SaskMick
How are the cards numbered exactly ?... I know that the numbers 1-78 refer to individual cards, but which card is which ? Knowing that could make the cards themselves almost irrelevant.
In the past I have selected numbers and gave the numbers over the phone to a tarot reader to use for readings, that's how I know you don't always need the actual tarot cards.
Do you know whether your reader used 0 (zero) as the number for the Fool card? Or did they use 21 as the number for The Fool? Not all decks use the same numbering convention. In most Rider/Waite/Smith (RWS) decks, The Fool is numbered 0. But if you weren't asked to use zero in you 78 numbers, then it is likely that your reader was using a different convention.
And how did the reader organize the suits? Was it Wands, Cups, Pentacles, Swords,? Or Wands, Swords, Cups, Pentacles? Or some other order? That makes a difference, since 'Card 31' will be very different depending on what order the suits are arranged.
I would think he could give any number he wanted to any card.