Printed on the flaps of 1/4 lb packets of PG Tips loose tea in 1970 these 'cards' had to be compared with full notes which appeared on leaflets given out in grocers and stores and the winning prizes ranged from 10/- to £100. Both the left and right sides had to be identical in every way - but to make it difficult deliberate changes were applied to the majority of cards, some of which are very subtle.
1/4 lb tea packet
Left hand image courtesy of David Hart
It should be noted here that being tea card packet flaps they are quite small and don't resemble standard tea cards in any way and typically the backs will be an off white colour.
Size and style comparison showing Prehistoric Animals cards that were in packets of tea at the same time as this promotion.
Leaflet given out at grocers and stores.
The above side details the competition rules
and the side below was for checking the packet flaps.
Winning cards had a red dot in the top left corner on left side cards - and in the bottom right corner on right side cards.
A winning £100 pair of notes
If you weren't aware of this however it was very easy to mistake altered cards for the winning ones. Up to 15 variations for either side are believed to exist.
To date no card has been observed
to have more than one alteration. |
As the checking sheet above shows the winning values were;
£100, £25, £10, £5, £1 and 10/-
However they did also print values that couldn't win, such as
£2, £00, £0, 0s and a blank card.
Non winning cards observed to date, including £2 so far appear to have no alterations other than the non winning amount and the red dots.
The alterations identified so far can be seen below;
A left hand card showing the possible differences on pound cards as well as common differences also shown on the shilling cards
A left hand card showing the possible differences on the shilling cards as well as common differences also shown on the pound cards
A right hand card showing the possible differences on pound cards as well as common differences also shown on the shilling cards
A right hand card showing the possible differences on the shilling cards as well as common differences also shown on the pound cards
In some cases the quality of printing on the tea packets does appear to suggest further possible variations but it is assumed these colour saturation and print registration issues are coincidental.
The following images show the variations on the actual cards where left and right cards do exist or are thought to exist
So what does this all mean?
No definitive information is available for these cards so a final exact list cannot be published.
It is possible that all variations are available for each note value, for left and right side cards but this is only speculation. If all variations below do exist this would indicate 188 different cards.
To date, many dozens of images have been studied and the following tables show what has so far been seen (in green) and what might exist. There may of course be further varieties that come to light.
£100 LEFT SIDE |
|
£100 RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
£ bars missing |
|
£ bars missing |
£ bars solid black |
|
£ bars solid black |
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
|
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
£25 LEFT SIDE |
|
£25 RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
£ bars missing |
|
£ bars missing |
£ bars solid black |
|
£ bars solid black |
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
|
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
£10 LEFT SIDE |
|
£10 RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
£ bars missing |
|
£ bars missing |
£ bars solid black |
|
£ bars solid black |
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
|
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
£5 LEFT SIDE |
|
£5 RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
£ bars missing |
|
£ bars missing |
£ bars solid black |
|
£ bars solid black |
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
|
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
£1 LEFT SIDE |
|
£1 RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Top and bottom of £ symbol missing |
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
|
Bottom of £ symbol missing |
£ bars missing |
|
£ bars missing |
£ bars solid black |
|
£ bars solid black |
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
|
Last top swirl on £ missing, 2 showing not 3 |
10s LEFT SIDE |
|
10s RIGHT SIDE |
Winner |
|
Winner |
Chair leg red |
|
Table leg brace missing |
Cup top band missing |
|
Jug top band missing |
Cup middle band missing |
|
Jug bottom band missing |
Cup handle white |
|
Jug handle white |
Teapot bottom line missing |
|
Jug completely white |
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
|
Table cloth with vertical stripes |
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
|
Table cloth with no stripes (white) |
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
|
Solid green dot with no outline or decorations |
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
|
Circle missing bottom two decorations |
Part of shilling symbol outlined |
|
Part of shilling symbol outlined |
Part of shilling symbol missing |
|
Part of shilling symbol missing |
Last swirl above /- missing, 8 showing not 9 |
|
Last swirl above /- missing, 8 showing not 9 |
All swirls around /- missing |
|
All swirls around /- missing |
Non-scoring cards LEFT SIDE |
|
Non-scoring cards RIGHT SIDE |
£2 |
|
£2 |
£00 |
|
£00 |
£0 |
|
£0 |
0s |
|
0s |
Blank |
|
Blank |
This page will be updated with variations as they are identified, if you have any photos or scans of these cards they would be gratefully received. |