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This pack that was produced by the Imperial Playing-Card Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, from c. 1875. The designs are by Adolf I. Sharleman (1826 - 1901). The cards exist as patience pack (as shown here) and as regular size pack.

The Ace of Diamonds states what the tax was used for, the text is an abbreviation of 'W Polsu Imperatorskago Wospitalnago Doma' ('For the benefit of the Imperial orphanage')

There is another text (twice) on the King of Clubs: This means 'nauka i iskustwo' (science and arts). Thanks to Ulrich Knüpfer for the translation.

The cards have been heavily used, and one of the uses must have been fortune telling. There are hand-written French inscriptions on many of the cards that suggest this.