King of Pentacles in 6 decks
The same card as 6 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own. Not in Oswald Wirth, which has no King of Pentacles card.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A king sits on a throne carved with bulls, in robes embroidered with grapevines, one hand resting on a pentacle balanced on his knee and the other holding a sceptre. Vines and fruit surround him, and a castle rises behind. His foot rests on a carved animal head and he looks ahead, settled and unhurried.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A bearded king in a broad blue and red hat sits sideways on a grey bench, holding a coin set at the end of a yellow, cone-shaped object across his lap. He wears red, grey and blue clothes with a yellow scarf, and a yellow panel with diamonds hangs at his side. Titled ROY DE DENIERS.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A king sits on a throne carved with bulls, in robes embroidered with grapevines, one hand resting on a pentacle balanced on his knee and the other holding a sceptre. Vines and fruit surround him, and a castle rises behind. His foot rests on a carved animal head and he looks ahead, settled and unhurried.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A bearded king in a broad blue and red hat sits sideways on a grey bench, holding a coin set at the end of a yellow, cone-shaped object across his lap. He wears red, grey and blue clothes with a yellow scarf, and a yellow panel with diamonds hangs at his side. Titled ROY DE DENIERS.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
A bearded man in a large yellow hat with a red brim, a crown and a square badge sits on a low stool with his legs crossed. He holds a coin on his raised knee, and his clothes are red, yellow and dark with striped sleeves.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
A young crowned king with fair curls sits on a gold hexagonal throne, his left hand on a large gold coin at his knee and a thin rod in his right. He wears a dark tunic with blue interlace, a broad gold skirt and red sleeves. His crossed legs are in mismatched hose, one white and green, one red and white, with flaking paint.
In the Visconti-Sforza deck the number cards show only their suit symbols, and the trumps are unnamed and unnumbered.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
A crowned man in red armour sits on a purple throne, resting one hand on a round shield and the other on a blue helmet. A staff carries a banner reading PAX and a coin, and a white bird perches at the top right. The lettering R. FILIPO runs along the base and 14 is at the left.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
On a pale, paper-toned card, an older bald man with a grey topknot and short beard stands in a green jacket over a brown hakama, holding up a gold coin with a three-comma swirl and a sheathed sword at his side. A wild boar sits at his feet. A pine, a stone lantern, terraced rice fields and a red sun over green hills form the background.