Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ > A Cellar of Fine Vintages
Ask the Experts at 52 Plus Joker
52plusjoker:
What do you want to find out about an old vintage card or deck? Whatever your question, this is the place to find the answers to what’s puzzling you. We have lined up several of the vintage/antique collectors from 52 Plus Joker to specifically respond to your questions about items that you’ve seen, have heard about or have stashed away in your collections.
We learned about older playing cards by talking to people who knew more than us. In our case we were lucky - we found a couple of local collectors who knew a lot more than we did. They could often answer us easily, and if they didn’t know, could point us in the right direction. They also suggested books we should have and convinced us that research was an integral part of collecting. Slowly our knowledge grew. Eventually the point came when we were being asked more than we were asking! This is true for many members of 52 Plus joker and in this instant communication age makes the availability of expert information for you close at hand and easy to obtain.
We look forward to your specific questions. We, and other members of 52+J, will monitor this post daily and try to ensure we get the right expert to the card table to take our best shot at your answer.
Judy & Tom Dawson
Mike Ratledge:
Question for you, Tom: if you see a USPCC "tax stamp" that says "1 Deck" on it as opposed to a certain amount (3 cents, 5 cents, etc) is that definitely a sign that it's a reproduction?
52plusjoker:
--- Quote from: Ratledge on March 06, 2014, 10:45:58 PM ---Question for you, Tom: if you see a USPCC "tax stamp" that says "1 Deck" on it as opposed to a certain amount (3 cents, 5 cents, etc) is that definitely a sign that it's a reproduction?
--- End quote ---
Three points here - the US government stopped putting amounts on the stamps around 1940 so they could increase tax without 'it being noticed
- from then until 1965 the stamps said "one pack"
- I've never seen "one deck" so if i saw one I'd assume a repro from Asia or somewhere
Hope this helps
Mike Ratledge:
--- Quote from: 52plusjoker on March 07, 2014, 07:17:29 AM ---
--- Quote from: Ratledge on March 06, 2014, 10:45:58 PM ---Question for you, Tom: if you see a USPCC "tax stamp" that says "1 Deck" on it as opposed to a certain amount (3 cents, 5 cents, etc) is that definitely a sign that it's a reproduction?
--- End quote ---
Three points here - the US government stopped putting amounts on the stamps around 1940 so they could increase tax without 'it being noticed
- from then until 1965 the stamps said "one pack"
- I've never seen "one deck" so if i saw one I'd assume a repro from Asia or somewhere
Hope this helps
--- End quote ---
That's probably exactly what it says, I'm looking at a picture and all I can make out is the big numeral "1" and the "xxCK" underneath and it does have the Internal Revenue semi-circular banner beneath it abbreviated. The seal is 'bent' over the edge of the deck top and the first two letters are out of focus. I do remember the AoS has a "T1234" (don't remember digits) code, so that would indicate 1954 because as you noted there were no tax stamps used after 1965 and T is 1914/34/54/74/94 (and I would suppose 2014 although it's not in the cheat sheet on Lee's site). 1954 is a good year for me to collect! ;^)
Don Boyer:
--- Quote from: Ratledge on March 07, 2014, 10:15:28 AM ---
--- Quote from: 52plusjoker on March 07, 2014, 07:17:29 AM ---
--- Quote from: Ratledge on March 06, 2014, 10:45:58 PM ---Question for you, Tom: if you see a USPCC "tax stamp" that says "1 Deck" on it as opposed to a certain amount (3 cents, 5 cents, etc) is that definitely a sign that it's a reproduction?
--- End quote ---
Three points here - the US government stopped putting amounts on the stamps around 1940 so they could increase tax without 'it being noticed
- from then until 1965 the stamps said "one pack"
- I've never seen "one deck" so if i saw one I'd assume a repro from Asia or somewhere
Hope this helps
--- End quote ---
That's probably exactly what it says, I'm looking at a picture and all I can make out is the big numeral "1" and the "xxCK" underneath and it does have the Internal Revenue semi-circular banner beneath it abbreviated. The seal is 'bent' over the edge of the deck top and the first two letters are out of focus. I do remember the AoS has a "T1234" (don't remember digits) code, so that would indicate 1954 because as you noted there were no tax stamps used after 1965 and T is 1914/34/54/74/94 (and I would suppose 2014 although it's not in the cheat sheet on Lee's site). 1954 is a good year for me to collect! ;^)
--- End quote ---
Sounds on the money to me. We're probably only now starting to see decks manufactured in January making it into stores, so the new letter code should reveal itself soon. They've been changing things around lately in terms of letter sequence and letters used so one can't make assumptions.
In recent years, the letter code has also become less necessary since they started prefixing it with a four digit code - the first two digits are the week of the year it was printed, the last two digits are the last two digits of the year it was printed. I have no idea when they started this practice, but it's recent - and welcomed! It allows for much more precise dating of a deck. If forced to guess, I'd say it started with the new print shop in Erlanger - but it's strictly a guess. The only problem with the codes, at least for the modern custom collector, is that most custom decks don't have the codes on them unless it was a deck designed by USPC for their own distribution channels rather than a contract job for a client.
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