Suit of coins

Suit of Coins ("Denari") from an 18th-century Venetian deck

The Suit of Coins is one of the four suits used in Latin suited playing cards, such as Spanish, Italian and tarot decks. It corresponds to the Suit of Diamonds in standard decks.

In tarot, Coins or Pentacles is part of what is called the "Minor Arcana". Like the other tarot suits, it contains fourteen cards: ace (one), two through ten, page, knight, queen and king.

The suit represents the Third Estate (town-dwellers).

Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play Tarot card games.[1] In English-speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, Tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for divinatory purposes.[1][2]

Divinatory and occult meanings

In occult and divinatory usage the suit is connected with the classical element of Earth, the physical body and possessions or wealth. Coins as a Latin suit represent the feudal class of traders, and therefore to worldly matters in general. Associated physical characteristics include dark hair and eyes, dark complexion, and sturdy build.

In the Rider-Waite tarot deck and derivative decks, the suit is called the suit of pentacles, and each card incorporates one or more discs each displaying a pentacle. In the Book of Thoth it is called the suit of discs, and the cards are associated with the Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn signs of the Zodiac.

Cards in the suit of coins

Card images in the Rider-Waite tarot deck

Alternate Decks

In French-language decks, the suit is called Deniers ("silver coins"). The picture cards are Valet (Page), Chevalier (Horseman or Knight), Reine (Queen), and Roi (King). This suit was later changed to Diamonds.

German and Swiss decks use round Schellen ("Hawk Bells") instead.

References

  1. 1 2 Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd. ISBN 0-7156-1014-7.
  2. 1 2 3 Huson, Paul, (2004) Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage, Vermont: Destiny Books, ISBN 0-89281-190-0 Mystical Origins of the Tarot
  3. 1 2 Kuykendall, Karen, (1985) Tarot of the Cat People, Connecticut: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., ISBN 0-88079-078-4
  4. "Eight of Pentacles". Know Your Tarot. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  5. "Eight of Pentacles Tarot Card Meanings". Biddy Tarot. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  6. Paranormality.com
  7. 1 2 The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by Arthur Waite
  8. 1 2 Garen, Nancy (1989). Tarot Made Easy. New York: Fireside, 365-367. ISBN 978-0-671-67087-0.
  9. LearnTarot.com
  10. 1 2 from the companion book to the Hanson-Roberts Tarot Deck 2002
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