Bank of England playing cards
Bank of England playing cards, reflecting prominent characters and events from the Bank’s history.
This pack of cards was printed in Belgium in 1992 for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. The court cards together with the ace of spades reflect prominent characters and events from the Bank’s history – all of which are detailed in a separate information card. For example, the king of spades shows Sir john Houblon, first governor 1694-97, and the king of diamonds shows Edward Payne, governor 1771-1773. Other courts display uniforms and bank livery or other associated items (e.g. on the queen of hearts, the old lady of Threadneedle Street from a Gilray cartoon (1797) from which the Bank’s name is believed to be derived). The Bank’s first seal is featured on the reverse.
Above: Bank of England playing cards published by the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, 1992.
• Bank of England: History►
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
Related Articles
Ben 10 playing cards
Characters from the American animated television science fantasy series Ben 10.
Le Globe Céleste
Views and plans of five international exhibitions held in Paris between 1855 and 1900.
Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....
Baraja de Juan Martín Zamorano
Deck inspired by El Pendón de los Zamorano, a military pennant dating from 1501, published by Priego...
Disney’s Aladdin playing cards
Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.
2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...
Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.
New interest in old games
Games once fashionable are now eclipsed by quicker gratifications.
Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...
Treasures from the Bodleian Library
Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...
Carte di Colombo
Fully illustrated pack designed by Pier Canosa commemorating the 500th anniversary of the discovery ...
Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.
Victorian grocer’s scale plate
Large flat plate decorated with highly coloured English cards and royal arms.
Queen of Arts
A wide variety of women artists celebrated on cards with illustrations by Laura Callaghan.
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.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
