Coca-Cola playing cards

Yesterday was “Card Playing Day,” and of course I wanted to celebrate!

I thought I’d tell you about a few Coca-Cola items you may have seen.

First are actual decks of cards. Playing cards are small and easy to display (or store!) and make good collectibles. The trick often is to find an entire deck – instead of just a loose card or two.

The deck I’ve shown here is from 1943. The 1940s were a common time for Coke playing cards, and were popular with members of the military. A full deck of cards with this design could sell for around $125.

Some older decks of cards can be worth much more, and other playing cards can be worth far less! There tend to be variations in the card designs (different color borders, for example), and prices can vary widely.

As with all Coca-Cola items, age certainly impacts the value of cards. If you have a deck of cards from the 1980s, 90s or this decade, I’m afraid you’re not holding a gold mine! (You only have a piece worth a dollar or so.) 

The other playing card collectibles I wanted to talk about are score pads, particularly for games of bridge. Like the playing cards, our score pads were popular in the 1940s. If you had parents that hosted bridge nights -- or you yourself have played -- you may recognize these score pads.

The price of score pads is lower than one might expect for decades-old paper pieces. In fact, the 1940s “calendar girl” score pad pictured here is only worth around $15! Generally paper pieces increase in value as they increase in age, but not these, possibly because they were distributed in very large numbers and can be found easily at auctions and flea markets.

Though they may not be worth as much as other collectibles, score pads are easy to store and display, and can make a great conversation piece. You can tell people about what it was like to keep score before you played bridge online!