Suits: Cups, Coins, Staves, Swords 

Court Cards: Page/Handmaid, Knight, Queen, King 

Strength is 7

Justice is 8

Card number	Italian name	depicted on the minchiate card	corresponding Minchiate Francesi card	corresponding tarot of Marseilles card	corresponding divination tarot card
(0)	Il matto	The madman	Momus	Le Mat (the madman)	The Fool
I	Papa uno; l'Uno; il Papino; Ganellino	Pope one; The trivial performer	(Mercury)	I Le Bateleur (the trivial performer)	1 - The Magician
II	Papa due; Granduca	Pope two; the Grand Duke	(Bacchus)	III L'impérarice (the empress)	3 - The Empress
III	Papa tre; Imperatore	Pope three; The Emperor; The Western Emperor	(Amor)	IIII L'empereur (the Emperor)	4 - The Emperor
IV	Papa quattro; Imperatrice	Pope four; The Empress (Fiorentine); The Eastern Emperor (Etruria)	(Venus)	V Le Pape (the Pope)	5 - The Hierophant
V	Papa cinque; Innamorato	Pope five; Love	Amor	VI L'amoureux (the Lover)	6 - The Lovers
VI	la Temperanza	Temperance	Temperance	XIIII Temperance	14 -Temperance
VII	la Forza	Fortitude	Fortitude	XI La Force (fortitude)	8 - Strength
VIII	la Giustizia	Justice	Justice	VII La Justice	11 - Justice
IX	la Ruota della Fortuna	Wheel of Fortune	Fortune	X La Roue de Fortune	10 - Wheel of Fortune
X	il Carro	Chariot	none	VII Le Chariot	7 - The Chariot
XI	Il gobbo; il tempo	Hunchback; time	Old age	IX L'Ermite	9 - The Hermit
XII	L'impiccato	The hanged man	none	XII Le Pendu	12 - The Hanged Man
XIII	la Morte	Death	none	XIII La Mort	13 - Death
XIV	Il Diavolo	The Devil	none	XV Le Diable	15 - The Devil
XV	la Casa del diavolo	The house of the Devil	none	XVI La Maison Dieu (the house of God)	16 - The Tower
XVI	la Speranza	Hope	Hope	none	none
XVII	la Prudanza	Prudence	Prudence	none	none
XVIII	la Fede	Faith	none	none	none
XIX	la Carità	Charity	Charity	none	none
XX to XXIII	il Fuoco, l'Acqua, la Terra, l'Aria	The four elements, fire, water, earth, air	Fire, Earth, Water, Air	none	none
XXIV to XXXV	la Bilancia, la Vergine, lo Scorpione, l'Ariete, il Capricorno, il Sagittario, il Cancro, i Pesci, l'Acquario, il Leone, il Toro, i Gemelli	The zodiac (Libra, Virgo, Scorpio, Aries, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Cancer, Pisces, Aquarius, Leo, Taurus, Gemini)	December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January	none	none
(XXXVI to XXXVIII, but usually unnumberred)	La stella, la Luna, il Sole	The star, the moon, the sun	The Star, the moon, the sun	XVII L'étoile, XVIII La Lune, XVIIII Le Soleil	17 - The Star, 18 - The Moon, 19 - The Sun
(XXXIX, usually unnumbered)	il Mondo	the World	the World	XXI Le Monde	21 - The World
(XL, usually unnumbered)	L'Angelo; Le trombe	The Angel; The trumpets	Renown	XX Le Jugement	20 - Judgment

Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance were three classical "cardinal virtues" depicted in the more familiar tarot trumps. The minchiate supplies the remaining cardinal virtue — Prudence — and but inserts them with the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity. The only other deck to have the theological virtues was the Cary-Yale deck. This is the only deck to include all seven virtues.

Minchiate Florentine Tarot

The standard tarot card The House of God, becomes the House of the Devil in the minchiate deck or Hellmouth; it depicts a nude woman fleeing a burning building. The Moon depicts an astrologer studying the moon instead of the tarot of Marseilles howling dogs and lobster. The card corresponding to the Hermit is often called Time, or the Hunchback; it depicts an elderly man on crutches. The minchiate version of the Hanged Man is called the Traitor; he carries bags in his hands as he hangs upside down, a representation associated with treason in 14th-century Italy. Like other southern decks, the final card in the series is not the World, but Judgement. The minchiate completes the series by adding all the zodiac signs (in random order) and the four classical elements.

The eight highest ranking trumps have a red background while the top five (the aire) are usually unnumbered. A 98th card was made for some decks. It is a trump with a red background and is also unnumbered like the aire. It depicts a nude woman running in a wheel, a motif not seen elsewhere but may be related to Trump IX, the Wheel of Fortune. While 98-card decks were mentioned as being played in Sicily during the early 18th century, only two examples dating from the 19th century to pre-World War I Genoa survive. It is uncertain how this card ranked and how it affected the versicole sequences in the game. Also unknown is how it relates to the 98-card version of the Minchiate Francesi described below.

Minchiate Francesi

The Minchiate Francesi, also called Minchiate de Poilly after it's attribution to engraver François de Poilly, refer to 3 different French decks utilizing the same set of engravings. The first has 42 numbered trumps, the second has 40 numbered trumps and Momus as an unnumbered card and lacks the first's "Le Chaos" card, the third has 21 numbered trumps and Momus as an unnumbered card. The intended game for the first deck is unknown, but the second appears to be intended to be played like the Italian Minchiate while the third deck appears to be intended for ordinary Tarot (despite still being called a Minchiate deck). The order of the motifs for the two latter decks have been rearranged compared to the first deck to more closely resemble their Italian counterparts. All three decks have the same 56 pips cards with French suits. The engravings share motifs with both the Italian Minchiate and the Tarot Nouveau as well as taking unique motifs from Roman Mythology

98 cards with 42 trumps order:

#1-5 Cosmological objects (Chaos, Sun, Moon, Star, World), #6-9 Elements (Air, Earth, Water, Fire), #10-13 Age (Youth, Infancy, Adolescence, Old age), #14-18 Senses (Taste, Smell, Touch, Sight, Hearing), #19-24 Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Charity, Hope, Strength, Renown/Judgement), #24-30 Gods (Mercury, Bacchus, Amor, Venus, Momus, Fortune) #31-42 Months/Zodiac (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December).

97 cards with 40 trumps and Fool order:

Momus, #1-4 Gods (Mercury, Bacchus, Amor, Venus), #5-9 Virtues (Prudence, Charity, Justice, Hope, Strength), #10 Fortune, #11-14 Ages (Old age, Youth, Adolescence, Infancy), #15-19 Senses (Taste, Touch, Smell, Hearing, Sight), #20-23 Elements (Fire, Earth, Water, Air), #24-35 Months/Zodiac (December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January), #36-39 Cosmological objects (Star, Moon, Sun, World), #40 Renown/Judgement.

78 cards with 21 trumps and Fool order:

Momus, #1 Mercury, #2 Amor, #3-8 Virtues and Fortune (Hope, Strength, Fortune, Justice, Charity, Prudence), #9-12 Age (Old age, Youth, Adolescence, Infancy), #13-16 Elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Air), #17 Star, #18 Moon, #19 Sun, #20 Renown/Judgement, #21 World.

Austrian Minchiate?

A mysterious French suited deck produced by Piatnik of Vienna around 1930 also featured forty trumps it resembles the Industrie und Glück decks used for Central European tarock. The plain suits consists of only 32 cards while the 40 trumps feature rustic genre scenes. With the Sküs (the Fool), the total number of cards is 73. Compounding the mystery is that the packaging is in French. Industrie und Glück type decks are not known to have a community of players in any French speaking country while the game of Minchiate is thought to have been restricted to only a few players in Genoa by the 1930s.

Minchiate can be played by two to four players with the most common version played by four players divided into teams of two. The game, like other tarot games, is atrick taking game in which points are scored by capturing certain cards and sets of cards. As in most tarot games, the pip cards in cups and coins are in reverse order. The lowest five trumps (Trivial Performer, Grand Duke, Western Emperor, Eastern Emperor, Love) were called papi, "popes", even though "Il Papa" (The Pope) does not appear among the minchiate trumps. The highest five trumps (Star, Moon, Sun, World, Trumpets) were called arie ("airs") and have a special high scoring value in the game. Minchiate is similar in many ways to tarocchini played in Bologna. In these games, combinations of cards are more important than the value of individual cards.

The last trick is worth 10 points. Trump 29 is a unique card, by itself it is worth nothing but when used in combinations (versicole), it is worth 5 points. Versicole are formed through a sequence of three or more of consecutive point cards. In addition, there are four irregular versicole:

Versicola del Matto: Trumps 1, 40, and the Fool

Versicola del Tredici: Trumps 1, 13, and 28

Versicola delle diecine: Trumps 10, 20, and 30; or 20, 30, and 40; or 10, 20, 30, and 40

Versicola dei Regi: Three or four kings

All versicole have to be declared at the beginning of the game. At the end of the round, each team will assemble versicole from their captured tricks. Trumps 1, 3, 13, 20, 30, 33, and 38 are considered valuable cards because they are required to form some versicole or to deny the opposition the same. The Fool can be added to any versicola.

Like in other tarot games, the Fool excuses the player from following suit. In Minchiate, It can only be captured if it was played in the final trick in which case 5 bonus points are given on top of the value of the card and the last trick bonus. It can also be surrendered to the opposition if they won all the tricks.

The minchiate deck was also used to play two games that don't use normal tarot rules, Al Palio and A sei tocchi.

In cartomancy

Paul Huson has speculated that these 40 cards are the 40 trumps of the minchiate deck.

He has also pointed out that Leland's book Etruscan-Roman Remains in Popular Tradition (1892) contains a spell that is cast with tarocco cards to invoke Janus.

Reproduction decks

The Italian publisher Lo Scarabeo offers a reproduction of the "Ancient Minchiate Etruria", an engraved minchiate deck that originally appeared in 1725.

The Italian publisher Il Meneghello offers a reproduction, in regular and mini sizes, of the "Minchiate Fiorentine", a woodcut minchiate deck that originally appeared circa 1820.

The late tarot artist Brian Williams (died 2002) published a modern edition of the minchiate deck, which accompanies his book.

Artist Constante Constantini, through Italian publisher Solleone, has published two different modern minchiate decks:

Minchiate Fiorentine: modern redrawing of a woodcut design

Nuove Minchiate Fiorentine: modern redrawing * All the cards with yellowish / vintage style  background are  Minchiate Florentine Tarot