Excelsior
Excelsior by A. Dougherty, c.1870.
Excelsior brand by A. Dougherty, 26 Beekman St, New York, c.1870.
This is a difficult deck to date. The shaded ace of spades is early. The Dougherty card-manufactory was moved to 26 Beekman Street in c.1858. The courts also appears to be early but the round corners should be later.



Above: Excelsior brand by A. Dougherty, 26 Beekman St, New York, c.1870. Images courtesy Gene Barry.
REFERENCES
Dawson, Tom & Judy: The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2000

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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