"Black" United Kingdom Exclusive

This is the first official U.K. Starbucks Card and is one of the scarcest and rarest of all Starbucks Cards. It's been dubbed the "Black" Card simply because it's very dark in nature and hard to figure out. It also may be called the "Caribbean" Card in some cases. At closer inspection, you can see a hand holding a coffee twig. The background is a map, mostly of Central America. It includes regions from the Bay of Honduras to Panama and the Gulf of Darien, extending to Jamaica. With this Card and customized brochure detailing the introductory launch makes this an extremely desirable item.

The Card is consider MEGA-RARE as it was lightly distributed in November 2006. This Card was apparently sent to the media and various personal to kick-off the Starbucks Card program in the United Kingdom. Each Starbucks store received only a handful (some claim only 10 or less) of these Cards to give out to their best/loyal customers. Some reports claim that only the London metro received these Cards, but can't be confirmed. If that was the case, that alone would make these Cards that more rare.

One customer in the U.K. shared an interesting story. He mentioned that "it came with some money pre-loaded and his barista said it was because he came there so often". Interesting enough a few years later he received a letter from Starbucks that he'd spent so much on it that it was reaching EU money laundering limits - so they were canceling his original card and giving him another one of the same design. In this customers case, this happened 3 (three) separate times.

Collectors Note: This issue would be a highly prized Card for your collection. If found, expect to pay a premium. This Card is marked UKA-002 (series 6028) for those that track numbers.

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