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1:38pm on Thursday, 30th November, 2023:
Anecdote
I bought some more cards. Did I tell you I'd bought some more cards? I bought some more cards.
These are an unusual buy for me, because:
1) They're manufactured in France and aren't Grimaud.
2) They're the Spanish national pattern.
3) They're two 40-card decks combined.
4) They're missing large numbers of cards.
5) They don't use HCDS as suits.
They're also pretty grubby, as you can see.
They were a steal on eBay, though, and I liked the look of the pictures so I bought them.
It's not difficult to discern the manufacturer: Camoin & Cie of Marseilles. The name appears on all the aces and face cards. Dating the cards is harder because Camoin manufactured this pattern without variation between 1880 and 1971 — a huge range. The later ones were printed in Algeria and Morocco, though, and state Oran or Casablanca on them rather than (just) Marseilles. Judging from the thickness of the paper stock, I'd say mine are going to be at the earlier end of date the spectrum. The packs were manufactured with square corners in the 1890s and these are round (but not as round as became the standard), so at a guess I'd say they were printed around 1900.
Sadly, as I'm missing the 3 4 11 of Cups, the 2 3 4 6 7 of Clubs, the 1 11 12 of Coins and the 7 10 of Swords, I won't be able to play any well-known games with them. That said, I'm not too bothered as I feel I have to wash my hands after touching them anyway — they really do need a good bath!
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Copyright © 2023 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).