Set of 78 French style playing cards with twenty two atouts, typically used to play French Tarot

Set of 52 French style playing cards with two jokers

Set of 52 Anglo-American style playing cards

Some typical Anglo-American playing cards from the Bicycle brand

Paul Cézanne - The Card Players, 1895

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper or thin card, figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games. The French game of Tarot, also jeu de Tarot, is a trick-taking Card game enjoyed throughout France and also known in French-speaking The Joker is a special card found in most modern decks of Playing cards or a Mahjong tile in some Mahjong game sets The United States Playing Card Company, started in 1867, produces and distributes Playing cards including Kem, Bee, Bicycle, A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling and since the mid 20th century have sometimes been manufactured from plastic. A complete set of cards is called a pack or deck. A deck of cards may be used for playing a great variety of card games, some of which may also incorporate gambling. A card game is any Game using Playing cards either traditional or game-specific Because playing cards are both standardized and commonly available, they are often adapted for other uses, such as magic tricks, cartomancy, encryption, boardgames, or building a house of cards. Cartomancy is Fortune-telling or Divination using a deck of cards House of Cards is a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters which was set at the The first ever printed cards were developed and crafted in Dresden, Germany.

The front (or "face") of each card carries markings that distinguish it from the other cards in the deck and determine its use under the rules of the game being played. The back of each card is identical for all cards in any particular deck, and usually of a single color or formalized design. The back of playing cards is sometimes used for advertising. For most games, the cards are assembled into a deck, and their order is randomized by shuffling. Randomization is the process of making something Random; this means Generating a Random permutation of a sequence (such as when shuffling cards Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of Playing cards to provide an element of chance in Card games Shuffling is often followed by a

History

Early history

Playing cards emerged in 12th century China. ^[1][2] Ancient Chinese "money cards" have four "suits": coins (or cash), strings of coins (which may have been misinterpreted as sticks from crude drawings), myriads of strings, and tens of myriads. These were represented by ideograms, with numerals of 2–9 in the first three suits and numerals 1–9 in the "tens of myriads". An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek idea "idea" + grafo "to write" is a Graphic symbol that represents an Idea Wilkinson suggests that the first cards may have been actual paper currency which were both the tools of gaming and the stakes being played for. ^[3] The designs on modern Mahjong tiles likely evolved from those earliest playing cards. Mahjong tiles are tiles of Chinese origin that are used to play many games most notably Mahjong and Mahjong solitaire. However, it may be that the first deck of cards ever printed was a Chinese domino deck, in whose cards we can see all the 21 combinations of a pair of dice. Dominoes (or "dominos" generally refers to the individual or collective gaming pieces making up a domino set (sometimes called a deck or pack In Kuei-t'ien-lu, a Chinese text redacted in the 11th century, we find that dominoes cards were printed during the T’ang dynasty, contemporary to the first books. In the study of Literature, redaction can refer to a form of Editing, in which multiple source texts are combined together ( redacted) and are The Chinese word pái (牌) is used to describe both paper cards and gaming tiles.

An Indian origin for playing cards has been suggested by the resemblance of symbols on some early European decks (traditional Sicilian cards, for example) to the ring, sword, cup, and baton classically depicted in the four hands of Indian statues. This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy.

The time and manner of the introduction of cards into Europe are matters of dispute. The 38th canon of the council of Worcester (1240) is often quoted as evidence of cards having been known in England in the middle of the 13th century, but the games de rege et regina (on the king and the queen) there mentioned are now thought to more likely have been chess. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players.

If cards were generally known in Europe as early as 1278 , it is very remarkable that Petrarch, in his work De remediis utriusque fortunae (On the remedies of good/bad fortunes) that treats gaming, never once mentions them. Francesco Petrarca ( July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar Boccaccio, Chaucer and other writers of that time specifically refer to various games, but there is not a single passage in their works that can be fairly construed to refer to cards. Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. Passages have been quoted from various works, of or relative to this period, but modern research leads to the supposition that the word rendered cards has often been mistranslated or interpolated.

It is likely that the precursor of modern cards arrived in Europe from the Mamelukes of Egypt in the late 1300s, by which time they had already assumed a form very close to that in use today. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. In particular, the Mameluke deck contained 52 cards comprising four "suits": polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups. Each suit contained ten "spot" cards (cards identified by the number of suit symbols or "pips" they show) and three "court" cards named malik (King), nā'ib malik (Viceroy or Deputy King), and thānī nā'ib (Second or Under-Deputy). The Mameluke court cards showed abstract designs not depicting persons (at least not in any surviving specimens) though they did bear the names of military officers.

A complete pack of Mameluke playing cards was discovered by L. A. Mayer in the Topkapi Sarayi Museum, Istanbul, in 1939 [1]; this particular complete pack was not made before 1400, but the complete deck allowed matching to a private fragment dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century. In effect it’s not a complete deck, but there are cards of three different packs of the same style ^[4]() There is some evidence to suggest that this deck may have evolved from an earlier 48-card deck that had only two court cards per suit, and some further evidence to suggest that earlier Chinese cards brought to Europe may have travelled to Persia, which then influenced the Mameluke and other Egyptian cards of the time before their reappearance.

It is not known whether these cards influenced the design of the Indian cards used for the game of Ganjifa, or whether the Indian cards may have influenced these. Ganjifa, or Gânjaphâ, is a Card game that originated in Persia and became popular in India under the Mughal emperors in the Regardless, the Indian cards have many distinctive features: they are round, generally hand painted with intricate designs, and comprise more than four suits (often as many as thirty two, like a deck in the Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum, painted in the Mewar, a city in Rajasthan, between the 18th and 19th century. Geography The northern part of Mewar is a gently sloping plain drained by the Bedach & Banas River and its tributaries which empty northwest into the Chambal River Rājasthān ( Devanāgarī: राजस्थान raːdʒəst̪ʰaːn is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area Decks used to play have from eight up to twenty different suits).

Spread across Europe and early design changes

Italians playing cards, Sancai-type bowl, Northern Italy, mid-15th century. Sancai (三彩 Chinese for three-colours) is a type of ceramics using three intermingled colors for decoration

In the late 14th century, the use of playing cards spread rapidly throughout Europe. Documents mentioning cards date from 1371 in Spain, 1377 in Switzerland, and 1380 in many locations including Florence, Paris, and Barcelona [2] [3]. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia A 1369 Paris ordinance [on gaming?] does not mention cards, but its 1377 update does. In the account books of Johanna, duchess of Brabant and Wenceslaus of Luxemburg, an entry dated May 14, 1379, reads: "Given to Monsieur and Madame four peters, two forms, value eight and a half moutons, wherewith to buy a pack of cards". Joanna Duchess of Brabant ( June 24 1322 &ndash November 1 1406) was the heiress of Duke John III, who died in Brussels December Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the In his book of accounts for 1392 or 1393, Charles or Charbot Poupart, treasurer of the household of Charles VI of France, records payment for the painting of three sets of cards. Charles VI (3 December 1368 &ndash 21 October 1422 called the Well-loved (le Bien-Aimé and the Mad (French le Fol or le Fou) was the

The earliest cards were made by hand, like those designed for Charles VI; this was expensive. Printed woodcut decks appeared in the 15th century. The technique of printing woodcuts to decorate fabric was transferred to printing on paper around 1400 in Christian Europe, very shortly after the first recorded manufacture of paper there, while in Islamic Spain it was much older. For the origins of the technique and non-artistic use see Woodblock printing; for the related technique invented in the 18th century see Wood engraving Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon printing upon or packaging Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or An old master print is a work of art produced by a Printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World The earliest dated European woodcut is 1418. No examples of printed cards from before 1423 survive. But from about 1418 to 1450[4], professional card makers in Ulm, Nuremberg, and Augsburg created printed decks. Ulm (ˈʊlm is a City in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. Augsburg is an independent City in the south-west of Bavaria. Playing cards even competed with devotional images as the most common uses for woodcut in this period. For the origins of the technique and non-artistic use see Woodblock printing; for the related technique invented in the 18th century see Wood engraving

Most early woodcuts of all types were coloured after printing, either by hand or, from about 1450 onwards, stencils. These 15th century playing cards were probably painted.

The Master of the Playing Cards worked in Germany from the 1430s with the newly invented printmaking technique of engraving. The Master of the Playing Cards was the first major master in the history of Printmaking. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Several other important engravers also made cards, including Master ES and Martin Schongauer. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Master E S (c 1420 &ndash c 1468 (previously known as the Master of 1466) is an unidentified German Engraver, Goldsmith, and Martin Schongauer (c 1448 &ndash February 2, 1491) was a German Engraver and painter. Engraving was much more expensive than woodcut, and engraved cards must have been relatively unusual.

Modern French-style 78-card Tarot

In the 15th century in Europe, the suits in playing cards varied; typically a deck had four suits, although five suits were common and other structures are also known. The French game of Tarot, also jeu de Tarot, is a trick-taking Card game enjoyed throughout France and also known in French-speaking In Germany, hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns became the standard suits and are still used in Eastern and Southeastern German decks today for Skat, Sheepshead, and other games. Skat is (along with Doppelkopf) the most popular Card game in Germany and Silesia. Sheepshead or Sheephead is a trick-taking card game related to the Skat family of games Italian and Spanish cards of the 15th century used swords, batons, cups, and coins. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Tarot, which included extra trump cards, was invented in Italy in the 15th century. The tarot (also known as tarocchi, tarock or similar names is typically a set of seventy-eight cards comprised of twenty-one trump cards, one

The four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) now used in most of the world originated in France in approximately 1480 . The trèfle (club) was probably copied from the acorn and the pique (spade) from the leaf of the German suits. (The names "pique" and "spade", however, may have derived from the sword of the Italian suits[5]). In England, the French suits were eventually used, although the earliest decks had the Italian suits[Chatto, link not provided].

Modern Austrian-style 40-card or 54-card Tarock

Also in the 15th century, Europeans changed the court cards to represent European royalty and attendants, originally "king", "chevalier", and "knave" (or "servant"). In a German pack from the 1440s, Queens replace Kings in two of the suits as the highest card. Fifty-six-card decks containing a King, Queen, Knight, and Valet were common.

Court cards designed in the 16th century in the manufacturing centre of Rouen became the standard design in England, while a Parisian design became standard in France. Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital Both the Parisian and Rouennais court cards were named after historical and mythological heroes and heroines. The Parisian names have become more common in modern use, even with cards of Rouennais design.

Later design changes

In early games the kings were always the highest card in their suit. David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his Charles VII may refer to Charles VII of Sweden (1161–1167 Charles VII of France, "the Victorious" (1403–1461 Agnès Sorel (1421 &ndash February 9, 1450) surnamed Dame de beauté, was a mistress of King Charles VII of France. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Rachel (; meaning "ewe" is the second and favorite Wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, first mentioned in the An anagram ( Greek anagramma 'letters written anew' passive participle of ana- 'again' + gramma 'letter' is a type of Word play Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. In Greek mythology, Argea or Argia (or Argeia was a daughter of King Adrastus of Argos, and of Amphithea, daughter of Ogier the Dane ( Danish: Holger Danske, French: Ogier de Danemarche) is a Legendary Danish Hero who Étienne de Vignolles, called La Hire, (Born 1380 - died 11 January, 1443) was a French military commander during the Hundred Years' War Charles VII may refer to Charles VII of Sweden (1161–1167 Charles VII of France, "the Victorious" (1403–1461 In Greek mythology, Hectōr ( "holding fast" or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Judas Maccabeus (or Judah Maccabee, also spelled Machabeus or Maccabaeus Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, Yehudah HaMakabi, Judah the Hammer In the Arthurian legend, Sir Lancelot ( Lancelot du Lac, also Launcelot) is one of the Knights of the Round Table. However, as early as the late 14th century special significance began to be placed on the nominally lowest card, now called the Ace, so that it sometimes became the highest card and the Two, or Deuce, the lowest. The word " ace " comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as' meaning 'a unit' from the name of a small Roman coin This concept may have been hastened in the late 18th century by the French Revolution, where games began being played "ace high" as a symbol of lower classes rising in power above the royalty. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The term "Ace" itself comes from a dicing term in Anglo-Norman language, which is itself derived from the Latin as (the smallest unit of coinage). The Anglo-Norman language is a term traditionally used to refer to the variety of French used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles following the Another dicing term, trey (3), sometimes shows up in playing card games.

Corner and edge indices enabled people to hold their cards close together in a fan with one hand (instead of the two hands previously used). For cards with Latin suits the first pack known is a deck printed by Infirerra and dated 1693 (International Playing Cards Society Journal 30-1 page 34), but were commonly used only at the end of 18th century. Indices in the Anglo-American deck were used from 1875, when the New York Consolidated Card Company patented the Squeezers, the first cards with indices that had a large diffusion. However, the first deck with this innovation was the Saladee's Patent, printed by Samuel Hart in 1864). Before this time, the lowest court card in an English deck was officially termed the Knave, but its abbreviation ("Kn") was too similar to the King ("K"). However, from the 1600s on the Knave had often been termed the Jack, a term borrowed from the game All Fours where the Knave of trumps is termed the Jack. All-Fours is a Card game known in America as Old Sledge, or Seven Up. All Fours was considered a low-class game, so the use of the term Jack at one time was considered vulgar. The use of indices changed the formal name of the lowest court card to Jack. A jack or knave is a Playing card with a picture of a young man on it

This was followed by the innovation of reversible court cards. This invention is attributed to a French card maker of Agen, main city in the Lot-et-Garonne department, that in 1745 had this idea. Lot-et-Garonne ( Occitan: Òlt e Garona) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers But the French government, which controlled the design of playing cards, prohibited the printing of cards with this innovation. In central Europe (trappola cards), Italy (tarocchino bolognese) and in Spain the innovation was adopted during the second half of 18th century. In Great Britain the deck with reversible court cards was patented in 1799 by Edmund Ludlow and Ann Wilcox. The Anglo-American pack with this design was printed around 1802 by Thomas Wheeler (International Playing Cards Society Journal XXVII-5 p. 186 and International Playing Cards Society Journal 31-1 p. 22). Reversible court cards meant that players would not be tempted to turn upside-down court cards right side up. Before this, other players could often get a hint of what other players' hands contained by watching them reverse their cards. This innovation required abandoning some of the design elements of the earlier full-length courts.

During the French Revolution, the traditional design of Kings, Queens, and Jacks became Liberties, Equalities, and Fraternities. The radical French government of 1793 and 1794 saw themselves as toppling the old regime and a good revolutionary would not play with Kings or Queens, but with the ideals of the revolution at hand. This would ultimately be reversed in 1805 with the rise of Napoleon.

A transformation playing card from the 1895 Vanity Fair deck

In the 19th century, a type of card known as a transformation playing card became popular in Europe and America. A transformation playing card (sometimes referred to as a transformation deck when assembled into a complete set is a type of Playing card where an artist incorporates the A transformation playing card (sometimes referred to as a transformation deck when assembled into a complete set is a type of Playing card where an artist incorporates the In these cards, an artist incorporated the pips of the non-face cards into an artistic design.

The joker is an American innovation. The Joker is a special card found in most modern decks of Playing cards or a Mahjong tile in some Mahjong game sets The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Created for the Alsatian game of Euchre, it spread to Europe from America along with the spread of Poker. Euchre (ˈjuːkɚ is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards Poker is a type of Card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination (" hand " in their possession by placing a bet into The joker was ideated around 1865 by Samuel Hart. The initial denomination of the card was Best or Imperial Bower (Bauer or Boer in German language is the name of the jack of trump in the game of Euchre). From the Alsatian name of the game, Juker, derived the actual appellative of the card. Although the joker card often bears the image of a fool (possibly derived from the stereotypical village idiot), which is one of the images of the Tarot deck, it is not believed that there is any relation. In contemporary decks, one of the two jokers is often more colorful or more intricately detailed than the other, though this feature is not used in most card games. The two jokers are often differentiated as "Big" and "Little," or more commonly, "Red" and "Black. " In many card games the jokers are not used. Unlike face cards, the design of jokers varies widely. Many manufacturers use them to carry trademark designs.

In the twentieth century, a means for coating paper cards with plastic was invented, and has taken over the market, producing a durable product. An example of what the old cardboard product was like is documented in Buster Keaton's silent comedy The Navigator, in which the forlorn comic tries to shuffle and play cards during a rainstorm. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton ( October 4 1895 &ndash February 1 1966) was an Academy Award -winning American The Navigator is a 1924 Comedy directed by and starring Buster Keaton. Cards made entirely of plastic were also developed, and are known for their increased durability over plastic-coated cards.

Symbolism

Playing cards have been used as vehicles for political statements. Here, a playing card of the French Revolution symbolising freedom of cult and brotherhood. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Popular legend holds that the composition of a deck of cards has religious, metaphysical, or astronomical significance: typical numerological elements of the explanation are that the four suits represent the four seasons, the 13 cards per suit are the 13 phases of the lunar cycle, black and red are for day and night, the 52 cards of the deck (joker excluded) symbolizes the number of weeks in a year, and finally, if the value of each card is added up — and 1 is added, which is generally explained away as being for a single joker — the result is 365, the number of days in a year. Numerology is any of many Systems Traditions or Beliefs in a mystical or Esoteric relationship between Numbers and physical Lunar phase (or Moon phase refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer usually on Earth If the other joker is also added, that makes 366 days, the amount of days in a leap year. The context for these stories is sometimes given to suggest that the interpretation is a joke, generally being the purported explanation given by someone caught with a deck of cards in order to suggest that their intended purpose was not gambling (Urban Legends Reference Pages article). The first known publication of this type was "The Mystic Test Book, or the Magic of the Cards" by Olney H. Richmond in 1893, Chicago. A further supplement was published as "Sacred Symbols of the Ancients" by Edith L. Randall and Florence Evylinn Campbell in 1947. Many students attended seminars in California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Other authors include Milton A. Pottenger, Willis F. Whitehead, Arne Lein, Robert Lee Camp, Iain McLaren-Owens, Thomas Morrell, Geri Sullivan & Saffi Crawford, and Sharon Jeffers.

Today

See also: Suit (cards)

Anglo-American-French

The primary deck of fifty-two playing cards in use today, called French deck in most languages but Anglo-American playing cards in English, includes thirteen ranks of each of the four French suits, diamonds (♦), spades (♠), hearts (♥) and clubs (♣), with reversible Rouennais court cards. Each suit includes an ace, depicting a single symbol of its suit; a king, queen, and jack, each depicted with a symbol of its suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that many symbols (pips) of its suit. The word " ace " comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as' meaning 'a unit' from the name of a small Roman coin Two (sometimes one or four) Jokers, often distinguishable with one being more colorful than the other, are included in commercial decks but many games require one or both to be removed before play. Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners (rarely, all four corners) to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap and so that they appear identical for players on opposite sides.

Card games (solitaire, especially) are frequently standard features on computers (seen here a GNOME version of solitaire). A gnome is a Mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle

The fanciful design and manufacturer's logo commonly displayed on the Ace of Spades began under the reign of James I of England, who passed a law requiring an insignia on that card as proof of payment of a tax on local manufacture of cards. The ace of spades (also known as the spadille) is commonly thought of as the highest-ranking card in the deck of Playing cards although the actual value of the James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Until August 4, 1960, decks of playing cards printed and sold in the United Kingdom were liable for taxable duty and the Ace of Spades carried an indication of the name of the printer and the fact that taxation had been paid on the cards. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ^[5] The packs were also sealed with a government duty wrapper. Duty (from "due" that which is owing O Fr deu did past participle of devoir Lat

Though specific design elements of the court cards are rarely used in game play, a few are notable. The Jack of Spades, Jack of Hearts, and King of Diamonds are drawn in profile, while the rest of the courts are shown in full face, these cards are commonly called "one-eyed". When deciding which cards are to be made wild in some games, the phrase "acey, deucey, one-eyed jack" (or "deuces, aces, one-eyed faces") is sometimes used, which means that aces, twos, and the one-eyed jacks are all wild. A one-eyed jack is in a standard Deck of cards, the Jack of Spades or the Jack of Hearts, both of which are seen in profile (and thus only The word " ace " comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as' meaning 'a unit' from the name of a small Roman coin The King of Hearts is shown with a sword behind his head, making him appear to be stabbing himself, and the axe held by the King of Diamonds is behind his head with the blade facing toward him. This leads to the nickname "suicide kings". The Jack of Diamonds is sometimes known as "laughing boy"^[6]. The King of Diamonds is armed with an axe while the other three kings are armed with swords. The King of Diamonds is sometimes referred to as "the man with the axe" because of this. This is the basis of the trump "one-eyed jacks and the man with the axe". The Ace of Spades, unique in its large, ornate spade, is sometimes said to be the death card, and in some games is used as a trump card. The ace of spades (also known as the spadille) is commonly thought of as the highest-ranking card in the deck of Playing cards although the actual value of the The Queen of Spades appears to hold a scepter and is sometimes known as "the bedpost queen. A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental staff held by a ruling Monarch, a prominent item of royal Regalia. "

There are theories about who the court cards represent. For example, the Queen of Hearts is believed by some to be a representation of Elizabeth of York — the Queen consort of King Henry VII of England. Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 &ndash 11 February 1503 was the Queen Consort of King Henry VII of England, whom she married in 1486 A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning king. The United States Playing Card Company suggests that in the past, the King of Hearts was Charlemagne, the King of Diamonds was Julius Caesar, the King of Clubs was Alexander the Great, and the King of Spades was the Biblical King David (see King (playing card)). Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible The king is a Playing card with a picture of a king on it The usual rank of a king is as if it were a 13 that is above the queen. However the Kings, Queens and Jacks of standard Anglo-American cards today do not represent anyone in particular. They stem from designs produced in Rouen before 1516, and by 1540–67 these Rouen designs show well executed pictures in the court cards with the typical court costumes of the time. Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital In these early cards the Jack of Spades, Jack of Hearts, and King of Diamonds are shown from the rear, with their heads turned back over the shoulder so that they are seen in profile. However, the Rouen cards were so badly copied in England that the current designs are gross distortions of the originals.

Other oddities such as the lack of a moustache on the King of Hearts also have little significance. The King of Hearts did originally have a moustache but it was lost by poor copying of the original design. Similarly the objects carried by the court cards have no significance. They merely differentiate one court card from another and have also become distorted over time.

The most common sizes for playing cards are poker size (2½in × 3½in; 63 mm × 88 mm, or B8 size according to ISO 216) and bridge size (2¼in × 3½in, approx. A series Paper in the A series format has a 1\sqrt{2} aspect ratio although this is rounded to the nearest millimetre 56 mm × 88 mm), the latter being more suitable for games such as bridge in which a large number of cards must be held concealed in a player's hand. Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking Card game of skill and chance (the relative proportions depending Interestingly, in most casino poker games, the bridge-sized card is used. Other sizes are also available, such as a smaller size (usually 1¾in × 2⅝in, approx. 44 mm × 66 mm) for solitaire and larger ones for card tricks. Solitaire, also called patience, is any of a family of single-player Card games of a generally similar character but varying greatly in detail The weight of an average B8-sized playing card is 0. 063 ounces (1. 8 grams), a deck 3. 3 ounces (94 grams).

Some decks include additional design elements. Casino blackjack decks may include markings intended for a machine to check the ranks of cards, or shifts in rank location to allow a manual check via inlaid mirror. A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one or Pontoon) is the most widely played casino banking Many casino decks and solitaire decks have four indices instead of the usual two. Many decks have large indices, largely for use in stud poker games, where being able to read cards from a distance is a benefit and hand sizes are small. Stud poker is any of a number of Poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds Some decks use four colors for the suits in order to make it easier to tell them apart: the most common set of colors is black (spades ♠), red (hearts ♥), blue (diamonds ♦) and green (clubs ♣). A four-color deck is identical to the standard Anglo-American Playing cards except for the color of the suits.

When giving the full written name of a specific card, the rank is given first followed by the suit, e. g. , "Ace of Spades". Shorthand notation may list the rank first "A♠" (as is typical when discussing poker) or list the suit first (as is typical in listing several cards in bridge) "♠AKQ". Poker is a type of Card game in which players bet on the value of the card combination (" hand " in their possession by placing a bet into Tens may be either abbreviated to T or written as 10.

Example set of 52 playing cards; 13 of each suit clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades

	Ace	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Jack	Queen	King
Clubs:
Diamonds:
Hearts:
Spades:

German

German suits may have different appearances. The word " ace " comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as' meaning 'a unit' from the name of a small Roman coin A jack or knave is a Playing card with a picture of a young man on it The queen is a Playing card with a picture of a queen on it The usual rank of a queen is as if it were 12 (that is between the king and the jack) The king is a Playing card with a picture of a king on it The usual rank of a king is as if it were a 13 that is above the queen. Analogues in other suits German suits: Acorns (Eichel Swiss German suits acorns (Eichel Italo-Spanish Analogues in other suits German suits: Jingle bells small bells (Schellen Swiss German suits jingle bells Analogues in other suits German suits: Hearts (Herz Swiss German suits Roses (Rosen Italo-Spanish Analogues in other suits German suits: leaves (Laub Blatt Gras Grün Swiss German suits Shields (Schilten Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Many eastern and southern Germans prefer decks with hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns (for hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs), as mentioned above. In the game Skat, Eastern Germany players used the German deck, while players in western Germany mainly used the French deck. Skat is (along with Doppelkopf) the most popular Card game in Germany and Silesia. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state After the reunification a compromise deck was created for official Skat tournaments, with French symbols but German colors.

Central European

Set of 32 playing cards, the variations have also the numbering VI.

The cards of Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, western Romania and southern Tyrol use the same colors (hearts, bells, leaves and acorns) as the cards of Southern and Eastern Germany. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East They usually have a deck of 32 or 36 cards. The numbering includes VII, VIII, IX, X, Under, Over, King and Ace. Some variations with 36 cards have also the number VI. The VI in bells also has the function like a joker in some games and it's named Welli or Weli.

These cards are illustrated with a special picture series that was born in the times before the 1848-49 revolutions in Hungary, when revolutionary movements were awakening all over in Europe. The events leading to the revolution The Hungarian Diet (parliament was reconvened in 1825 to handle financial needs The Aces show the four seasons: the ace of hearts is spring, the ace of bells is summer, the ace of leaves is autumn and the ace of acorns is winter. The characters of the Under and Over cards were taken from the drama William Tell, written by Schiller in 1804, which was shown at Kolozsvár in 1827. (pronunciation in Romanian: /'kluʒ na'poka/ Klausenburg Kolozsvár Napoca Castrum Clus Claudiopolis קלויזנבורג Kloiznburg until 1974 Cluj, is the third It was long believed that the card was invented in Vienna at the Card Painting Workshop of Ferdinand Piatnik, however in 1974 the very first deck was found in an English Private Collection, and it has shown the name of the inventor and creator of deck as Schneider József, a Master Card Painter at Pest, and the date of its creation as 1837. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Ferdinand Piatnik (1819 Ofen now Budapest, Austrian Empire - 1885 Bad Vöslau) was a Hungarian -born card painter and manufacturer He has chosen the characters of a Swiss drama as his characters for his over and under cards; had he chosen Hungarian heroes or freedom fighters, his deck of cards never would have made it into distribution, due to the heavy censorship of the government at the time. Interestingly, although the characters on the cards are Swiss, these cards are unknown in Switzerland.

Games that are played with this deck in Hungary include ulti, snapszer (or 66), zsír, fire, preferansz, makaó, lórum, piros pacsi and piros papucs. This set of cards is also used very often in the game of preferans. Preference or preferans ( преферанс) is a European Trick-taking game especially popular in late Imperial Russia, Soviet Union In Croatia and Slovenia these cards are also commonly used for a game called belot (also popular in Bulgaria and Armenia). Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Belot (usually abbreviated to Bela, in Armenian to Blot) is a trick-taking Card game very popular in Bulgaria, in some parts of The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Explanations of these games can be found at The Card Games Website.

The most common game played in western Romania (Transilvania and Banat) is Cruce, a variation of Snapszer, most commonly played in 2 pairs, with team members facing each other, hence the name (Cruce = Romanian for Cross).

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the national game is Jass. JASS, J-Asynchronous Scripting Syntax, is an event driven Scripting language used in Blizzard Entertainment 's Warcraft III game It is played with decks of 36 cards. West of the Brünig-Napf-Reuss line, a French-style 36-card deck is used, with numbers from 6 to 10, jacks, queens, kings and aces. The Brünig-Napf-Reuss line forms a geographical boundary in traditional Swiss culture () The same kind of deck is used in Graubünden and in parts of Thurgau. Graubünden or Grisons ( German:, gʁaʊˈbyndən Italian: Grigioni; Romansh: Grischun) is the largest and easternmost Thurgau (German, anglicized as Thurgovia) is a northeast canton of Switzerland.

In Central Switzerland, Zürich, Schaffhausen and Eastern Switzerland, the prevalent deck consists of 36 playing cards with the following suits: roses, bells, acorns and shields (in German: Rosen, Schellen, Eichel und Schilten). Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, The Canton of Zürich (German Kanton) has a population of about 1 The Canton of is a canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the canton is Schaffhausen. Eastern Switzerland (German Ostschweiz) is the common name of the region situated to the north of Glarus Alps, with the cantons of Schaffhausen The ranks of the alternate deck, from low to high, are: 6, 7, 8, 9, banner (10), "under", "over", king and ace.

Italian

Example of a knight of money, cavallo di denari (horse of coins). From the Carte Piacentine.

Italian playing cards most commonly consist of a deck of 40 cards (4 suits going 1 to 7 plus 3 face cards), and are used for playing Italian regional games such as Scopa or Briscola. Scopa is an Italian Card game played with a standard Italian 40-card deck. Briscola ( brìscula in Sicilian, brìšcula or brišc in Neapolitan, briškula in Croatian, la brisca 52 (or more rarely 36) card sets are also found in the north. Since these cards first appeared in the late 14th century when each region in Italy was a separately ruled province, there is no official Italian pattern. There are sixteen official regional patterns in use in different parts of the country (about one per region). These sixteen patterns are split amongst four regions:

• Northern Italian Suits - Triestine, Trevigiane, Trentine, Primiera Bolognese, Bergamasche, Bresciane
• Spanish-like Suits - Napoletane, Sarde, Romagnole, Siciliane, Piacentine. Trieste (Trieste Slovene and Croatian: Trst; German: Triest) is a city and port in northeastern Italy very near to Treviso (Venetian Trevizo, French Trévise, Latin Tarvisium) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. Trento (traditional English Trent; Italian: Trento; German: Trient; Latin: Tridentum; Note that many Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Bergamo ( Bèrghem in Lombard, antiquated Wälsch-Bergen in German) is a town in Lombardy, Italy, about Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Piacenza ( Placentia in Latin and old-fashioned English, Piasëinsa in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo) is a
• French Suits - Genovesi, Lombarde or Milanesi, Toscane, Piemontesi. Genoa ( Genova, ˈdʒɛːnova in Italian; Zena in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and archaically in English Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 Piedmont ( Piemonte; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; French: Piémont) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy.
• German Suits - Salisburghesi used in Alto Adige/Südtirol

A set of Carte Bergamasche

The suits are coins (sometimes suns or sunbursts) (Denari in Italian), swords (Spade), cups (Coppe) and clubs (sometimes batons Bastoni), and each suit contains an ace (or one), numbers two through seven, and three face cards. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. The Province of Bolzano-Bozen (Provincia autonoma di Bolzano Autonome Provinz Bozen Ladin: Provinzia The face cards are:

• Re (king), the highest valued - a man standing, wearing a crown
• Cavallo (lit. horse) [italo-Spanish suits] - a man sitting on a horse / or Donna (lit. woman from Latin domina = mistress) [french suits] - a standing woman with a crown
• Fante (lit. infantry soldier) - a younger figure standing, without a crown

The Spanish-like-suit knave (fante - the lowest face card) is depicted as a woman, and is sometimes referred to as donna like the next higher face card of the French-suit deck; this, when coupled with the French usage, which puts a queen, also called donna (woman) in Italian and not regina (queen), as the mid-valued face card, can very occasionally lead to a swap of the value of the French-suit donna (or more rarely of the international-card Queen) and the knave (or jack).

Unlike Anglo-American cards, some Italian cards do not have any numbers (or letters) identifying their value. The cards' value is determined by identifying the face card or counting the number of suit characters.

Example: "Triestine" playing cards manufactured by Modiano

Spanish

The four aces present in the baraja, from the deck made by Heraclio Fournier. Naipes Heraclio Fournier SA is a Playing card manufacturer that was founded in 1868 and is based in Vitoria, Spain. Left to right, top to bottom: oros, copas, espadas, and bastos.

The traditional Spanish deck (referred to as baraja española in Spanish) uses Latin suit symbols. The Baraja (literally deck/pack of cards) is a Spanish set of Playing cards with some resemblance to the 52-card Anglo-American-French deck Being a Latin-suited deck (like the Italian deck), it is organized into four palos (suits) that closely match those of the Italian-suited Tarot deck: oros ("golds" or coins), copas (beakers or cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (batons or clubs). Certain decks include two "comodines" (jokers) as well. The Joker is a special card found in most modern decks of Playing cards or a Mahjong tile in some Mahjong game sets

The cards (cartas in Spanish) are all numbered, but unlike in the standard Anglo-French deck, the card numbered 10 is the first of the court cards (instead of a card depicting ten coins/cups/swords/batons); so each suit has only twelve cards. The three court or face cards in each suit are as follows: la sota ("the knave" or jack, numbered 10 and equivalent to the Anglo-French card J), el caballo ("the horse", horseman, knight or cavalier, numbered 11 and used instead of the Anglo-French card Q; note the Tarot decks have both a queen and a knight of each suit, while the Anglo-French deck uses the former, and the Spanish deck uses the latter), and finally el rey ("the king", numbered 12 and equivalent to the Anglo-French card K). However, most Spanish games involve forty-card decks, with the 8s and 9s removed, similar to the standard Italian deck.

The box that goes around the figure has a mark to distinguish the suit without showing all of your cards: The cups have one interruption, the swords two, the clubs three, and the gold none. This mark is called "la pinta" and gave rise to the expression: "le conocí por la pinta" (I knew him by his markings).

The Baraja have been widely considered to be part of the occult in many Latin-American countries, yet they continue to be used widely for card games and gambling, especially in Spain, which does not use the Anglo-French deck. Among other places, the Baraja have appeared in One Hundred Years of Solitude and other Hispanic and Latin American literature. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that was first The Spanish deck is used not only in Spain, but also in other countries where Spain maintained an influence (e. g. , Mexico, Argentina and most of Hispanic America, the Philippines and Puerto Rico) 1. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} Among the games played with this deck are: el mus (a very popular and highly regarded vying game of Basque origin), la brisca, el tute (with many variations), el guiñote, la escoba del quince (a trick-taking game), el julepe, el cinquillo, las siete y media, la mona, el truc (or truco), el cuajo (a matching game from the Philippines), el jamón, el tonto, el hijoputa, el mentiroso, el cuco and las parejas. Mus is a popular Spanish Card game originating from the Navarre and Basque regions in Spain Briscola ( brìscula in Sicilian, brìšcula or brišc in Neapolitan, briškula in Croatian, la brisca Tute is a card game for two or four players originating in Italy and one of the most popular card games in Spain. Escoba is a trick-taking Card game for two to four players originating in Spain. A Trick-taking game is any one of a class of Card games where play centers around a series of finite rounds or units of play called tricks. Truco is a popular trick-taking Card game played in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Brazil. Rummy is a group of Card games notable for gameplay based on the matching of similar Playing cards. Jamón (Spanish for Ham) is a traditional Spanish card game involving any deck of cards (usually 48 Baraja or 52 Anglo-French cards although "Mentiroso" (Eng Liar) is the first single released internationally by Enrique Iglesias from his fourth full-spanish album Quizás The Cuco ( Coco, coca, or cuca) is a mythical Monster, a Ghost, Witch; equivalent to the Boogeyman found in many

East Asia

The standard 52-card deck is commonly known as a "poker" deck in Japan and South Korea. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː These cards are most often used for baccarat and blackjack in casinos, or deciding the order of play or challenge in games of billiards. Baccarat is a casino Card game. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of Charles VIII of France Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one or Pontoon) is the most widely played casino banking Poker itself and other western games are relatively unknown. Home and online card games in east Asia such as Koi-Koi and Go-Stop use a hanafuda or kabufuda deck in Japan, and the equivalent hwatu deck in Korea. are Playing cards of Japanese origin ( Karuta cards used to play a number of games Kabufuda (ja 株札 "nine-cards" are Japanese playing cards used for Gambling games such as Oicho-Kabu. are Playing cards of Japanese origin ( Karuta cards used to play a number of games

Accessible playing cards

Playing cards have been adapted for use by the visually impaired by the inclusion of large-print and/or braille characters as part of the card. Visual impairment or vision impairment is Vision loss that constitutes a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from Disease, Large-print (also large-type or large-font) describes a type of book or other (paper online or otherwise published material in which the Typeface (or The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write Both standard card decks and decks for specific games such as UNO are commonly adapted. Uno (ˈuːnoʊ ( Italian and Spanish for 'one' is a Card game played with a specially printed deck (see Mau Mau for an almost identical Large-print cards are also commonly used by the elderly. In addition to increasing the size of the suit symbol and the denomination text, large-print cards commonly reduce the visual complexity of the images for simpler identification. They may also omit the patterns of pips in favor of one large pip to identify suit. Oversize cards are sometimes used but are uncommon. These can assist with ease of handling and to allow for larger text.

No universal standards for braille playing cards exist. There are many national and producer variations. In most cases each card is marked with two braille characters in the same location as the normal corner markings. The two characters can appear in either vertical (one character below another) or horizontal (two characters side by side). In either case one character identifies the card suit and the other the card denomination. 1 for ace, 2 through 9 for the numbered cards, X or the letter O for ten, J for jack, Q for queen, K for king. The suits are variously marked using D for diamond, S for spade, C or X for club and H or K for heart.

Playing card symbols in Unicode

The Unicode standard defines 8 characters for card suits in the Miscellaneous Symbols block, from U+2660 to U+2667:

There is also a proposal by Michael Everson, dated 2004-05-18 to encode the 52 cards of the Anglo-American-French deck together with a character for "Playing Card Back" and another for a joker. In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's The Miscellaneous Symbols plane of Unicode (2600–26FF contains various glyphs representing things from a variety of categories Astrological, Astronomical Michael Everson (born January 9, 1963) is a linguist, script encoder, typesetter, and Font designer. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. [6]

Production Techniques

The typical production process, leading to the realization of a new deck, starts with the choice between the most suitable materials: cardboard and plastic. Cardboard is a generic non-specific term for a heavy duty Paper based product Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products

Cards are printed on unique sheets that undergo a varnishing procedure in order to enhance the brightness and glow of the colors printed on the cards, as well as to increase their durability.

In today’s market, some high-quality products are available. There are some specific treatments on cards surface - such as calendering and linen finishing - that guarantee performance for either professional or domestic use. This article is about a device for smoothing paper For the method of timekeeping see Calendar.

The cards are printed on sheets, which are cut and arranged in bands (vertical stripes) before undergoing a cutting operation that cuts out the individual cards. After assembling the new decks, they pass through the corner-rounding process that will confer the final outline: the typical rectangular playing-card shape.

Finally, each deck is wrapped in cellophane, inserted in its case and is ready for the final distribution. Cellophane is a thin transparent sheet made of regenerated Cellulose.

See also

Notes

References

• Needham, Joseph (2004), Science & Civilisation in China, vol. Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA ( December 9, 1900 – March 24 1995) was a British IV:1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521058023 
• Parlett, David. The Oxford Guide to Card Games. 1990. ISBN 0-19-214165-1.
• An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, Arthur M. Hind, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1935 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963 ISBN 0-486-20952-0
• Prints and Printmaking, Antony Griffiths, British Museum Press (in UK),2nd edn, 1996 ISBN 0-7141-2608-X
• Wilkinson, W. H. (1895), “Chinese Origin of Playing Cards”, The American Anthropologist VIII: 61–78, <http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Wilkinson/Wilkinson.html> 

External links

• History of the design of the court cards
• Online database of playing cards and card games
• World Web Playing Card Museum
• Courts on playing cards
• Deck of playing cards in SVG
• Deck of playing cards in .fla and .png
• Modern Production process
• Custom Printed Deck of Playing Cards