Bicycle is a series of playing cards manufactured by the United States Playing Card Company since 1885. Known as a French deck with suits of spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts, the Bicycle design is a standard 52-card deck with a serial code printed on the ace of spades, indicating the week and year of its production. The name ‘Bicycle’ originates from the original back design featuring an illustration of a penny farthing, or high wheeler. The earliest historic mention of playing cards was made by a Chinese writer in the 9th century, while today’s familiar card suits first appeared in 15th-century Europe.