mogul cards
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The best-quality playing-cards were so called because the wrapper, or the "duty-card** (cards are subject to excise duty) was decorated with a representation of the
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “mogul cards” mean?
The best-quality playing-cards were so called because the wrapper, or the "duty-card** (cards are subject to excise duty) was decorated with a representation of the
Is “mogul cards” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.