The inspiration for this deck came when Robert Place bought an original copy of The Mystic Cards of Fortune, a Lenormand oracle deck that was published by McLoughlin, in New York, in 1882. These cards were based on one of the oldest German Lenormand decks, the Hoffmann and Kroppenstedt cards, published in Berlin, in 1854. Each card was redrawn but followed the original closely with some changes. For example, the Ship card depicts an American brig flying the American Flag instead of a German ship.