spot a pattern.
    – Rainbolt
    Mar 11, 2015 at 19:13

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"CIN" probably stands for "Card Identification Number" or something similar, just based on context. This does not appear to be a commonly used term online when discussing Magic: the Gathering.

The abbreviation for each set is officially decided by Wizards. You can find these abbreviations at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magic:_The_Gathering_sets or http://mtg.wikia.com/wiki/Set.

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  • I think that is what I needed thank you. Yes I think it stand for Card Identification Number , some examples include RB22 for a card that is the 22nd Black mana card from Revised Set. I can figure out the number and color letter just didn't know where to find abbreviation for the code from the set. There are a few descrepancies like Scourge is set as SCG but in the codes in my current xls file they just use SC and then letter for the color and # following so maybe it is just the first two letters of the abbreviation.
    – Little Bee
    Mar 11, 2015 at 19:00
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    Note that Wikipedia lists the Revised Edition code as "3ED", while it looks like your spreadsheet is just using "R".
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Mar 11, 2015 at 19:28
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Assuming CIN is the collectors number, that number is printed on the card:

From Adanto Vanguard

In this example, the first card of Ixalan, we see the set abbreviation as XLN and the number as 001.

Older cards (pre M15) are laid out differently:

From Aegis of the Gods

In this example, the first card of Journey into Nyx, we see the number within the set 1/165, but prior to M15 the set abbreviation was not printed on the card. To find set abbreviations for these sets, the most complete list I have found is on Wikipedia here.

Cards are numbered in a set by color then alphabetically within the color, going in order clockwise around the color wheel White, Blue, Black, Red, Green then Multicolor, Colorless (including nonbasic land) and last Basic Land. Planeswalker decks have added cards past the set size, these do not follow the same ordering rules for numbers.

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