These subsciption cards were delivered to buyers in "decks" sent every few weeks. The buyer could then remit payment which would continue the subscription. These cards were never sold as a complete set or at retail, the only way to accumulate cards was to subscribe between 1976 and 1980.
The numbering on this set is a little tricky. There are 163 decks with 24 cards per deck for a total of 3,912 cards in all! Decks run from 1 to 175 BUT Decks 88, 89 and 91-100 DO NOT EXIST, after years of consideration no one we have dealt with have ever seen these decks so there are 163 decks total in the English Set.
THE FRENCH SET Runs from deck 1-87, 90, 101-199 so it has 187 Decks in all but also skips the same deck numbers.
Cards from decks 1 to 21 are numbered 1 up to 504, then decks 22 to 45 the cards are numbered 529 to 1104 (cards 505 to 528 were skipped), then decks 46 and 47 the cards are numbered 1-24 from the decks (normal Editons Rencontre numbering). Deck 48 fills in cards 505-528 that were previously missing, then decks 49 to 175 all are numbered 1-24 with the Deck number prefix. The cards are numbered on the back with a 5-digit pre-code 13 057 ddd ccc (ddd= Deck number and cccc = card number). Also each THIRD deck came with an insert foldout booklet called a triptych.
# of Decks: 175
# of cards per deck: 24
Total number of cards in a complete set: 4,200
Storage Included: Plastic Trays and early distribution had cardboard trays
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(picture below is a sample only showing about 2,800 cards in 2 trays)
