Seven 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 Seven of Pentacles card.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A young farmer leans on his hoe, chin resting on his hands, gazing at a bush heavy with six pentacles while a seventh lies at his feet. His boots are muddy and the field is tended. He is not working; he is looking.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
Seven coins are arranged two at the top corners, one inside a loop of yellow stem, two in the middle and two at the bottom. A central stem with a red bud and green leaves runs up through them, its branches curling out to green leaves at the sides.
Marseille number cards are read through their number and suit; the written meaning here gives the scene the Rider-Waite-Smith card adds.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A young farmer leans on his hoe, chin resting on his hands, gazing at a bush heavy with six pentacles while a seventh lies at his feet. His boots are muddy and the field is tended. He is not working; he is looking.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
Seven coins are arranged two at the top corners, one inside a loop of yellow stem, two in the middle and two at the bottom. A central stem with a red bud and green leaves runs up through them, its branches curling out to green leaves at the sides.
Marseille number cards are read through their number and suit; the written meaning here gives the scene the Rider-Waite-Smith card adds.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
Seven coins: two across the top, one below them, then two pairs lower down. Red stems radiate from the centre among grey leaves and yellow buds, with a red bud hanging below the middle.
Viéville number cards show only their suit symbols; read them through number and suit, with the written meaning as a guide.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
Seven gold coins in scalloped blue rings and salmon outer rings: one at the top centre, with three pairs below. Small flowers on green stems sit between the rows, and green vines run down the sides within a red border.
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 blue fluted bowl heaped with coins, one more coin bound above with a red band, has large purple wings. Below, a naked youth sits turning a rod on a red drum under the bowl, and a hawk stands at the left. The numeral 7 is at the left.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A man with a topknot in a red kimono stands at night with his chin resting on his hand, leaning on a staff and gazing at a leafy vine on a trellis. Seven glowing gold coins with three-comma swirls hang among its leaves in two columns. A sword rests at his hip, a tattoo shows on his forearm, and city towers glimmer in the haze behind.