Alta Carta

The Alternative for the Playing Card Collector

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These are the most common cards worldwide, therefore they are also known under the name "International Pattern". Practically all around the world they can be bought, in Japan and Hong Kong, in Africa and South America. The pictures have practically been unchanged for nearly two hundred years. Also from manufacturer to manufacturer there are hardly any differences. Normally a full deck has 52 cards plus an undefined number of Jokers (per suit: 2-10, J, Q, K, A, plus Jokers). Some decks are available with less cards like the Bézique game that has only 32 (per suit 7-10, J, Q, K, A) and some have more cards. A deck of "500" has 63 playing cards (per suit: 1-12, J, Q, K, A, heart 13, diamond 13 and 1 Joker). The only basic card that is different per manufacturer is the ace of spades. Originally this card was used to print the tax stamp or the relevant tax information. As a remainder of those times we now have a more or less artistic designed playing card. Four different aces of spade Examples of pips; some cards have 2 indices and other have 4. The pips ranking greater than 10 are from special "500" card games. This heart 13 is from the United States and the club 11 is from Australia, where "500" is still a very popular game.

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