Acorns () (, or more unusually or ) is one of the four

playing card suit In playing cards, a suit is one of the categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several pips (symbols) showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or additionally be indicated ...

s in a deck of

German-suited German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suit (cards), suits of Acorns (suit), Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves ( ...

and Swiss-suited playing cards. This suit was invented in 15th-century German-speaking lands and is a survivor from a large pool of experimental suit signs created to replace the Latin suits. Around 1480, French card makers adapted this sign into

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

in a

French deck French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are playing cards, cards that use the French Playing card suit, suits of (clovers or clubs ), (tiles or diamonds ), (hearts ), and (pikes or spades ). Each suit contains th ...

(known as clovers in France). In English, cards are referred to as in a French deck (e.g. the "10 of Acorns"), but in German as . Acorns are the highest suit in the

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

of Skat,

Schafkopf Schafkopf (, lit. 'sheep's head'), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German Trick-taking game, trick-taking card game of the ace–ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. ...

and

Doppelkopf Doppelkopf (, lit. ''double-head''), sometimes abbreviated to Doko, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game for four players. In Germany, Doppelkopf is nearly as popular as Skat (card game), Skat, especially in Northern Germany and the R ...

, but the lowest in

Préférence Préférence, frequently spelt Preference, is a Central Europe, Central and Eastern European 10-card plain-trick game with bidding (cards), bidding, played by three players with a 32-card Piquet deck, and probably originating in early 19th centur ...

. In Watten, the 7 of Acorns (the ''Spitz'' or ''Soach'') is the third highest trump card. The standard German-suited system of

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

, acorns, hearts, and bells appears in the majority of cards from 1460 onwards. There is no evidence for this system prior to this point. Acorns appear as one of four suits alongside crowns, bells, and

shields A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

in a set of mutilated cards possibly made in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

in 1480. Acorns appear as one of four suits alongside pomegranates, leaves, and

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

in a pack of cards (circa 1523) created by

Hans Sebald Beham Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the "Little Masters", the group ...

. The ranks go from 2 through 10 with three court cards: King seated on a horse, Ober, and Unter.

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

are indexed at the top of the cards while

Arabic numerals The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numera ...

are indexed at the bottom. Notably, all the pip cards have a central stem and there is a

sow Sow or SOW may refer to: * Sowing, the process of planting Female animals * Badger * Bear * Guinea pig * Hedgehog * Suidae ** Wild boar ** Pig Arts, entertainment and media * Sow (band), a musical project of Anna Wildsmith * "Sow", a poem by Sy ...

on the three of acorns; which later would migrate to the deuce when the 3-rank was dropped in later packs. The standard four Swiss-German suits of shields, acorns, hawkbells, and flowers were found in playing cards inside a book cover (circa 1530) made in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. These cards feature the distinguishing

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

replacing the 10-rank, and have the three court cards: King seated in a throne, Ober, and Unter. This Swiss-German suit system is believed to have developed earlier with the earliest example dated between 1433 and 1451, though only cards from the shields suit survived.

Gallery

German pattern

The gallery below shows a suit of Acorns from a German-suited deck of 32 cards. The pack is of the Saxonian pattern in which the seeds of the Acorns are red: File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - 07.jpg , 7 File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - 08.jpg , 8 File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - 09.jpg , 9 File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - 10.jpg, 10 File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - Unter.jpg , Unter File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - Ober.jpg ,

Ober Ober may refer to: * Ober (playing card), court card in the German and Swiss styles of playing cards * Ober, Indiana, an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Starke County * Oberek (also ''ober''), a lively Polish dance in triple metre ...

File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - King.jpg ,

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

File:Saxonian Deck - Acorns - Deuce.jpg, Deuce or

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

Swiss-German pattern

The following images depict the suit of Acorns from an 1850 Swiss-suited pack in which the seeds of the Acorns are yellow: File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - 6 of Acorns.jpg, 6 File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - 7 of Acorns.jpg, 7 File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - 8 of Acorns.jpg, 8 File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - 9 of Acorns.jpg, 9 File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - Banner of Acorns.jpg,

Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - Under of Acorns.jpg, Unter File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - Ober of Acorns.jpg,

File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - King of Acorns.jpg,

File:Swiss card deck - 1850 - 2 of Acorns.jpg, Deuce

Individual cards

The following cards have special powers or names in certain games: * Ober of Acorns - permanent top trump in

, where it is known as the Old Man (''der Alte'') * Unter of Acorns - permanent trump in

and top trump in Skat. * Seven of Acorns - one of the top three trumps in games like Watten, where it is called the ''Spitz'' ("tip" or "point")

Notes

References

Card suits {{card-game-stub