Heraldic trade cards

Heraldry of the World Heraldic collector's items catalogue > Heraldic trade cards

Heraldic Trade Cards

Trade cards are defined as cards and (larger) stamps (hard paper, cardboard, silk) issued by non-tobacco companies worldwide. Similar cards issued by tobacco companies are generally referred to as Tobacco cards or Cigarette cards. For postage-like stamps (cinderellas) see here, these have not been issued by companies as advertisement and are thus not considered trade cards.

Trade cards were very popular between 1920-1940, but have been issued since the 1860s until today. During the years many heraldic trade cards have been issued, an overview of known series is provided in this part of the site.

Sometimes a similar design was issued by more companies, sometimes even in many different countries.