Dating Information

One useful dating aid for decks manufactured by United States Playing Card Co., is a dating code placed on the Ace of Spades at time of manufacture. The code first came into use in 1904 and applies only to aces of spades that bear a letter plus a four-digit number. Combinations with fewer numbers have no meaning for collectors. The same codes were used by National Playing Card Co. and New York Consolidated Card Co., which were subsidiaries of the USPCC at the time of the start of code use in 1904. Andrew Dougherty and Russell Playing Card Co. also used these codes after they were acquired by the USPCC in 1907 and 1929 respectively. I do not know if other manufacturers, who often also have codes on ace of spades or other cards, varied the codes by identifiable dates.

The letter code is as follows:

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1920	1921	1922	1942	1923	1924	1904	1905
1940	1976	1941	1962	1943	1944	1925	1926
1960	1996	1961	1982	1963	1964	1945	1946
1980	1981	2002	1983	1984	1965	1966
2000	2001	2003	2004	1985	1986

J	K	L	M	N	P	R	S
1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913
1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933
1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953
1967	1968	1969	1979	1971	1972	1973
1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993

T	U	W	X	Y	Z
1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1974	1975	1977	1978	1979
1994	1995	1997	1998	1999

The main playing card manufacturers in the United States are shown below. These can be helpful in dating decks of cards, though it must be kept in mind that company names continued to be used even after mergers and acquisitions. As you can see from the discussion of card codes, there can be an interaction between those and the acquisition of a particular company by the USPCC.

Russell & Morgan
based in Cincinnati, OH (1881-1894)
from 1881-1885 named "Russell & Morgan Co."
from 1885-1891 named "Russell & Morgan Printing Co."
from 1891-1894 named "The United States Printing Co."
since 1894 named "The United States Playing Card Co."
from 1894-1925, Ace of Spades often read "U.S. Playing Card Co., Russell & Morgan Factories"

Andrew Dougherty
based in New York, NY (1848-1930)
from 1907-1930, was a separate part of USPC
in 1930, was merged into Consolidated Dougherty Co. (since 1962 operated as a division of USPC)

Perfection Playing Card Co.
based in Philadelphia, PA (1885-1889)
based in New York, NY (1890-1894)
in 1894, acquired by USPC, name was used until 1915

Samuel Hart & Co.
based in Philadelphia, PA (1844-1871)
from 1844-1849, named "Samuel Hart"
in 1871, was merged into "The New York Consolidated Card Co.", but name was used until 1930

New York Consolidated Card Co.
based in New York, NY (1871-1930)
from 1894-1930, was a seperate part of USPC
in 1930, was merged into Consolidated Dougherty Co. (since 1962 operated as a division of USPC)

National Card Co.
based in Indianapolis, IN & New York, NY (1886-1894)
in 1894, was merged with USPC

American Playing Card Co.
based in Kalamazoo, MI (1886-1915)
in 1915 it was acquired by USPC

Standard Playing Card Co.
based in Chicago, IL (1890-1930)
from 1894, operated as independent part of USPC
in 1930, was merged into Consolidated Dougherty Co.

Willis W. Russell Card Co.
based in Milltown, NY (1905-1911)
in 1912, was merged with Russell Playing Card Co.

American Bank Note Co.
based in New York, NY (1908-1914)

Kalamazoo Playing Card Co.
based in Kalamazoo, MI (1903-1912)
from 1903-1906 named "The Kalamazoo Paper Box & Card Co."
in 1912 was merged with "Russell Playing Card Co."

Russell Playing Card Co.
based in Milltown, NY (1912-1928)
in 1929, became a division of USPC, but name was used for some years later

Western Publishing Co., Inc.
based in Racine, WI & Chicago, IL (since 1918)
from 1918-1919 named "Western Press" (Chicago)
from 1919-1920 named "Logan Printing House" (Chicago)
from 1920-1927 named "Midland Playing Card Co." (Chicago)
from 1924-1926 named "M.B. Sheffer Card Co." (Chicago)
from 1926-1927 named "M.B. Sheffer Card Co." (Racine)
Brands
"Inter-Ocean Playing Card Co." (1924-1927)
"Western Playing Card Co."
"Whitman Plating Card Co."

International Playing Card Co.
based in Ontario, Canada (since 1914)
the international division of USPCC
maintained its own manufacturing operation from 1928 to 1991, but in recent years it focuses as a sales branch of the USPC

Arrco Playing Card Co.
based in Chicago, IL (1920's-1987)
from 1920's-1935 it was named 'Arrow Playing Card Co.'
in 1987, was acquired by USPC
Arrco used many different seals on their playing cards after the use of tax stamps was phased out.

Brown & Bigelow
based in St. Paul, MN (1927-1980's)
in 1980's, acquired by Hoyle
Stancraft was a subsidiary of Brown & Bigelow and was established to bring their products to the retail market. Hoyle was Stancraft’s major brand name. Hoyle became such a strong brand name that after 1975 the division's name was changed to Hoyle Products. In the late 1960’s, B&B was acquired by Standard Packaging, which was in turn acquired by Saxon Industries in 1970.

Pyramid Playing Card Co.
based in Brooklyn, NY (1920-1933)
since 1925, under leadership of NYCC (USPC)
in 1929, Brooklyn plant was dismantled
in 1933, the corporation was finally dissolved

Gibson Playing Card Co.
based in Cincinnati, OH & New York, NY (1925-1940's)

Paul-Son Playing Cards, Inc.
based in Las Vegas, NV ( - 2003)
in 2003, was bought out by Bud Jones

Hoyle Products
based in St. Paul, MN (1980's-2001)
in 2001, acquired by USPCC
a division of Brown & Bigelow/Standard Packaging Corp.

KEM Plastic Playing Cards, Inc.
in 2004, acquired by USPCC

GEMACO Playing Card Co.
based in Blue Springs, MI (1970's-2000)
in 2000, acquired by USPCC

This stamp was in use from 1894 to 1896. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS - ON HAND AUG. 1894 - TWO CENTS' and 'U.S. - I.R.'.
This stamp was in use from 1894 to 1917. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS - ACT OF AUG. 1894 - TWO CENTS' and 'U.S. - I.R.'. The stamp was cancelled by the U.S.P.C.CO. with the date 5-1-01.
These stamps were in use from 1917 to 1919. The overprint mentions 'Act of 1917', when taxes were increased, and on the second stamp also the new value '7 CENTS'.
These were in use from 1917 to 1919, the Act of 1917 is referenced by the overprint '17'. They were cancelled by N.Y.C.C.CO.
This is another stamp in use from 1917 to 1919. The overprint is the new value '7'. It was cancelled by S.P.C.CO. (Standard).
These again were in use from 1917 to 1919, the center row of the cancelling shows the new value '7 CTS.' (cancelled by R.P.C.Co. (Russell) and dated 10-4-'17) resp. '7 CENTS' (cancelled by S.P.C.Co. (Standard) dated 10-4-1917).
This is the last version in use from 1917 to 1919, the overprint shows the new value '7c'. Both stamps were cancelled by R.P.C.Co. (Russell) on '1-25-'18'.
This stamp was in use from 1924 to 1929. The text is 'U.S.I.R.', 'PLAYING CARDS,' and '10 CENTS.' The stamp was cancelled by W. P. L. CO.
This stamp was in use from 1940 to 1965. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '1 PACK', and 'U.S.I.R.'. It was cancelled by A.P.C.CO. (Arrco).
These are two more of the 'CLASS A' stamps. They were in use from 1919 to 1924. The text is 'U.S.I.R.', 'PLAYING CARDS,' and 'CLASS A.' The left stamp has an '8c' overprint, and was canceled by the P.P.C.Co., the right stamp was cancelled by U.S.P.C.Co. dated 8-1-1922.
These stamps were in use from 1919 to 1924. Note the '8 Cts.' resp. '8c' overprint! The left stamp was cancelled by the AD (Dougherty), the right one by R.P.C.Co. (Russell), both with dated 4-1-19.
The top stamp was in use from 1929 to 1940. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '10 CENTS', and 'U.S.INT.REV.'. The stamp was cancelled by K. P. Inc. in 1930. The stamp below was in use from 1940 to 1965. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '1 PACK', and 'U.S.INT.REV.'. It was cancelled by E.E.F. CORP. (Fairchild).
These stamps were in use from 1918 to 1919. The text is 'U.S.INT.REV.', 'PLAYING CARDS,' and 'CLASS A.' Both stamps have have '7 CENTS' in the center row of the cancellation, and they were cancelled by the U.S.P.C.Co. with the date 3-4-1919.

Dating Information

Card Codes

Manufacturer Names

Tax Stamps