Descriptions used on the price lists

Every effort is made to describe the lots accurately based on more nearly 30 years of buying, selling and collecting playing cards. There is limited space to describe items and further details on any item can be sought by  e-mail before submitting  orders.

Maker: The maker’s name, often found on one of the cards (varies by country, UK/USA generally Ace of Spades) is stated if known, otherwise listed as ‘unknown’. The maker’s name may not be on the cards but might be recognized by other ‘trade mark’ features such as the joker or style of court cards.

Date: Dates are for guidance only and are intended to indicate the approximate period of manufacture based on evidence such as tax and duty stamps, copyright dates, subject matter, style of design, printing technique and paper type. Reproduction or facsimile packs are clearly described as such. There are few fake playing cards but some have been manufactured (in France and Belgium in particular) in an older style though the printing ink and the paper are never right for the earlier period. Although indices were introduced in the second half of the 19thC, cards without indices were still produced in the 1920s. Some manufacturers have produced later copies of their earlier cards, the paper and printing nearly always will distinguish earlier and later examples. But be careful.

Description: Key features of the pack are noted. Description on features such as indices, corners, pips and ‘unturned’ courts is given where these can help date the cards. Printing and colouring technique may be mentioned eg. stenciled, letterpress, chromolithography. Most 20thC cards are four colour, offset litho printed. A brief description of the reverse design is often given. Cards which are stencil coloured are often misdescribed on ebay as hand-coloured. Hand coloured cards are very rare and most usually of mid 19th century origin, for example the Gibert costume packs or Grimaud's Jeu Imperial. Hand drawn and hand coloured cards were a popular pastime in the late 19thC, though very scarce. These are usually quartet games (collecting four cards in a set, like Happy Families type games.)

Contents: Precise details are given for the contents. It is not always known how many jokers or additional cards were issued. Completeness is important for card games so 40/40 means all 40 cards are present. Rules for card games are always the original rules and never photocopies unless specifically stated as such. Souvenir packs often included extra cards with maps and other information, these are mentioned if present and if all known extra cards are included the value of the pack is much higher. Boxes are the original boxes or wrappers - minor damage, wear and tear is to be expected and is not mentioned, more significant damage is specified. Tax wrapper means an unopened blue taxation wrapper unless otherwise stated. (Applies especially to UK cards up to 1960 when the 3d tax on cards was finally abolished - 3d had been the rate since 1862!) 

Condition: The grading is: Mint for a pack in superb unmarked condition, EF means extremely fine and will be a very clean almost unused pack, VF means very fine and indicates most packs in good collectable condition, VF+ means better than VF but not sufficiently good for an EF rating, the pack will be clean and crisp but may have a minor crease or two. Fair means there are quite a few faults - perhaps creasing, pen marks, or heavy wear and tear. Poor packs are in a condition that would not be worth collecting unless very scarce or old. Sealed means that the original wrapping is still intact and has never been opened - tax wrapper may or may not be present (see above 'Contents'). Specific damage is mentioned if it applies to just one or two cards eg a perfect pack with a noticeable crease in one card.