English Duty Playing Cards, 1830

The Anglo-American pack evolved from the English pack with its Duty Ace. Playing cards were seen by kings and queens as a ready source for revenue, particularly during wartime. So the makers, and later the purchasers, paid a tax on each pack. Instances of the tax being raised are recorded in 1588, 1628, and from 1711 onwards until it was abolished in 1960 for being more trouble than it was worth. 1765 is the first instance we see the tax stamp on the ace of spades that showed the tax had been paid. This would be a forerunner to the individual maker's tax marks that were illegal until 1862. In 1828, in order to evade the widespread evasion of tax, the duty was reduced to one shilling (12 pence) and were charged on an officially printed design, now bearing more florals as well as a lion and a unicorn, as well as the maker's mark. This is the type of stamp we see on this deck of cards as the ace of spades. This ace was known as the 'Old Frizzle.'