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Modiano Patience

Published June 18, 2014 Updated June 06, 2022

Patience cards published by Modiano, c.1945.

1945 Italy Modiano Centaur Miniature Patience

Modiano Patience

Modiano began printing playing cards in 1884 when a lithographic press was purchased to expand their printing business. Combining artistic style and quality, these designs were first printed as “Centaur” or “Centaurus” in the 1890s for the Austrian Lloyd Steamship Company of Trieste. They were also published in different editions with alternative artwork on the Aces and Joker, including small indices in the margins. Here the designs are presented as a Patience deck with decorative aces and a Jester Joker, the Modiano logo on the reverse, but the box is plain with no title. A fortune-telling version is also known to have been published in the 1980s or 90s.

Above & right: Patience cards published by Modiano, c.1945. The stamp on the ace of hearts was in use during the 'Italian Socialist Republic' 1944/45. The number 'XXIII' is for Trento. The reverse shows the Modiano logo repeating inside a blue and gold lattice. The box is plain with the Modiano logo.

REFERENCE: Peter Endebrock's playing-card pages: Playing-Card Tax Stamps from Italy

See also: Modiano website

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.


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