Contributors & Members
The World of Playing Cards connects researchers, collectors, curators, artists and historians worldwide to offer detailed insights into playing cards.
| Name | Country | Details | Articles |
|---|---|---|---|
Simon Wintle
1,496 Articles
Wintle
|
I am the founder of The World of Playing Cards (est. 1996), a website dedicated to the history, artistry and cultural significance of playing cards and tarot. Over the years I have researched various areas of the subject, acquired and traded collections and contributed as a committee member of the IPCS and graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal. Having lived in Chile, England, Wales, and now Spain, these experiences have shaped my work and passion for playing cards. Amongst my achievements ...    |
14960000000101,496 | |
Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
775 Articles
Pitts
|
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...    |
775000000010775 | |
Roddy Somerville
657 Articles
Somerville
|
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 o...    |
657000000010657 | |
Peter Burnett
533 Articles
Burnett
|
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
...    |
533000167011533 | |
Matt Probert
309 Articles
Probert
|
I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.
Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.
Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I
discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of ca...    |
309000000010309 | |
Adam Wintle
149 Articles
Wintle
|
Adam has been involved in developing the site as well as reviewing new decks and conducting research. He is particularly interested in innovation, Kickstarter and East Asian cards. He is a member of the IPCS, 52 Plus Joker, and webmaster of the EPCS.    |
149000018012149 | |
The English Playing Card Society
145 Newsletters
Society
|
The English Playing-Card Society was formed in January 1984. Its purpose is to bring together collectors, researchers and interested persons who wish to share information concerning designers and manufacturers of English playing-cards and card games 1660-1960.    |
145000000000145 | |
Ken Lodge
139 Articles
Lodge
|
I'm Ken Lodge and have been collecting playing cards since I was about eighteen months old (1945). I am also a trained academic, so I can observe and analyze reasonably well. I've applied these analytical techniques over a long period of time to the study of playing cards and have managed to assemble a large amount of information about them, especially those of the standard English pattern. About Ken Lodge →    |
139000000010139 | |
Barney Townshend
130 Articles
Townshend
|
Retired Airline Pilot, interested in: Transformation Playing Cards, Karl Gerich and Elaine Lewis. Secretary of the EPCS. Treasurer of the IPCS.    |
130000000010130 | |
Rod Starling (1936-2023)
94 Articles
Starling
|
Rod Starling was one of the founding members of the 52 Plus Joker card collectors club. He authored many articles for the club's quarterly newsletter, Clear the Decks. His collection encompasses both foreign and American decks. Rod also authored a book titled The Art and Pleasures of Playing Cards.    |
9400000001094 | |
Paul Symons
71 Articles
Symons
|
I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representa...    |
7100000001071 | |
Tony Hall
65 Articles
Hall
|
I started my interest in card games about 70 years ago, playing cribbage with my grandfather. Collecting card game materials started 50 years or so later, when time permitted. One cribbage board was a memory; two became the start of a collection currently exceeding 150!
Once interest in the social history of card games was sparked, I bought a wooden whist marker from the 1880s which was ingenious in design and unbelievably tactile.
One lead to two and there was no stopping.
What happened ther...    |
6500000001065 | |
Marek Brejcha
38 Articles
Brejcha
|
My relationship with cards grew from playing to collecting and transformed into publishing as well. I am part of the team at Counter Clockwise, a small company that publishes traditional card games.    |
3800000001138 | |
Jon Randall
33 Articles
Randall
|
From 6 or 7 years of age I enjoyed playing cards with my family, and still enjoy a variety of games today with various groups and individuals. I contribute my competitive nature to enjoying games … it’s not that I like to win, I dislike losing! I was barely 10 years old when my great Uncle left me a small collection of playing cards and that was the starting point of my collecting. The competitive streak in me helped develop me into a competitive swimmer that sent me to various places around...    |
3300000001033 | |
Lev Golinkin
32 Articles
Golinkin
|
I'm a US-based author and journalist. I've been collecting playing cards since I was about 8 years old, when I got mesmerized by the various decks that were used in Soviet Ukraine, where I'm from. I collect mainly European decks such as those by Dondorf, Grimaud, and Piatnik. I love courts above all else, and am drawn toward historical and artistic decks.    |
3200000001032 | |
Alberto Pérez González
24 Articles
González
|
I am a researcher and my primary interest lies in playing cards manufactured in Cádiz (not the 'Cádiz' type in general). I have authored several articles in the annual Asescoin magazine 'La Sota'. Among them are: “Madrid’s Playing Cards from the 17th to the 20th Century”; “New Contributions to the Study of Playing Cards in the Valencian Country”; “The Fouquets: 'Navarra pattern' in the Netherlands”; “Divided Playing Cards: Combining Ingenuity with ...    |
2400000001024 | |
Paul Bostock
19 Articles
Bostock
|
Paul has been a collector of playing cards since his early teenage years, the mid 1970s. In the last 20 years or so he has specialised in standard English cards and their story. His collection, including many other English Standards, are featured on his website plainbacks.com.
Paul is currently editor of Clear the Decks, the Journal of 52 Plus Joker, the American club for playing card collectors, and is a member of the IPCS Council, an EPCS member and a Past Master of the Worshipful Company ...    |
1900000001119 | |
Anthony Lee
19 Articles
Lee
|
Visit his blog here►    |
1900000001019 | |
Ann and John Sings
19 Articles
Sings
|
Articles and contributions by Ann & John Sings.    |
1900000001019 | |
Ian Taylor
18 Articles
Taylor
|
I've played card games from the age of three, collecting all things "cards" from 16 and finally started to specialise at 58! Thanks to these wonderful pages and a certain Mr Lodge, my main interest is in British decks, with examples of the English standard pattern in other countries. I am beginning to develop a liking for Belgium and German cards, too. It's nice to be able to spend time writing profiles for WOPC, on more modern yet beautiful decks. Looking forward to retirin...    |
1800000601118 | |
Adam West-Watson
17 Articles
West-Watson
|
I have been fascinated by playing cards ever since I can remember, and still have several of the card games I had as a child. And although I had accumulated quite a number of packs of various sorts over the years, it wasn't until I was in my 50s that I began collecting in earnest. My tastes are quite varied, and my collection of 800 or so decks includes:- children's games, standard and non-standard playing cards, adult games, fortune telling and oracle cards, tarot cards, and even ciga...    |
1700000001017 | |
Konrad Hämmerle
16 Articles
Hämmerle
|
Konrad Hämmerle is a student and card artist from Vorarlberg, the westernmost region of Austria. He founded his own company with his deck Vorarlberger Büschel: a unique reinterpretation of traditional Jass cards. His deck showcases Vorarlberg’s rich cultural heritage, featuring detailed illustrations of traditional clothing, mythical creatures, and real historical figures from the region. Through this project, Konrad has become a true card enthusiast, particularly fascinated by playing cards...    |
1600000301116 | |
Albinas Borisevičius
14 Articles
Borisevičius
|
I have been collecting cards since 1968, of course, then there were no contacts with world collectors, so my collection was very small. It was only in 1991, when Lithuania declared its independence, that it was possible to have contact with the world. It was a great honor for me to attend the IPCS convention in Munich, where I found many friends-colleagues. I managed to make an agreement with the Viennese card factory to print the ancient cards of Lithuania (PILYS).
My area of collecting - clas...    |
1400000001014 | |
Klaus-Juergen Schultz (1948-2025)
14 Articles
Schultz
|
From the collection of Klaus-Jürgen Schultz.    |
1400000001014 | |
Ana Cortez
7 Articles
Cortez
|
Ana Cortez is an author, teacher, researcher and founder of the Order of the Black Ace – an esoteric society for the study of playing cards. Her books include The Playing Card Oracles, A Source Book for Divination; The Doors of Somlipith, A New Dimension of Card Reading; and Oracle Alchemy, The Art of Transformation in Life and Card Reading. Her website is www.anacortez.com ►    |
70000000107 | |
Jan Walls
6 Articles
Walls
|
I collected playing cards since I was in primary school.    |
60000000106 | |
Egoitz Campo Gonzalez
5 Articles
Gonzalez
|
Egoitz participates in several sporting groups in the Basque Country area (Spain).    |
50000000105 | |
Diane O'Donovan
4 Articles
O'Donovan
|
Retired university lecturer. Researcher into the origins of playing cards in Europe, the internal structure of the pack, court cards, the tarot symbols, etc.    |
40000000004 | |
Roy Hopwood
3 Articles
Hopwood
|
I am a 77-year-old retired professional magical entertainer and former occupational health and safety consultant. I was a passive playing card collector for more than 50 years until I moved from Australia to Canada in 2019. Since then I have been moderately active in increasing my eclectic collection to around 735 different decks (packs)    |
30000120113 | |
Jinny Wintle
3 Articles
Wintle
|
About me    |
30000000103 | |
Robert S. Lancaster (1958-2019)
2 Articles
Lancaster
|
Robert S. Lancaster's first web presence was “The Bob Lancaster Gallery of Unusual Playing Cards”, a site devoted to displaying some of his large collection of decks of playing cards. The site existed from 1996 until 2008 when AOL shut down member websites more   |
20000000102 | |
Александр Царёв
2 Articles
Царёв
|
Started collecting in 1972 - only Russian cards. Later started travelling and get cards from foreign countries.
Обменивался картами с коллекционерами из других стран. В запасе много русских колод для обмена.   |
20000000012 | |
Andy Pollett
2 Articles
Pollett
|
For almost one thousand years, in every part of the world, playing cards have been one of the most common pastimes. As a collectable item, instead, they are indeed less popular.
An amazing number of different varieties exists, surely many more than even the most experienced card players would ever imagine. There are decks with special illustrations in place of the usual courts, but others, used in some parts of the world, also have different suits in place of the ones most people are accustomed...   |
20000000002 | |
John Edelson
1 Article
Edelson
|
John was a working magician in high school (Class of 1976) and needed a few jokers for a trick. He seems to have liked finding the most pleasing jokers and soon, he had a collection. He has about 10,000 different jokers today and has started focusing on old and historically-significant American decks of playing cards. |
10000010111 | |
Alois Rank
1 Article
Rank
|
Enthusiast and collector of playing cards. My mainly focus is in vintage / antique playing cards with unusual face cards and antique advertisement decks.  |
10000000101 | |
Tamir Shpigelman
1 Article
Shpigelman
|
I am an animation student, most of the films I have made deal with cards, both in the plot and in the design. From a young age I was raised to love card games and recently started collecting.  |
10000000101 | |
Vicky Visagie
1 Article
Visagie
|
Vicky is a researcher and collector dedicated to the preservation of historical tarot and occult cards. He has been interested in the tarot for many years and collects across many printers and countries to document the breadth of traditions rather than a single school. His work records makers and workshop practices, printing and colouring techniques, backs and stamps, and paper and finish details, providing evidence for reliable attribution and dating. Through careful cataloguing and conservatio...  |
10000000101 | |
Stephen Scharber
|
I collect naypes finas of many kinds. |
78011 | |
Jacques Bourdens
|
Enseignant à la retraite, et amateur de jeux de cartes (belote, bridge, rami, besigue, barbu, whist, etc.), j'en suis venu à constituer une collection de jeux de 52 cartes (environ 1400) essentiellement publicitaires, mais avecquelques jeux plus ou moins remarquables. |
21011 | |
Courtney Rider
|
Michigander with a Scottish terrier sidekick looking to learn more about the history behind cards. |
20012 | |
Alexander Gornak
|
I'm interested in rare vintage decks for playing the card game "Sicily" with family and friends. You can check out its open-source implementation at: https://codeberg.org/Gornak40/sicilyx. I'm particularly interested in decks with unique artwork on the number cards. |
8011 | |
Dario Andros
|
My connection to cards began in my earliest memories, through games and magic and the simple, tactile pleasure of handling them. Even then, I sensed they were more than tools for play. I was drawn to the vast universe of playing cards—the endless variations in design, symbolism, and personality—and I sought out decks with different stylings, intuitively recognizing that each carried its own voice and story. Cards were never just objects to me; they were languages waiting to be spoken.
Alo... |
6011 | |
Peter Berthoud
|
I'm a London enthusiast, researcher and collector specialising in Pepys games and British games produced during the Second World War, particularly board games and card games made for the Home Front. |
4011 | |
cheryl z
|
I'm a new card collector. |
4001 | |
Marc Clements
|
I am a multi-disciplinary artist whose work often explores history and mythology.
Playing cards are portable mythologies—compact, repeatable, and intimate. In this series I reassemble face cards and suits to reveal the archetypal roles they enact: sovereigns of desire, fools of truthfulness, ministers of thought. Each composition treats the card as both object and oracle; resin glazing arrests a moment of play and elevates it into a relic. Viewers are invited to read relationships between f... |
2011 | |
Val Marsiglia
|
Graphic designer, New Orleans. |
1011 | |
Robert Minar
|
I have been a Viennese playing card collector for many, many years and mainly collect non-standard playing cards. My favourites are decks designed by artists or transformation playing cards. |
1011 | |
Vera Voss
|
I am a Croatian designer, artist, and researcher based in Zagreb. My work bridges contemporary design with historical and symbolic systems, with a particular focus on the visual language and cultural history of playing cards and Tarot. Through exhibitions, publications, and experimental projects, I explore how Tarot imagery evolved from Renaissance Italian card games into a complex symbolic and psychological system. I approach Tarot not as fortune-telling, but as a visual, philosophical, and nar... |
1011 | |
Arianne G Voyance
|
I am Arianne .G, a professional divinatory tarot reader in France for over 15 years.
Passionate about Cartomancy, Cards and Oracles, I created my own tarot for professional use to work with a card game that totally suits me.
My tarot is a mix of the Marseille tarot, the Epinal tarot and the Rider Waite with modernized, more refined and contemporary visuals.
Look at the 78 visuals if you feel like it arianne-g-voyance.fr/78-cartes-tarot-signification-divinatoire/
Je suis Arianne .G, lect... |
1011 | |
Linda Green
|
Descended from the Hardy family and interested in their cards and card-making business. |
1001 | |
Gerhard Amon
|
Collecting playing cards since 2010. |
12 | |
Jari Laitinen
|
South America and Britisch Islans |
11 | |
Maue Antiques
|
Family of collectors brings to the collectors special things |
10 | |
Mark R Arrowood
|
Playing card deck collector since 2016. Find me on IG @lovin52s |
10 | |
Dylan Asher
|
Looking for collectors, I have some Chinese poker cards that I cannot find on the internet |
10 | |
Keith Ashley
|
Security Consultant, Magician, Historian And Collector. I just Love Playing Cards. |
10 | |
daf bow
|
I am a photojournalism student |
10 | |
David Brown
|
I’ve collected Playing Cards since childhood, I now have quite a large collection of playing card packs and also Tarot decks, primarily RWS. I seem to prefer the quirky and subject-specific cards; consistent colour schemes and art/design aspects are important to me. I’ve designed my own cards too – mainly exploring different pip layouts and unusual courts.
|
10 | |
Sean Cassidy
|
UK based |
10 | |
Beamlakf Desta
|
Hello, I’m Beamlakfekad Desta. I am a graphic designer and branding specialist with a deep passion for minimalist aesthetics and premium visual storytelling. Throughout my career, I’ve helped businesses build their identities, but Zewd Historical Cards is a project that comes directly from my heart. I created Zewd Historical Cards because I wanted to see our rich history represented in a way that feels both timeless and modern. The word Zewd means "Crown," and to me, it represents ... |
10 | |
Martin Driscoll
|
Love to play cards with friends and family. My father has an interest in a Deck of Cards executed by 56 British Artists in 1976 which led to a childhood of knocking on Artists' doors and asking if they minded if we come in for tea... |
10 | |
Brenda Fairbrother
|
I am a grandma to 4 grandsons, only one of whom is interested in the playing cards. The rest like Lego and that is another one of my hobbies. I have been collecting playing cards off and on for over 40 years. I don't have a huge collection but I have some that I value a lot because they mean a lot to me. I like playing cards with horses, I have some nice ones. I used to do photography and have a little collection of camera and film advertising cards. Then for no particular reason I went... |
10 | |
Ivy Feng
|
Ivy Feng is the founder of Shenzhen XM Playing Cards Co., Ltd., and works with international clients on custom playing card and tarot/oracle production. Based in China, she oversees specification, proofing and print coordination, including small and medium print runs for publishers and crowdfunded campaigns. |
10 | |
Lois Harvie
|
Hi there,
My parents were very big international playing card collectors. I have recently inherited some of their unusual cards and am interested in learning more about them . Look forward to sharing much of our beautiful collection with you. |
10 | |
Marty Jacobs
|
Hi, my name is Marty, and I'm an amateur magician and playing card collector. |
10 | |
Stephen Kimminau
|
Member of the Lewis Carroll Society. Particularly interested in the game Carroll invented called “Ways and Means” - exhibited at the V&A 2021 “Curioser and Curioser” exhibition. |
10 | |
Michael Kolesov
|
The author and publisher of educational playing cards on the military-historical theme. Russia, St. Petersburg |
10 | |
Bill Leach
|
I have been collecting Ally Sloper art and objects since the 80s. There are a few Sloper cards sets that were created in the 1890s and I have managed to obtain a couple, but the SLOPER FAMILY card set has eluded me, so I printed my own set. |
10 | |
Nazy Madani
|
ISO 1937 Iranian playing cards De La Rue or any reprint. |
10 | |
Per Jan Neergaard
|
I am a cartomancer and playing card collector. |
10 | |
Anne Audrey Nelson
|
A curious Bipolar Explorer of the mind with a passion for all things weird and wonderful. Playing cards appear to have a significant meaning in my life it seems - chasing that elusive Ace I guess! |
10 | |
Emily Ann Poole
|
I have always enjoyed playing cards and found that every vintage deck has a story! Always curious. |
10 | |
Sorin Popa
|
I am new to the hobby and interested in collecting antique decks (both tarot and other playing cards) from the 19th century or older |
10 | |
François Portzer
|
As a retired history and geography teacher, I have been collecting playing cards and tarot cards for 60 years, and I own about 900 of them, of which I particularly appreciate the graphic design and historical value.
|
10 | |
Allen Potter
|
Amateur/curious. Attracted to the intrinsic designs and abstract beauty. of the joker card. Game cards and rules. Post 1850 playing card history. Printing plates and processes. Collecting, organisation and the use of information technology. Related ephemera. |
10 | |
Jos Sanders
|
I have collected Thailand revenue stamps since 1990 and have lived in Bangkok for many years. My research focuses on playing card tax stamps, excise seals, overprints and revenue markings used on both imported and locally produced playing cards in Thailand. The articles presented here draw largely from my own collection and research into Thai revenue and playing card history. |
10 | |
Jesus Velazquez
|
A tarot deck enthusiast for some years, and recently began collecting playing cards, but am quite intrigued with the history of them all. |
10 | |
J. Zelen
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art historian, interested in fifteenth-century prints. |
10 | |
Cloris Zhou
|
Chairman of the Chinese Tarot Research Association | Professional Tarot Reader |
10 | |
Stephen Astbury
|
I have started collecting card games I fondly remember from my childhood. |
0 | |
Lorri Baranyai
|
I was researching some playing cards and found this interesting site. |
0 | |
Erkin Barin
|
reads about playing card games and printmaking techniques. |
0 | |
Elisav Bizau
|
Biz. Magician. I love making unique projects. |
0 | |
Cristobal Calderon
|
Colecciono juegos de naipes. |
0 | |
Gregg Evans
|
OMG I cant believe I found this place. So many awesome images and so well organized. I am going to spend major time on this site enjoying each delightful image. |
0 | |
Gustave Glénisson
|
In de 19th century my family owned a playing-card factory in Turnhout (Belgium)
That's why i am still interested in everything concerning this booming business during that period.
You can always contact me by using my email- address : gglenisson@gmail.com |
0 | |
Lake Goldman
|
Canadian |
0 | |
Jim Gregory
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Just a baby boomer that likes games and cards. |
0 | |
Cristie Henry
|
I'm researching and designing four decks - I'm here for the knowledge and inspiration! |
0 | |
Robin Len Humphries
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Mamluk catds |
0 | |
Raul L
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. |
0 | |
Peter Lakin
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Having recently won a 24 hand whist drive with a score of 184 - 94 first half and 90 second half - I was wondering what scores other members have achieved in their lives |
0 | |
Johan Pettersson
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Old playing cards, mostly from Scandinavia and Balticum. johan.sg.pettersson@gmail.com |
0 | |
joahna schulz
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Medium Canal professionnel.et collectionneuse de jeux de cartomancie, oracles et tarots |
0 | |
Moira Scott
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I am a professional reader and am researching the history and symbolism of the tarot. |
0 | |
YeaSheAGoddess1133
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Interested in old card decks for research purposes and tarot insights from around the world through the lens of different indigenous cultures. |
0 |
and 7,232 other members.