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A unified tax legislation for playing-cards in the German Empire existed from 1879 to its end in 1918.

The text on all stamps is 'DEUTSCHES REICH', a tax office number, and a value in 'PF.' (Pfennig). The values were 30 Pfennig ('DREISSIG PF.' or 'DREISZIG PF.') for packs with up to 36 cards and 50 Pfennig ('FUNFZIG PF.') for packs with more cards. Some frequent tax office numbers can be found here in a list.

The stamps look much alike, but there are some differences that allow the stamps to be more exactly dated. The differences concern the form of the eagle, the 30 Pfennig value, and the colour of the stamp.

Caution: Usually the stamps were used until they were unusable, and not everywhere the colour of the ink was changed, so the only real information you get here is an earliest date for the stamps. And that does not necessarily to have to do with the date of the cards; remember the information at the beginning of the main tax stamps page.

From 1879 to December 1888 the stamps show what is usually called the 'old' eagle, after that the 'new' eagle. The most obvious differences are the bands from the crown of the eagle and the shield in the middle. For the old eagle, the bands extend over the wings of the eagle, and the shield shows the Prussian eagle with a black and white pattern with four squares. The new eagle has shorter bands and a smaller shield.

In 1902, there was a spelling reform in Germany. That led to the change from 'DREISSIG' to 'DREISZIG' for the 30 Pfennig value, where the 'SZ' stands for a capital 'ß' (as in 'dreißig'). The 'FUNFZIG' did not need a change (although it should have been 'FÜNFZIG' from the beginning).

Finally the colour of the stamp: It was requested to be black in the beginning, but from 1912 tests were made with violet coloured ink.

	This is a stamp with the old eagle and the 'DREISSIG PF.' value from Frankfurt/Main (tax office 'No. 15'). The dates are 1879 to 1888 (and later).
	This stamp with the old eagle shows the 'FUNFZIG PF.' value, from Leipzig ('No. 59'). Again the dates are 1879 to 1888 and later.
	This is a stamp with the new eagle and the 'DREISSIG PF.' value from Frankfurt/Main ('No. 15'). The dates are 1889 to 1903 (and later).
	This stamp with the new eagle has the 'DREISZIG PF.' value from Stralsund ('No. 4'). The dates are 1903 to 1918.
	This is a stamp with the new eagle and the 'FUNFZIG PF.' value, again from Frankfurt/Main ('No. 15'). The dates are 1889 to 1918.
	This last stamp is in violet coloured ink, from Stralsund ('No. 4'). The dates are 1912 to 1918.

The stamp was on the Ace of Hearts for French-suited cards, and on the Deuce of Hearts for German-suited cards.

The cards had to be re-stamped when the unified tax stamp was introduced. The following is from a pack that was initially stamped in Stralsund (with the Prussian stamp) and afterwards in Hamburg (with the Imperial stamp).
(scanned from a pack of Thomas Siemering)

The later tax stamps from Germany can be found on the main page for Germany.