The Spanish deck is generally presented in its 40-card version, which includes the numbers that go from 1 (the ace) to 7 and the figures: the jack with 10, the horse with 11 and the king with the 12. The cards are divided into four suits: coins, cups, swords and clubs.
The company Naipes Heraclio Fournier, a popular provider of playing cards, points out that the oldest in Spain dates back to 1390 and was located in Seville. At that time, the division into four suits was already used, which have a meaning. Each of them represents a social class of the Middle Ages.
In this way, the golds correspond to money and merchants. The cups are the image assigned to the clergy. The swords refer to the nobility and the military. Finally, the bastos are the symbol of the peasantry and the serfs.
The French deck also has cards dealt into four suits. Each of them has a direct relationship with those of the Spanish deck. Therefore, golds are associated with diamonds, spades with spades, cups with hearts, and clubs with clubs.
The traditional Spanish deck of 40 cards is recommended for playing tute, mus, brisca, broom and donkey, among others. The 50-card edition is also common, adding the numbers 8 and 9 and a couple of jokers. This version is used for chinchón, for example.
Fournier sells a variant made up of 55 cards, in which the numbers from 1 to 10 appear and the three figures for each of the suits. In addition, three jokers are added.
The company not only offers Spanish decks with changes in their number of cards, but also with differences in their design. Its website talks about other options, “such as the Castilian, Catalan and Spanish poker cards, different card sizes and special versions such as the giant, ‘lilliput’ and round”.
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