Investors Overseas Services

Published November 03, 2020 Updated July 15, 2022

Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969.

1969 Switzerland AGMüller Advertising
Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) produced by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969

Special deck produced for Investors Overseas Services, Ltd (IOS) by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969. The ace of spades, with a bull and a bear rampant on a coat-of-arms topped with a coronet and oak leaves, has the motto "The Fund of Funds” which is a pooled investment fund that invests in other types of funds or hedge funds.

IOS was founded in 1955 with headquarters in Geneva  see Wikipedia

The court cards feature humourous double-ended designs with bulls and bears. The pip cards have the coat-of-arms at top right-hand corner, whilst the reverse features a bull and bear in armour, with the motto “IOS TOURNAMENT”.

Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) produced by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969 Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) produced by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969

Above: deck produced for Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) by A. G. Müller (Schaffhausen), c.1969. 52 cards + 2 Jokers + extra card in plastic box, gilded corners.

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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.

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