Ace of The Playing Cards
The ace of spades is traditionally seen as the highest card in the deck of playing cards, although the actual value of the card varies from game to game. In popular myth and folklore, it is also known as the "death card". The history of the ace of spades is closely tied to the history of playing cards in general, though there are a few unique aspects of the ace card itself. In the past, cards were typically numbered from ace to 10, with the court cards being the highest cards in each suit. Ace cards, however, were eventually promoted over the court cards, and different suits have been used in various regions, with the spade suit developing in French decks. The ace of spades is often associated with death and is commonly referred to as the “death card.”
Playing cards in general likely developed in China and made their way into Europe during the 14th century, where they promptly spread in popularity throughout various European countries. Some of the earliest decks of cards were plainly numbered from one to 10; the term “ace” was used to refer to the smallest unit of something. The highest cards in these decks were not the aces, but the court cards that often included knaves, queens, and kings. Games began to develop, however, in which aces were used as high cards, and the French Revolution likely promoted this idea further as the lowest card was promoted to be superior to the “royalty” within the deck.
This association between the ace of spades and death was likely furthered by its inclusion in the legendary “dead man’s hand” of two pairs of aces and eights, supposedly held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder. Due to its importance as the luckiest or highest card in the deck, the ace of spades was often painted onto vehicles or body armor of military in World War II for good luck. In the Vietnam War, however, some American soldiers placed the ace on the bodies of dead enemy soldiers in hopes of instilling a superstitious fear of the card and those wielding it into their enemies. The ace differs between card games more than any other card in the deck. The ace can be the highest, the lowest, or whatever the player chooses it to be. The ace is the same as the other playing cards in that there are four aces in a deck and each of the aces has one of the four suits. In many of the popular casino games, like poker and blackjack, the player can chose the whether the ace is high or low. Although the ace is sometimes the lowest card in a game, most of the time the aces have the highest value in the games. Since the ace, representing a one, is technically the lowest card, it is interesting that there is such of an abundance of card games where the ace is an even higher card than the king. The cause of this abnormality was deliberate and had political undertones. During the French Revolution the ace, representing the lone man, was placed above the king in many games. Even if they were considered nothing to the king, at least they could overthrow him in their card games. The genre of games that raises the ace above the king became popular during the 1500’s in France. The Ace of Spades: Death and Taxes Everyone knows the saying that the only two things that you can be certain of in life are death and taxes. You have probably also noticed that the ace of spades has a design unlike the other three aces in a deck of playing cards. The spade symbol is noticeably larger than the other ace symbols. The ace of spades is the largest symbol in the entire playing card deck. What is the reason for the ace of spades size? Taxes. In the past, European governments placed heavy taxes on packs of cards. A deck could not be sold unless it had an official tax stamp, which showed that the duty had already been paid. Playing card manufacturers placed the tax stamp onto the ace of spades, the highest available card in a deck. Even after the tax stamps were no longer used, the manufacturers continued to design the ace of spades larger and different from the other cards because players had become use to the large size of the highest ranking card. Besides the poker cards, the ace of spades are the most selected playing cards of collectors. The tradition has carried on until today and the ace of spades usually has a different design from the rest of the deck along with the name of the manufacturer.
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