playing cards: Quick Facts

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Round painted ivory playing cards, probably from the Deccan, India, 18th century.

Sheet of French playing cards, c. 1800. Soldiers bear a flag that shows the card's suit and rank.

Joker playing card featuring a smiling figure dressed in colorful, old-fashioned attire with a green hat and feather, holding a bag of gold coins and a playing card.

Suitmarks of playing cards Suitmarks were first used on Italian and Spanish decks of playing cards. Soon after, nature-oriented suitmarks adorned German and Swiss decks. Simple stencil designs reduced the cost of producing playing cards in France, and the French designs were lightly modified in England to produce the modern, or international, suitmarks. Playing cards with national suitmarks are still common in many countries, particularly for use in certain traditional card games, but all international competitions use the international suitmarks.

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