Viassone - Playing cards - Paper

This rare deck of Piacentine playing cards, in good condition despite its age, shows, as highlighted in the photos, some defects on a limited number of cards; the original colors are still largely recognizable overall. The rarity of this object lies in the fact that during the world conflicts, this particular deck dates back to the twentieth century; similar decks were distributed to families and soldiers at the front, so it is not common to find either complete decks or ones in acceptable condition, because many specimens for this reason were lost.

Made by Alessandro Viassone, a famous playing-card producer active in Turin.

At the top of the Ace of Diamonds there is a rectangular tax stamp with the date May 1942.

Until 1972, the Italian state applied a fabrication tax on decks of cards, and the stamp was placed precisely on the Ace of Diamonds.