Aristocrat 727 Banknote Playing Cards

During the game of gin at the Fontainebleau Hotel poolside in Miami, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) and his opponent play with a deck of red Aristocrat 727 Banknote playing cards.

In the famous scene from Goldfinger (1964) sometimes one and sometimes two decks of cards can be spotted on the game table: a black or dark blue box with red card printed on the back, the number 727 printed on the top and Aristocrat on the side. The opened blue tax seal (looks like a stamp and shows if a deck has been opened or not) can be seen as well. The cards in the film have a red back. The design of the back of the cards is inspired by the intricate illustrations of banknotes, and was originally designed by a company that actually engraved banknotes and stamps, hence the name of the cards. Different quality versions of the cards exist including Linen Finish and High Finish. The card deck in the film looks like it says 'Linen Finish', but it's difficult to see.

The Aristocrat cards were produced until the early 1980s by Russell Playing Card Co.

In 2011, the cards were reissued for by Bicycle, but the design of the box and cards were slightly different from the original ones. Most importantly, the layout of the box is very similar but the box for red cards is red instead of black/dark blue.

Where to buy the vintage Aristocat cards
Vintage decks of Aristocrat 727 Banknote cards can sometimes be found on eBay but it's hard to find a deck of red cards in black box - you can find ether red cards in a red box, or blue cards in the black/dark blue box, but not often the red cards in the black/dark blue box as pictured here.

Where to buy the new Aristocat cards
The actual cards and the back of the cards are almost identical to the 1960s version of the cards, but the back of the cards is blue versus the red from the movie version. These new cards can still easily be found at online poker stores and at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or eBay.

The yellow pencil with which Goldfinger keeps score, and which he breaks in half, is a Royal Sovereign Chinagraph pencil.