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Colombia

Published March 25, 2005 Updated July 15, 2022

Colombian playing cards.

Colombia Latin America

Naipes Colombianos

TaxCantaclaro

Naipe Estilo 'Paris' c.1960

Above: 4 cards from a Spanish-suited pack in the 'Paris' style, following designs produced by Grimaud in France for export to Spanish-speaking countries. The 'Paris' style is also used in Uruguay.

Colombian playing cards have tended to follow the Catalan, Castilian and Paris styles, but not the Cadiz style. Known manufacturers include Félix de Bedout e Hijos (Medellín), Litografía Granada, Rond(Bogotá), Editorial Colina (Medellín), and Cacharrería Colombiana Ltda.

Brand names include Centauro, Esperanza and Cantaclaro

There was a consumption tax on Colombian playing cards of 20 centavos per pack, raised in 1946 to 40 centavos, which was applied by means of a printed band affixed around each outer wrapper or box.

Naipe Centauro c.1980

Above: 6 cards from Naipe Centauro, c.1980, by Editorial Colina de Medellín. Designs based loosely on Fournier's 'Castilian' pattern. A centaur appears on the four of coins and on the reverse.

Thanks to Luz Ángela Vargas, Enrique García Martín and Peter Endebrock for their contributions.

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.

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