PIACENTINE CARDS

Due to the high readability of the suits and value, Biska Developers have chosen to use the "Piacentine" card deck for Briscola and Tresette games.  Below you can see the 4 different suits and the cards ordered by increasing value:

Clubs (1-10):




Cups (1-10):




Coins(1-10):




Swords (1-10):



History:

"Piacentine" cards are known as "spanish style cards".
The deck is made of 40 cards in which the last three of each suit, in numerical value, are represented by a "double headed" figure.
Up to some decades ago the figures used to be normal. After having been imported in Italy under the French occupation, they were probably re-drawn in the city of Piacenza. French soldiers, in fact, were using Spanish decks to play Aluette. This deck spread in the regions of the centre during XIX century, when the territories of the Papal state were expanding up to the Emilian cities. Perhaps the definitive aspect that characterises them today was reached in those years.

"Piacentine" cards find many similarities with the Spanish deck drawn by Phelippe Ayet in 1575, found in the Los Lujanes tower in Madrid during it's demolition. All the figures are in a standing position, contrary to the decks used in the north of Italy where the kings are usually sitting on a throne. The numerical drawings of the card values are also quite similar.