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One of the essential parts of the game of faro are the cards. Any standard 52 card deck will do. However, many people prefer to play faro in a historic or a reenactment setting and so playing with an 'old time-y deck' appeals to those people, especially if they are trying to preserve some historical accuracy. Provided here are some suggestions regarding what types and kinds of historic reproduction decks are out there.
Here is a quick-and-easy guide to historical decks:
A typical deck of the time period is going to have 'squared' edges, meaning that the corners are square and not round. The thought was that marked decks would be shaved down as to make it easy to cheat so a 'squared' deck should be an indication of a honest deck, but that may not always be the case. Rounded edges started coming into vogue at some point.
In earlier decks the cards did not have a finishing coat on them. Uncoated cards meant that the deck had not been tampered with. Later at some point card makers began coating the cards to prevent tampering as well as make the cards easier to shuffle and handle. I am unaware at this time when decks began to be coated and by whom.
The face cards should be single sided. This change takes place to double sided or mirrored in the later part of the 19th century as poker became more popular.
The pips or the suit 'dots' were not accompanied with any indices until after 1864, so you had to recognize the pattern or count the pips in a given number card.
Please note, I make no pretense to be an expert on cards or assert that any one deck is 'correct' or state that there is only one deck to have. It depends on the setting. A deck from 1864 is not correct for the 1830s. Playing in a modern setting, such as in the comforts of home and among friends, any historical deck adds a historic flair, but is really unnecessary. As stated before, any standard 52 card deck will do, including a modern deck bought at a gas station for a buck. I have decided to list the decks that I have had a chance to examine in order of date and give suggestions for historic use.
18th Century
This decks is a reproduction of a 18th century deck. In many cases the cards are hand painted but apparently printing was somewhat available. The backs are plain as was common in this time period to try to prevent marking the cards so to signal to the player the suit and denomination. Like so many other kinds of prevention method, it ultimately was replaced by decorative backs to hide the marks made on them by players as well as aesthetic value. The exact printer of this reproduction deck is hard to determine because there is no manufacturing or printing information on the cards the package it came in but I have concluded that it printed by Americana Souvenirs, but that may be incorrect. The cards are squared and appear to be uncoated with a textured paper. It also comes without a tuck box so you might want to think of another way to preserve these papers because a plastic bag is not a period appropriate way to carry them. This and other 18th century decks are appropriate for use in Pharaon/Basset. Although two decks should be needed; one for the dealer and another for every 4 punters.
Another 18th century or early 19th century deck is by Homestead Historical Folk Toys. It comes with an informational paper about playing cards of early America as well as a playing card sized brief origin of playing cards in general. The cards are squared with uncoated cardstock and printed on one side. It is claimed that that the deck was copied "after authentic cards of Early America." No details regarding the original printer that was copied. It comes with a cloth bag to keep the cards in, which is nice. However it seems like a strange choice to put delicate square papers in a somewhat bulky bag to be bent and creased if not properly stowed in one's luggage. It is available at their website and at some historical or interpretive sites. As mentioned above, this kind of deck would be appropriate to use in Pharaon or Basset; follow the suggestions for using the deck as a livret.
1830s
The Great Mogul deck by I. Hardy, a classic gift store staple of 18th century sites. Not sure who the printer of this deck is (I had heard it was from Colonial Williamsburg but I don't see it offered on their website). The cards are squared with uncoated textured card-stock and printed on one side, the other side being blank. The lack of a coat and the textured papers means that the cards stick to each other and makes shift and shuffling difficult. Unlike the other decks above, there is a paper wrapper with several notices about the steep fines for trying to resell the decks in Great Britain, reusing the label to circumvent duties, and using unlabeled cards. The bottom line is don't mess with your cards or the duties because you would be messing with England. For colonials this might be a consideration but if you are an American in the 19th century, this would be an import and the purchase would be subject to a duty tax, much like the tax stamps Americans had on their decks. The wrapper is also embossed and comes wrapped with a string, which adds more class to the historical presentation. As mentioned above, which was also mentioned before that, this kind of deck would be appropriate to use in Pharaon or Basset. Unfortunately, it seems these decks are becoming harder to find but tend to run around $10- $15.
Old Sturbridge Village used to make a reproduction deck that reflected the 1830s to 1840s, the time period in which Old Sturbridge Village is set. The cards are squared and coated. This unique deck features American statesmen and generals as "Kings", Greek Muses and Goddess' as Queens, and Native American leaders as Jacks. Another interesting feature is that the suits are all different colors. Typically, clubs and spade are black and hearts and diamonds are red. However in this deck, clubs are green, diamonds are orange, hearts are red, and spades are blue. I believe these are largely out of print but are still found from time-to-time so I cannot say where a reliable place to purchase them would be from and at what price. This deck could be used to play Pharaon, the rule of 1836, and modern faro.
1858
US Game Systems, Inc. just recently (2018) added a new deck to their historical playing card collection, a reproduction of Samuel Hart's playing cards dated 1858. The cards are squared, have a synthetic coating, two additional cards that talk about the history of this deck and Samuel Hart, and two Ace of Spades. One ace is a simple ace while the other has a stylized ace that was more common of the time period. It's basically kind of like a title page of a book and a business card you can play with. Since modern audiences are not necessarily familiar with this fancy ace, the simple ace has been included "for ease of play." It is important to note that so you do not end up playing with two Ace of Spades! The card back design is also of note for having a single sided design. Most card back designs are mirrored patterns so having a design that is viewed "right side up" or "upside down" is rather unusual. A major consideration for my fellows who portray the American Civil War is that a 1858 date for this deck means that it can be used throughout any part of the conflict. Most of the other decks, in particular the ever common 1864 "Highlander" deck by Hart, are really not appropriate for 1861, 1862, or 1863, according to strict adherence to historical accuracy, so this deck is a major boon to the average Civil War reenactor or living historian who wants a deck that has no such problems in being historically accurate for the Civil War. It is available from the US Game Systems website, Amazon, eBay, and various sutlers on the web.
1861
This deck of playing cards is probably best suited in the 'novelty' category. It is a deck of floral playing cards. The four suits have been replaced with Roses, Pinks, Violets, and Heart's-Ease. The fortress-like box includes a brief history of these cards as being published in 1861 and include the likeness of Princess of Alexandra as the Queen of Roses, "who was at that time the Princess of Wales." A fun little historical anecdote that explains her appearance but she was not Princess of Wales until 1863 having only met Albert Edward (future King Edward VII) in September of 1861 and proposed to her in 1862. So maybe some wishful thinking on the publisher's part. History aside, it seems this would be an imported deck from England. The cards are square and have a synthetic finish. Further the deck includes a Joker as well as a "Little Joker" card. While thoughtful of them, the Joker card had not been invented yet and further I have yet to hear of a "Little Joker" card; some modern contemporary decks include two Jokers. But since the "Joker" car is still being developed by Samuel Hart in the 1860s as the "Imperial Bower", years before it will become the Joker, the inclusion of these two cards is blatantly anachronistic. The back side includes the printer of this reproduction so it is also not very authentic either. The printer of this deck, F.G. and Company, are no longer doing business, or at least their website domain has been shut down since this printing in 2003 and now, so availability of this deck is limited and not very likely to be reproduced again. I found it on Amazon. However, I would shy away from using this deck to buck the tiger as it has a dainty feel to the deck; I would humbly suggest a friendly game between the sexes would be a better use of this deck of cards. Of course, as mentioned before, any deck will do to play faro and so this deck while being partly anachronistic would still be able to be used for faro or any other card game. Also the average player may not be able to easily identify between a Violet and a Hearts-Ease (Five pointed petals and five rounded petals, respectively) so there might be some confusion in game play if the suit matter. Just throwing that out there.
1862 and 1863
These two decks were originally printed during the American Civil War as 'patriotic' decks to support the Union cause. The traditional four suits were replaced by the union shield, star, flag, and eagle. The deck also replaced the Jacks with majors, Queens with Lady Liberty, and Kings with colonels. This seems like a fun thing to do until you have people who cannot recognize a major for a colonel, so perhaps you could begin play by distinguishing which is which so there are less problems later. The first deck was first printed in 1862 and the second in 1863. The 1863 deck used the same persons for the face cards but changed the images. These would make a good addition to either side to use as they would be readily available for purchase to Union soldiers and a battlefield pick-up for a Confederate soldier. The cards made by US Game Systems, Inc. have rounded corners and have a synthetic coating on them. It is becoming more difficult to find these decks so procuring a set might take some perseverance.
1863
On the topic of novelty and patriotic playing cards, another similar two decks started being printed in 1863 that featured Union and Confederate generals, respectively. These decks were originally printed by M. Nelson out of New York. Printed to the face of each card was the engraved image of the General and the value and suit of the card in the upper left-hand corner. I speculate that this card in the left hand corner will be the inspiration for the "Triplicates" style of cards later on in the 19th century, but have no way to verify it; simply a humble observation. There seems to be no rhyme or reason why which general received what suit or denomination. For example, by 1863 General Grant had received wide acclaim for forcing 'unconditional surrender' on Fort Donelson and his victory at Vicksburg, but he represents the 5 of diamonds. The opposite is also true. The ace of spade has General Lawrence Pike Graham on its face and even I had to look and research this fellow because he had escaped my notice as a student of the Civil War. The images also are dubious. General Sherman on the 2 of clubs is featured without the mustache portion but includes his beard, and General Robert E. Lee, who wore a beard throughout the conflict is featured in his pre-war mustache. It seems that the artist used whatever images of the generals were available and made them onto a card regardless of what the generals actually looked like. Each deck includes a historical explanation of the cards and two additional cards that give the names and dates of the generals on the cards as a reference. The cards have round corners and have a synthtic coating, but the coating seems to be a bit sticky and so they do not slide of flow very well. Both decks are manufactured by US Game System, Inc and a widely available at a reasonable price.
1863
1864
In addition to Samuel Hart's 1858 dated playing card deck, US Game Systems, Inc also began offering Lawrence, Cohen & Co's "Patent National Playing Cards" dated to November 1863. One fun decorative feature on the tuck box is a 1 cent proprietary tax stamp that was on the original paper wrapper to the box. The stamp helps lend some additional historical accuracy to the outside. It is a another patriotic Union inspiring deck with mirrored union shields on the back and a patriotic eagle motif on the ace of spades, of which there is the fancy version and a plain version. Aside from the patriotic designs it appears to be a typical playing card deck of the time period. The deck includes two additional cards with historical background of L. I. Cohen, his son, Solomon, and nephew John Lawrence and early American card manufacturing. The cards are squared with a light synthetic coating on them and are now available at a very affordable price.
Perhaps the most widely available Civil War era card deck today is US Game Systems, Inc "Highlander" cards dated 1864. If you were a reenactor since the 1990's this was basically the only deck available in a sutler tent or period vendor. They remain a standby for many today. The "Highlander" deck was originally printed by the L. I. Cohen Company out of New York, same as the cards above. The deck again includes a fancy Ace of Spades and a plain one for ease of play, but in this case the fancy Ace is blue. By this time the L. I. Cohen company was advertising an "ivory surfaced finish" to the decks and indeed this deck has a coating (albeit synthetic) as well as squared corners. The box also features a tax stamp as above dated June of 1864. These decks are very widely available and are found at an affordable price as well.
1864
This deck is probably the most modern of the decks here surveyed. It is because this deck has indices in the upper left and lower right sides of the card. It is a copy of Samuel Hart's Linen Eagle playing cards dated to 1864. This reproduced deck is a copy of the first deck to offer this innovation so common and familiar today. Until the indices were in the corners the cards held in hand were spread out, often using two hands to hold them all. This clever addition allowed the player to 'fan' their cards and hold in one hand since the player could read the corner without having to glance at the whole card. The man responsible for this was named Cyrus Saladee and received a patent in 1864. Samuel Hart used it and had Saladee's name put on Ace of Spades card. Consequently, this deck is known as the Saladee Patent deck. The deck also has a number of surprising additions. It also features an additional card: The Imperial Bower. The Imperial Bower is another innovation for the American audience responding the popularity of the German introduced game of Euchre. The Imperial Bower became an essential part of the game and the name was dropped to the Euchre card, then being further corrupted and changed to the 'joker'. It also has a "Bazique Register" card for use in the game of Bazique (Spelled Bezique today). It basically helps keep score. Bezique is a trick taking game from France derived from Piquet and eventually becomes Pinochle. The original would have had little metal arrow arms in the card. However the reproduced card does not have the arrows but unless you are an avid bezique, most people will not be greatly impacted by this omission. In addition to the tuck box, the whole package came with a paper wrapper sealed with two tax stamps. This reproduced deck was originally part of a Kickstarter campaign by Michael Scott of Home Run Games to get it reproduced. There were three styles of differing quality: the original release, a limited release, and a common run. I shelled out for the original run since it was a rare thing and limited to 864 but I also acquired a common run that is a more affordable. These are in limited availability depending on what style you wish to acquire for yourself. The cards are squared and have a synthetic coating.
1865
Another classic card set again comes from US Game Systems, Inc, this time is it is a copy of Andrew Dougherty's Illustrated Poker deck. The word 'illustrated' harkens unto the illuminated medieval scripts that were greatly embellished with pictorials. In this case the gold colored ink used to embellish the suits and face cards gives the cards a regal appearance that would be probably best set on a high roller table of the time period rather than a rough-and-tumble skinning den. The deck also boasts a heavy card stock box that gives ample protection to the cards unlike nearly every other card deck which feature a simple paper tuck box. The deck also has three additional cards that describe more about Andrew Dougherty and his card business, playing cards during the Civil War, and the card deck itself. This deck has rounded corners and is synthetically coated and is widely available. However this deck can be a bit pricey so shop around and look for a good deal before purchasing. It is a very impressive card deck that certainly levels up the playing experience from a common game to an ambiance of a high roller table.
1860s
Late 1860s - early 1870s
Here is another reproduction worth investigating for the Post-Civil War period. This reproduction deck has rounded corners and has a synthetic finish coat on it. This deck is an example or a late 19th century deck because it does not have the indices which were not widely adopted until the 1870s but this deck also has the doubled or mirrored face cards, something that started to become popular as Poker gained popularity. The mirrored face cards made it easier to read the cards because otherwise it would telegraph what kinds of cards you possessed, such as flipping face cards right-side up would signal to another player the possible values of your hand. The original deck is in the collections of the Fort Laramie Historical Association who make the reproduction deck. It is apparently English in origin, the original manufacturer being cited as "De La Rue & Co. - London". Also the Ace of Spades has a 3 pence duty printed into the design. In the informational card included in the deck, by 1862 the duty tax was marked on the wrapper, this allowed the manufacturer to create ornate Ace of Spade designs since that card was only to be printed by the British government as a means of controlling the tax. This deck is a Fort Laramie Historical Association product so it will be harder to find outside of their website, which is found right here.
1876
1860s
Here is a novelty deck sold by Ragged Soldier Sutlery. It is sold as "a doll's deck", an accessory for dolls. It really is. See the photos for a reference. I wanted to use a period coin for reference to be snarky but it would not be very helpful so I choice a contemporary coin. It is a full deck, though I had my doubts at first. This are printed to card stock with squared corners and no finish. The deck seems to be a scaled down version of the I. Hardy Great Mogul deck featured above. While I had anticipated this to be for a "travelling set" for players, sharps, and gamblers on the go, where space and weight are a consideration; they are honestly really too small to be of practical value. They can be held many in a hand but getting them handled is a bother. They simply are too small and stick to whatever surface they are on. Still, it might be an option for someone who does not mind licking-and-sticking your thumb to pick up cards and needs a very compact and light pack of cards for whatever reason. Sells for around $5.
Good Ol' C & D Jarnagin sell their own deck. This deck apparently came from an original deck that was modified and adapted. No details about who the original printers were or a date these cards were used. I'm assuming that because they mainly do Civil War items, along with the Union shield, that the deck can be dated for the 1860s is a good guess. The cards have a coating and have square corners. Apparently, the varnish coat is applied by hand. The back of the cards features a military motif and come with a tuck box. The Ace of Spades show off the Jarnagin maker mark which is also on the tuck box. The cards can be found at http://jarnaginco.com/catframe.html and are in the personal items section.
1876
This copy of a Victor Mauger deck is dated to 1876, distributed during the World's Fair in Philadelphia commemorating that 100th year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The cards are coated and have rounded corners. The edges are gilded, which is a nice touch. In addition these cards have indices in all four corners (Quadruplicates) and the suits have different colors. However the color differentiation is slight. Still, the colors are black spades, red hearts, yellow diamonds, and blue clubs. A joker and a few extra blank and double cards are included, bringing the total of cards to 56. But by far my favorite feature is the fabric covered paper box. Talk about value added! Anything that helps protect the cards is a bonus in my book. You can get this box in orange or blue from their website for $20 but the versions that do not have the box are cheaper.
1885
Finally something for the Western and post-Civil War folks who want something a little more akin to their time period. Home Run Games produces this restored deck of the 1876 Andrew Dougherty No. 18 Triplicate patented deck. The deck features a miniature version of the card in the upper left hand and lower right hand corners, like the modern indices do, except instead of a number and suit, it is the whole card. So if you have problems recognizing the patterns of pips without a number in the corner, this may not be the deck for you. Still, it is a unique deck that improves the player's ability to hold their cards with one hand. "Triplicate" refers to the two mini cards in the corners and the whole card as the third. The cards have rounded corners and have a modern coating. The deck includes a card with two backs, a best bower card for Euchre, stylized Ace of Spades, a company card, and an informational card describing a little bit of what is outlined above.
NEW! Another deck for the slick westerner, this deck dates to 1885. Andrew Dougherty introduced the "Tally-Ho" brand of cards in that year and this is a restoration, suitable for all sorts of gaming, as they have the indices and double ended face cards that the modern player is used to. This is, in essence, a very familiar and similar to the decks we find today. The corners are rounded and have a coating that makes them easy to shuffle. These come with the standard 52 regular cards, a "Jolly Joker", a trade card, and informational card, for a total of 56. They are available directly from Home Run Games in three variations - the basic model (pictured here) and limited and original releases with graduating prices; the limited and original releases offer cosmetic upgrades aimed at a more historically accurate presentation, such as long tongue tuck boxes, paper wrapping, and tax stamps. These handle very well and would be a good first deck for someone looking to get started in playing cards in a historical setting. I probably should have opted for the more historical details.
1887
New! This deck is explicitly a Faro deck so I was instantly interested. The deck is a reproduction of the Russell & Morgan Co. Squared Faro #366 cards introduced in 1887. This one was part of a Kickstarter campaign over at Playing Card Decks. This deck has no indices, single sided face cards, rounded corners, a "snowflake" back design, some sort of modern coating, two dapper looking dogs on bicycles for Jokers, and a spare Ace of Spades; a basic Ace and a more traditional, fancy Ace. It also comes with a tuck box and a tax stamp. These handle very nicely and would be great for shuffling. Playing Card Decks offer a few variations for these cards, a basic version and a gilded one; available in red or blue for either. These are very nice and a great addition to your collection.
Undated
It is hard to ignore a reproduced copy of Hart's Squared cards, especially if they are specifically noted at being "Pharo cards." This deck has very vibrant colors on the face cards. Besides the colors, it is a very ordinary deck with a fancy Ace of Spades. One note is that the deck they I have seems to either have bled through the card or had transferred the back of one card to the face of the one on top of it. Not sure if this was something found in the original deck or something that happened in the printing process of the reproduced copy and the colors seem brighter then one would expect. One unique feature about the packaging is the side tuck box placement rather than a top placement like nearly all the other card offerings. It also features a tax stamp. As promised, the cards have square corners and have a synthetic coating.
2012
Perhaps the historical stuff is not your thing, but you want a card deck that plays nice and is familiar and have a degree of cool "authenticity". Here is a playing card equivalent to distressed jeans - the distressed Expert Back Bicycle brand playing card deck by the U.S. Playing Card Company. Just like regular Bicycle playing cards but each card has a stained and worn look to each card printed onto the front and back to the cards. Rather than spending time by a campfire endlessly fumbling, fading, creasing, dirtying, smudging, and staining the cards to give it a worn-in look, these card come looking like that fresh out of the box. The fronts of the cards are all uniquely distressed but the backs are all distressed exactly the same. The cards have a modern synthetic coating, the corners are round, comes with two promotional cards and two jokers. It appears that USPC is no longer offering this deck from this website. Found online, keyword "distressed expert back."
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