Lend Me Five Shillings
or “Her Majesty’s Privy Purse” - a merry round-the-table game published by D. Ogilvy.
“Lend Me Five Shillings” is a victorian card game using a pack of 56 playing-cards consisting of 24 picture and 32 money cards. The pictures are humorous portraits of the Queen (Victoria), The Prince of Wales, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, etc. and the money cards depict old UK currency values of one shilling, a florin (two shillings), half-a-crown (two shillings and six pence) or a crown (five shillings).
Each picture card has a two-line verse at the bottom. For example, the School Mistress says: “So small my stipend from the new School Board, I'll lend one shilling, ’tis all I can afford.” Play commences with each player placing two counters into the pool. Whilst the game involves trying to achieve the exact sum of fifteen or twenty shillings, the verses emit messages emphasizing the virtue of generosity instead of begging or borrowing, as summarised in the poem quoted in the rules
“’Tis a very good world we live in,
To lend, or to spend, or to give in !
But to beg or to borrow, or get a man’s own,
’Tis the very worst world that ever was known.”
The Picture Cards
The Money Cards
Above: Lend Me Five Shillings or “Her Majesty’s Privy Purse” published by D. Ogilvy, 17 Christ Church Road, Hampstead, London, c.1875. 56 cards plus instruction sheet, backs plain pink, 9.1x6.5 cm. © The Trustees of the British Museum • Museum number 1896,0501.1040►
The cards are housed in a pasteboard case shared with "Laughing made Easy".
References
O’Donoghue, Freeman M: Catalogue of the collection of playing cards bequeathed by Lady Charlotte Schreiber (English 108), Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1901 [digital version here]
British Museum: number 1896,0501.1040►
Thomson, Michael: The One Shilling Card Games by Ogilvy and Jaques in EPCS Newsletter issue 136, February 2023.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
I am the founder of The World of Playing Cards (est. 1996), a website dedicated to the history, artistry and cultural significance of playing cards and tarot. Over the years I have researched various areas of the subject, acquired and traded collections and contributed as a committee member of the IPCS and graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal. Having lived in Chile, England, Wales, and now Spain, these experiences have shaped my work and passion for playing cards. Amongst my achievements is producing a limited-edition replica of a 17th-century English pack using woodblocks and stencils—a labour of love. Today, the World of Playing Cards is a global collaborative project, with my son Adam serving as the technical driving force behind its development. His innovative efforts have helped shape the site into the thriving hub it is today. You are warmly invited to become a contributor and share your enthusiasm.
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