Playing Card related Questions in English

These questions were asked to "Alta Carta". Your answer or comment to these questions is welcome; email to !

Please Note!

The value of playing cards is very difficult to estimate; apart from the card faces, it depends on very many other factors. Therefore, Alta Carta will not answer such questions. Thank you for your understanding!

Playing Card Collector

Question from Anthony:

I have been collecting playing cards for many years and have been trying to discover if there is a name for a collector of playing cards. It seems there is not. Does anybody know different?

Answer from "Alta Carta":

This is an interesting question, and there might be different answers, depending on the language.
There are playing card associations that call themselves "Cartophilia", which seems to come from the same Greek origin you also find in collectors of postage stamps as "Philately". So perhaps you could call a playing card collector a "Cartophilist". This expression though seems nothing official and you probably find it in no dictionary.

Reply from Anthony:

Cartophilist, as you say, is not in the dictionary and I think suggests maps rather than cards. I am not hopeful in finding the answer - but, who knows?

Answer:

If anybody else can help, please send an email to

American Bank Note CO. / American Beauties

Question:

American Bank Note CO. / American Beauties, with the date's 1795-1879 on ace of spades
hello im wondering if there was any info you might be able to give me, about this deck of cards i bought for $10. at an antique shop.
i sent two pictures of the deck, there is no jokers in the deck but it is a complete set of 52. on the inside of the leather case it says, Compliments of THE HELLER & MERZ CO., NEW YORK Chicago Phila. Boston.
also on top of the ace as you will see in the picture there is the number 502 any idea what that means ?

Answer:

If anybody can help, please send an email to

Plastic Boxes for Playing Cards

Question:

Dear Altacarta,
I am interested to know where I could find plastic boxes for playing cards, like the ones that are usually provided together with the decks of German (like Ass for instance) or other manifacturers. Could you help me someway?
Thanks in advance

Answer:

If anybody can help, please send an email to

American Cards with Nazi Symbol

Question 1:

In an eBay auction I bought a deck of playing cards that were manufactured in the U.S.A. by "The U.S. Playing Card Co., Cincinnati, Ohio". When they arrived I was shocked to see that on the back these cards have the Nazi cross. Were these cards made for export to Germany shortly before World War II started? Or does it have another reason these cards have this terrible symbol on their back?
Who knows more?

Question 2:

Swastika Cards
I bought a deck of these cards on ebay. My deck is red and is a deck for 500 hundred game. Only the standard 52 cards with a joker. the ace of spades at the bottom says Russell & morgan factories j1511. above that the us playing card co. cincinnati usa. The only thing I have found so far is what I read on your site. Please help me find out more about these cards.

Answer from a guest:

In an eBay auction such cards were for sale. The item description said:
"ANTIQUE SWASTIKA 1906 AIR-500 PLAYING CARDS * RARE
Farely scarce deck of Air-500 Cushion U.S. Playing Cards, dated June 30 1906. All original two part card case with a sample Swastika card on the backside of top case, original paper instructions for No. 500. Five Hundred Playing Cards -or- No. 555. Full-House Poker Playing cards ( as pictured ) and the loose and original wax paper card cover with the original gold foil U.S.PLAYING CARDS seal. Linen cards are all in V good condition, NO BENT corners, NO discoloration. One card shows wear and that I mention to be exact not because it is destroyed or unsightly. There are 52 cards, all accounted for ~ the Ace of Spades reads, "500 FIVE HUNDRED With 11 and 12 Spots.....THE U.S. PLAYING CARD CO. CINCINNATI, U.S.A. RUSSELL & MORGAN FACTORIES....8 20 ". There is edge wear to the maroon paper card case as you would expect, all else is present as far as I can see. I am not an expert in card collecting, so if you have questions do ask and thanks for Looking."

If such cards were already made in 1906, then they were printed before the National Socialists existed. Therefore this symbol must have another meaning on these cards.

Answer from James D. Wickson:

Before World War II, the swastika was a common graphic element in the United States and perhaps in other countries. I worked at an old printing shop with access to vintage stamps and other graphic arts materials and I have discovered the symbol's use in the creation of decorative borders on such items as the frontipiece of books. So it would not surprise me if the symbol was used on the back of a deck of cards back in 1906.

Answer from Suzanne Bennett:

The Swastika was a perfectly respectable symbol for friendship long before the Nazis appropriated it. I don't remember if it is Hindu or Buddhist, but it was a good thing before WWII.

Answer from Harry:

The swastika has native American indian origins, and was frequently used as a symbol of good luck, prior to it becoming a symbol for the Nazi party. Often it appears in reverse, and the name swastika was also used, for example on the pottery Swastika Keramos, produced by the Brush McCoy pottery company.
Thanks for a great site!

Answer from Angie B.:

This symbol has long had Buddhist meaning. In Korea, it can represent the four elements of the earth... harmony.

Answer from a guest:

the swastika is an ancient symbol of good luck and has been known for about 3000 years so a good luck symbol on a deck of cards is not unlikely.

Game Rules for "Siciliane"

Question:

Hello
I am in search of the Game Rules for the following card game: MASENGHINI (Siciliane Poliplastiche - N.15 Telate - Bergamo).
Can you help?!

Answer from "Alta Carta":

"Alta Carta" concentrates on playing cards only (not card games) - sorry. But perhaps I can help you a bit in your research after all.
Masenghini is the name of an Italian card manufacturer (and has nothing to do with a game). Bergamo is the city where Masenghini is located. When you write "Siciliane" I do believe you have cards with the Sicily pattern in your hands (please compare at Alta Carta: http://www.altacarta.com/english/overview.html and click "Sicily Pattern" - note there is also a tarot, but we want the pattern). I think such cards are used to play the games called "Scopa" and "Briscola"; but there might also be others as well.
Sincerely,
Alta Carta

Answer from John:

It's not a card *game* as such, but a standard Italian pack (Sicilian pattern) that can be used for many different games. See the page (link omitted) on my web site for details - the first section: "40 cards with Italian suits" gives links to rules of several games that can be played with this pack. The most popular are probably Scopa, Briscola and Tressette.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
John

Elements on Playing Cards

Question:

Hi,
I am looking for a pack of playing cards with the elements on. 1 card for each element. (pack of 32, 40 52... it doesn't matter, as long as it's a reasonable number that can be handled like a pack of cards)
I want to perform some magic tricks to help illustrate some of the behaviours of some of the elements (e.g. groups, bonding etc.) to my school classes.
Do you know if such a deck exists? If so, do you know where I can get one?
Many thanks for any help you can give.
Regards

Answer from James:

Here's a link to playing cards with chemical symbols on them, for the Alta Carta visitor who asked about it. It's a commercial site, which I found through a Yahoo! search:
http://www.teachersource.com/Chemistry/PeriodicTables/PeriodicTablePlayingCards.aspx

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