Photographic scenic aces come with this deck, which was designed, printed and published by Rijnen Reclamecentrum from Amsterdam from 2002 onwards. A simple modern design on the courts that was inspired by the international pattern. All the aces show sites and the usual buildings from Amsterdam: the Rijksmuseum, Dam square, Central Station and the famous Westerkerk. The latter is a remarkable picture, because the photo was taken from a spot that provides almost the same view as drawn on a Piatnik ace from around 1930.
Rijnen Reclamecentrum can produce very small editions, compared to other printers who usually will only print large amounts. Printing is done with a technique called Digital Plastic Printing.

Hearts Playing Cards is a division of the Van Den Berg & Versluis printing office from Dortdrecht. From 2002 on they have printed and published 3 different patterned decks. One has the international pattern and the other two are reproductions of antique decks with Dutch scenic aces. For this deck the courts from a luxury deck by Piatnik were combined with aces from a deck, that was originally published by Frommann & Morian. The joker was borrowed from Müller. The cards have been digitally upgraded in design and colour.

	To complete the circle we’ll end with this deck. It was also printed and published by Hearts Playing Cards.
	This deck is an adapted copy of the Lattmann deck that has been shown here as one of the earliest decks with Dutch scenic aces. See Germany 01-03. The accompanying joker (not shown) is an adapted Piatnik joker.

	Here too the original designs and colours have been digitally adapted and a modern type font was used.

TIMELINE

Now that the decks have been shown and the circle completed, a rough timeline can be constructed in the history of the Dutch scenic aces:
* 4^th quarter of the 19^th century: German manufacturers introduced Dutch scenic aces here in imported packs.
* 1^st quarter of the 20^th century: a Dutch printing company starts publishing decks with scenic aces in an effort to compete with the German quality packs.
* 1^st and 2^nd quarter of the 20^th century: Belgian manufacturers start publishing the lesser quality decks with different sets of Dutch scenic aces for the general public. Various standard patterns were used.
* 3^rd quarter: the Belgian manufacturers hold a large part of the Dutch (advertising) market and the only major Dutch manufacturer disappears from the stage. Each Belgian manufacturer still used their own version of the Dutch pattern and accompanying set of aces.
* 4^th quarter: the playing card divisions of three Belgian manufacturers have been united in Carta Mundi and this firm will from now on control the Dutch advertising market almost completely with their standard Dutch pattern and standard set of scenic aces.

This monopoly on the Dutch market may be a blessing for the general public in terms of easy recognition at playing, but as a collector I would prefer a bit more competition again. In the past this has proven to be a guarantee for a more diverse offering of patterns and accompanying sets of aces. It's a pity, but after 25 years of looking at the same pattern and these aces, there's nothing to dream about anymore.

Joop Muller

Literature:
-Turnhout, E. Tilman & E. van Autenboer, published by Nationaal Museum van de Speelkaart, 1983.
-Braun Catalogue IV: Dondorf.
-Wüst Catalogue by M. Shaw & P. Symons, 2006.
-Van NSF – SN by N. van Berkel, B. Haleber, L. Rijnen, A. Sinselmeyer, 1986.
-Speelkaarten van Nederlandse Gelegenheidsspeelkaartenmakers, by W. Hogenes & J. Sietsma, 1988.
-De Speelkaarten collectie van het Belastingmuseum, by Prof. Dr. Van der Poel, 1993.

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