Il Quinto Seme
An Italian pack with a fifth suit of “amici” (“friends”).
One tends to think of five-suit packs as coming mainly from the USA and Great Britain. However, five-suit packs have been produced elsewhere, including this one from Italy. The fifth suit is called “amici” (“friends”) and is bicoloured (red and black combined). The name “amici” was chosen because a card of the “amici” suit can sometimes act like a Joker and can be a substitute for another card, thus lending a hand in the way a true friend (or “amico”) would do. To give unity to the court cards, the standard English pattern courts have been redesigned, with the courts of the “amici” suit being in a similar style and in a similar range of colours. The extensive booklet in Italian contains the rules for 16 different card games... more►
See the box►
Above: “Il Quinto Seme” five-suit playing cards made by Modiano, Trieste, Italy, 1977. 65 cards + 3 Jokers + 2 score cards + booklet of rules, in tuck box. Size: 63 x 88 mm.
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.
Related Articles
Emilio Tadini playing cards
Beautiful dreamlike playing card designs by Emilio Tadini.
Austrian Tarock by S.D. Modiano
Modiano’s Austrian Tarock with country scenes has been in production for over 100 years.
Le carte da gioco Arcimboldo
Courts and suit-signs inspired by the works of the Italian Renaissance painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo....
Alan Tarot Deck
Reprint of a Tarock pack originally designed by Argio Orell for the Austrian Lloyd shipping company....
Pinocchio playing cards
Comic book drawings inspired by Carlo Collodi’s children’s classic, Pinocchio.
Marcello Morandini
Modern designs by Italian artist Marcello Morandini using the simplest of forms and colours.
Schwarze Katze (or Gioco del Gatto Nero)
Reproduction of a 40-card transformation pack with designs by “WS”, adapted for the game of Black Ca...
Mercante in Fiera di Jacovitti
Traditional Italian card game with comic designs by Benito Jacovitti.
Bolognese pattern
Standard Bolognese pattern pack by Murari of Bari.
Italia playing cards
Small, narrow cards designed by Osvaldo Menegazzi, bearing a strong resemblance to a Swedish pattern...
Carte Bolognesi
New designs reinforcing Bologna’s reputation as the gastronomic capital of Italy.
Le carte di Tex
Characters from the famous Italian comic book series, Tex, created by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Aurelio...
Florentine pattern variant
Non-standard designs by Chiari of Florence with some of the features of a traditional Florentine pat...
The Fat Pack
A vastly expanded pack with 8 suits for playing traditional or new games, devised by Roger Howard Bu...
Venetian Tarot
Scenes from the history of Venice on a set of the major arcana.
Topolino Fiat Cinquecento
Fully illustrated Italian Disney pack advertising the Fiat Cinquecento, made by Modiano, Trieste, It...
Pentacards
A five-suited set of playing cards published by Fleet and Case Games Ltd., Rainham, Kent, UK, c.1980...
Bolzani e Spagnolo
Stylish monochrome designs by the Archinstudio of Guido Bolzani and Gian-Piero Spagnolo, printed by ...
Bergamasche Pattern
Bergamasche Pattern by Modiano, 1970s.
Club Bridge
Modiano’s ‘Club Bridge’ is a new edition of a stylish deck originally published in c.1895.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
