Curse of Scotland Gurney Benham's book about playing cards, in describing the game of Pope Joan he gives his own explanation for why this card is known as the Curse of Scotland: "The crown of Scotland contained only nine stones, as they never could afford a tenth". Eric Partridge's "Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang" considers: “the various theories are as interesting as they are unconvincing”. "Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland" says for "Curse of Scotland" "This is usually taken to be the nine of diamonds playing card, though explanations differ". The 19th century Tarot of Marseilles is one of the standard designs for tarot
International Playing-Card Society International Playing-Card Society The International Playing-Card Society (IPCS) is a non-profit organisation for those interested in playing cards, their design, and their history. While many of its members are collectors of playing cards, they also include historians of playing cards and their uses, particularly card games and their history. The IPCS is based in the United Kingdom, but has members worldwide, especially in Europe. It produces a quarterly journal "The Playing-Card", which publishes articles mostly in English but also in French, German, Italian and Spanish. It also publishes occasional monographs called "IPCS Papers", and issues pattern sheets which systematize types