CNES playing cards
Fully pictorial pack featuring rockets, satellites, scientists and views from space.
CNES is France’s equivalent of NASA. The initials stand for Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies). This set is crammed full of colour photos (up to 6 per card) of rockets, satellites, space and research centres, launches, views from space and so on. The CNES logo appears twice on every card face and 24 times on the back. The very extensive booklet has a huge amount of information (in French), with two pages devoted to each card. As developments in this field take place extremely often and rapidly, this pack may constitute an interesting snapshot of where space exploration had reached in 1995. The design on the back of the box is the same as on the cover of the booklet. See the booklet►
Above: playing cards made by Heron, S.A., Mérignac, for CNES, Paris and Toulouse, France, 1995. © CNES 1995.
• See the box►
By Roddy Somerville
France • Member since May 31, 2022 • Contact
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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