March 29

Of some decks you know exactly where, how and for how much you got it. I had spend 5 days in St. Petersburg and taken the night train to Moscow for a 6 day visit to Sacha. He showed me around different markets, but I also went out on my own on a few days. Today's lockdown deck was found on the Arbat in one of the bric-a-brac/antique stores. The store owner preferred payment in euros and together with an Austrian deck from around 1900, this Russian Trappola deck, also known as the Circus deck, changed hands for € 70. It was printed by the Imperial Playing Card Factory (later Colour Printing Plant) from 1863 until the Soviet revolution in 1917. This deck probably dates from around 1900.

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