Above: enlargement of tax stamp on the ace of diamonds.

French-suited playing-cards in the Paris pattern appeared in Switzerland around the end of the sixteenth century, when many Lyonnais cardmakers were driven away by heavy taxes. The example shown here, printed from woodblocks and hand-coloured with stencils, was manufactured by J. Müller (Diessenhofen), c.1830-40.

For some time, the cantons of Switzerland had their own tax regulations, including tax stamps for playing-cards. The example shown here is a tax stamp from the Canton of St Gallen. For further details about Swiss tax stamps, see the website of Peter Endebrock.