hist-games: Baraja Espanola

[Huette von Ahrens]

Hi!

I haven't done any research on playing cards or card
games.  I
know some stuff about what we consider a standard deck
of cards
and its varient, the pinochle deck.  I also know some
stuff 
about tarot cards, but nothing in depth.

Over the recent holidays, a friend of mine got stuck
for quite 
a few hours in an airport, waiting for it to reopen
and let him
fly home.  While he waited, he purchased what he
thought was
a standard deck of cards to play solitaire.  What he
actually
bought was a deck called Baraja Espanola.  It is an
interesting
deck that seems to be a mix of a standard playing deck
and a
tarot deck.  The suits are gold coins, swords, cups
and clubs
[i.e. like a large wooden club, not the clover club]. 
Each suit
consists of number cards from 1 through 9 and three
face cards
of a knave, a cavalier, and a king.  The total of
cards is 48.
There are also two cards which I would call "jokers",
although
they don't have a joker on them, just a logo.

What card games are played with this deck?  Is this a
deck 
closer to what might have been used pre-1600?  Is
there anything
written in English about this deck?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Huette


"While I dance I cannot judge,
I cannot hate,
I cannot seperate myself from life.
I can only be joyful and whole.
That is why I dance."
--Hans Bos

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