Introduced in 1895. Discontinued in 1943. Expert is relatively easy to find in all of its iterations, although US8b and US8d boxes are always scarce.

This back design is very similar to Old Fan. For a comparison of the two backs, visit the Old Fan page. Expert is also very similar to two different Chas. Goodall decks issued in the United Kingdom (see comparisons of both back designs with Expert, below). I don’t know for certain that the Russell & Morgan design came first, but Expert is one of the older Bicycle back designs and the R & M version features the older penny farthing bicycle. Interestingly, Expert was also one of the back designs exported to the UK, which may have resulted in a copyright issue known to have occurred between the USPCC and  Goodall (click on “UK” above for more information on these UK Bicycle releases).

In April of 2026 a mint sealed Canadian Expert deck from 1915 sold for $925 at the 52 Plus Joker online auction after spirited bidding (see a photo of the deck below). I would have expected a hammer price in the $300 to $400 range. Besides the obvious fact that mint sealed decks command a premium, there are three factors that I can think of that likely contributed to this notably high price: 1. Canadian Bicycle decks from before 1925 are relatively rare. Canada is a much smaller market, so therefore far fewer than the U.S. versions were manufactured, and many of those that survived are presumably still in Canada. 2. Canadian Bicycle decks with the orange tax stamp are more difficult to find than the later blue versions. 3. Vintage Bicycle decks in general are currently experiencing a surge in value, as measured by realized prices on eBay and other auction sites. I’m not sure of the exact reason for this, but there is probably a confluence of factors, such as a burgeoning Chinese collector market, general scarcity, etc.

The next image shows a very rare Expert pinochle back from a 1917 salesman’s sample book. I have never seen a complete Expert pinochle deck from this era, but the sample book also included sample cards of Cupid and New Fan in this narrow pinochle size, which can be seen on the Cupid page and New Fan page, respectively. This card is paired with an exceedingly rare brass printer’s plate for the same back design, likely also used for bridge decks from the same era. For another example of a bridge size printer’s plate, please see the Cupid page.

The Expert back was revived in a distressed version for what I believe was USPCC’s second Heritage series. See examples of the three different colors offered in the series of images, below.

The last image, below, is from a Universal Playing Card Co. catalogue in the collection of a Japanese collector, Kei Izumi. Several of the backs in Universal’s extensive offerings bear a striking resemblance (or are identical) to USPCC back designs. The image below shows their adaptation of the Expert back, which appears identical to the USPCC version, but for the little bicyclists having been replaced by the graphic element from the center of the card. Also see the Angel, Club and Nautic pages for more images from this interesting catalogue.