This set of yellowed ancient hand-crafted playing cards featuring 52 intricate maps of English and Welsh counties, would be the envy of any card table… as the 337 year-old collection is worth £4,500.
Made by well-known map maker Robert Morden in 1676, each of the hand-drawn 52 cards features a different county along with a map of major cities and roads, as well as the distance to London.
Each card has the name of the county at the top, along with the card number on the left, translated into large Roman numerals on the right. The face cards feature King Charles II, his wife, Catherine of Braganza, as the Queen, and various male heads on the Jack cards.
The 1676 deck will be auctioned at Sotheby’s next week.
