Nationale-Nederlanden
Playing cards produced for Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, 1984.
Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, 1984. The court cards are richly detailed, and the four aces are especially exuberant celebrations of nature.


Above: Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company advertising deck produced in Belgium by Carta Mundi, 1984. 52 cards + 3 jokers + extra card in box.
Note from Roddy Somerville
This pack was also issued with English indices. The quality of board used is superior to that of the issue with Dutch indices and the cards have a linen finish. The main back colour is blue with a white border.

There is no doubt more that could be said about these cards, especially the fact that Henry VIII and François 1er are two of the Kings. The other courts are probably identifiable as well but I haven't spent any time trying to work out who's who - RS.

By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
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, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.
Related Articles

IG Chemie Papier Keramik
Promotional pack designed by Karl-Heinz Schroers for a German trade union with comical bears on the ...

More Menthol Filter Cigarettes
Elongated cards with designs by Wong Yui Man advertising More cigarettes.

Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.

Barok
Dutch pack from the 1950s with colourful Baroque courts, reprinted in 1983.

The Glasgow Pack
Issued to celebrate Glasgow’s reign as European City of Culture in 1990, with city views and works o...

Verkeers Kwartet
A helpful quartet game celebrating the 75th anniversary of road safety exams making traffic safer.

Leadmill playing cards
Promotional pack for an arts centre in Sheffield with designs by Martin F. Bedford.

SCOR playing cards
Bizarre and fantastical images by the artist Roland Topor for the SCOR reinsurance company.

Blake et Mortimer – La Marque Jaune
Blake and Mortimer comic strip characters created by Edgar P. Jacobs.

Simpson (Piccadilly) playing cards
Innovative advertising pack for Simpsons of Piccadilly designed by André François.

Scruffy Mutts
‘Scruffy Mutts’ dog-themed playing cards, United Kingdom, c.1998.

Hamlet Cigars
Advertising deck for “Hamlet mild cigars”, a Benson & Hedges product.

Smith-Corona Marchant
Simplified yet colourful court card designs by Avoine for Smith-Corona Marchant.

Austria Ski Team playing cards
Photos of members of the Austrian skiing team replace the normal courts on two different packs.

Het Olympisch kaart- en kwartetspel
Dual-purpose set featuring photos of sporting figures from the Netherlands on every card.

Unimog UX 100
Cartoons promoting the Unimog UX 100, a small truck produced by Mercedes-Benz.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days