1863 Patent National Reproduction Playing Cards USGS

This turned out to be an interesting piece of Americana and American history. I was particularly taken by the apparently authentic image of a tax stamp with LC Cohen stamp from November 1863 superimposed. Pretty cool! Having been born approximately when the USA entered WWII, my family was always engaged in card games. I was never an intense collector of card decks; but I did always purchase foreign decks of interest on trips, and also kept card decks given to airline passengers back in the '60's and '70's. I have also been a fan of American history, and this deck fits that bill to a T because of the two-card history of who printed the deck back in the day, and their corporate history during and after the Civil War. Three observations: (1) I can't believe the paper/card stock was this good back then, but maybe so; (2) I bet the square corners are precisely correct (and I'm glad to see an improvement in that regard over the years; and, finally (3) I'm pleased that the size of the "working man's deck" has stayed the same over the years, although the "bridge-sized deck" was certainly in vogue when I was younger.

Work of arts for $2. Can’t pass the deal.

Nice deck.

Not good

I bought these after reading past reviews and I'll just cut to the chase. No, they don't feel like plastic. They riffle shuffle like a dream, because of their sharp corners. Yes, you'll need some practice to handle like rounded cornered cards, but they're mostly just fine. The only issue I had was doing a single handed cut, but I got over it after practicing it a few times. If I were to say anything specific to this deck it would be that, like the originals, they are sturdy and meant to be durable. Not the deck for every purpose, but the historical aspect will certainly make me want to practice workarounds where I need to.