decks lacking the 8s, 9s, and 10s are the most common format found in Italy today. This is the result of popular 16th and 17th century games like Primero and Ombre. From the second half of the twentieth century, some Italian manufacturers have added a pair of Jokers but not to stripped decks. Tax stamp Until 1972, all decks of playing cards sold in Italy had to bear a stamp showing that the manufacturer had paid the appropriate amount of tax. This led to a characteristic of most regional Italian designs in having a particular card (generally the Ace of Coins) either having a blank circle in the design, or having only a small amount of artwork compared with the rest of the deck. In addition to this, most Spanish-suited regional styles have the Ace of Coins including an eagle. This style of design has persisted, even after the discontinuation of the tax stamp requirement. Italian-suited decks The (northern) Italian traditional card designs are closely related to the Spanish, sharing the same suits of cups, coins, swords and clubs. However, there are notable visual differences, including that the clubs are drawn as straight ceremonial batons, rather than as rough cudgels (or tree branches) as in a Spanish-suited deck, and that the swords are curved like a scimitar as opposed to a European sword like in the Spanish-suited deck. Furthermore, the Cups in northern Italian designs tend to be more angular, often hexagonal, as opposed to the circular goblet with handles in Spanish-suited designs. Trentine, Bresciane, and Bergamasche These three patterns are closely related, having been formed in close proximity to one another. The Trentine pattern is believed to be the oldest surviving Italian pattern and the origin of the Bresciane and Bergamasche patterns. Trappola cards may also have originated from this pattern. Trentine cards are sold in either packs of 40 or 52. The smaller deck is missing the 8s through 10s. The larger deck comes with a pair of Jokers. All the Kings sit on thrones and the cards are not reversible. The cards utilize only five colors: black, white, red, blue, and yellow which has led to face cards with blue, yellow, and red hair. Trentine pip cards also have numerals though not always in the corner. These cards are wider than the two below. The Bresciane deck comes only in sets of 52 cards and are not