Monopoly is one of the most played board games around the world. Over the years, hundreds of different editions have been released. Sometimes these editions are very limited with low production numbers, making them rare and valuable. Typically, the rarest versions of Monopoly are early editions from Charles Darrow or Parker Brothers.
Honorable Mention: The Landlord’s Game
Year Released 1906
Estimated Value: $50,000 (typical price at auction)
photo source: landlordsgame.info
Monopoly wouldn’t exist without Elizabeth Magie’s The Landlord’s Game. Magie’s game, which was based on the economic principles of Georgism, directly inspired Charles Darrow’s version of Monopoly. Between 1902 to 1903, Magie designed The Landlord’s Game and filed a patent in 1904. Around 1906, Magie and fellow Georgists formed Economic Game Company to produce and sell The Landlord’s Game.
Magie tried to sell the game to Parker Brothers, but it was rejected for being too complicated. Despite this, The Landlord’s Game grew in popularity through word of mouth. Eventually, Parker Brothers did buy The Landlord’s Game in 1939, but it was quickly discontinued due to poor sales since Monopoly had exploded in popularity a few years earlier.
Due to its limited production, first editions of The Landlord’s Game are incredibly rare.
- 1973 Braille Edition
- Trade Mark Edition
- Patent Pending Edition
- Darrow Black Box
- 3D Monopoly New York Edition
- Darrow White Box
- 1991 Last Edition
- 1,000,000 Edition
- Original Hand-Made Game
- Sidney Mobell Monopoly
Year Released 1973
Estimated Value: Unknown
photo source: Worth Point
In 1973, Parker Brothers released a Braille Edition of Monopoly for the very first time. To accommodate the visually impaired, this Braille Edition of the game features a hard plastic Braille cover that rests on top of the game board. Additionally, the property deed cards are larger than normal because they feature enlarged text as well as Braille. The money is printed on thicker paper with the denomination embossed in the upper left corner and the lower right corner. Not very many of the 1973 Braille Editions are around still, but a few have been auctioned.
Did you know?
The Braille Edition of Monopoly comes in a large plain cardboard box since the game board cannot be folded up because of the plastic Braille covering.
Year Released 1935
Estimated Value: $350 – $1,000 (typical price at auction)
photo source: sundownfarmandranch.com
Like Charles Darrow, Parker Brothers made several editions of Monopoly in the early days. One of the rarest of these early Monopoly games is the 1935 Trade Mark Edition. This version, called #9, of the game was modeled after Darrow’s White Box. However, the Parker Brothers version included 10 metal tokens as well as double the money supply that Darrow had provided. Parker Brothers also produced a Trade Mark Edition of the game based on Darrow’s smaller Black Box.
Did you know?
The #9 Trade Mark Edition of Monopoly featured houses that were painted while the #7 Trade Mark Editions had dyed houses.
Year Released 1935
Estimated Value: $300 – $900 (typical price at auction)
photo source: sundown-farm-and-ranch.com
Immediately after Parker Brothers bought Monopoly from Charles Darrow, the company helped him file a U.S. Patent for the game. However, Parker Brothers wasted no time manufacturing and producing Monopoly games and slapped a Patent Pending label on the boxes. About 10,000 or so of the Patent Pending Edition of Monopoly were produced. Although there were many copies of this version of Monopoly in circulation, it is quite rare to find a complete set today.
Did you know?
One of the biggest changes that Parker Brothers made to Charles Darrow’s Monopoly was to add the now iconic tokens.
Year Released 1935
Estimated Value: $2,000 (typical price at auction)
photo source: worldofmonopoly.com
Charles Darrow made several versions of Monopoly before it was officially picked up by Parker Brothers. The last version of the game he made, which is known as the Darrow Black Box, came out in 1935, right before Parker Brothers acquired the game. Darrow produced about 7,500 of the Black Box Monopoly games. After Parker Brothers bought the rights to Monopoly, they received the remaining stock of 5,900 Black Box sets.
Did you know?
While the Darrow White Box was large enough to fit the Monopoly game board, the Darrow Black Box was only large enough to hold the game pieces, cards, rules, and money. The game board came separate and Darrow Black Boxes that go up for auction are often missing the board.
Year Released 2013
Estimated Value: $500 (original price)
photo source: Monopoly Wiki
Did you know?
To accommodate all of Charles Fazzino’s 3D artwork, the 3D MONOPOLY®: The Fazzino New York Edition board is much larger than a traditional Monopoly board and it is set 2” deep dark hardwood cabinet with tempered glass top.
Year Released 1933 – 1934
Estimated Value: $6,256 (eBay sale)
photo source: sundown-farm-and-ranch.com
Before Parker Brothers decided to buy Charles Darrow’s version of Monopoly, Darrow decided to produce the game himself. Initially, Darrow and his family were hand making games, but Darrow eventually found a small manufacturer. These early Monopoly games were packaged in a white box and came with the game board, a set of Darrow’s rules, money, and all the other pieces needed to play the game. According to several sources, only about 1,000 of the Darrow White Box sets were produced. Due to the age of Darrow White Box Monopoly sets and its fairly low production number, a complete set in any condition is hard to come by and typically sells for a few thousand dollars.
Did you know?
The Monopoly boards in the early Darrow White Boxes were 23 inches and the board was later reduced to 19 inches.
Year Released 1991
Estimated Value: $267 (eBay sale from 2012)
photo source: Google Arts and Culture
In 1991, the original Parker Brothers manufacturing plant in Salem, Massachusetts was shut down after more than 100 years in operation. Parker Brothers had been making and selling Monopoly since 1935, but Hasbro took over the company in 1991. To commemorate Parker Brothers shutting down, the company’s management produced 650 limited edition Monopoly games for each of its employees. Each one of the boxes has “Last edition Published in Salem, Massachusetts” printed on it. The Last Edition Monopoly game was never released to the public, making it incredibly rare.
Did you know?
The Last Edition Monopoly has many special features from a traditional Monopoly game, including: the signatures of each Parker Brothers’ plant employee printed on the front of the board, a gold Uncle Pennybags token, the hotels and houses are blue and gray, and the signature of former Parker Brothers’ President John Moore.
Year Released 2007
Estimated Value: Unknown – none have come up for sale
photo source: artsandculture.google.com
In 2007, Winning Moves Games, produced a limited 1,000,000 Edition of Monopoly to celebrate the company’s millionth copy of Monopoly. Not much is known about this edition of Monopoly other than the fact that only 100 copies were produced. The 1,000,000 Edition was released in the UK and features UK landmarks instead of the traditional Monopoly landmarks.
Did you know?
While Monopoly is currently produced by Hasbro, some smaller game companies, like Winning Moves, have limited rights to manufacture and sell certain versions of the game.
Year Released 1933
Estimated Value: $120,000 (price paid at auction in 2011)
photo source: Daily Mail UK
Although he wasn’t actually the games inventor (even though he claimed he was and even convinced Parker Brothers), Charles Darrow is credited with popularizing Monopoly and being the designer of the game as we know it today. Around 1933, Darrow began making hand-drawn Monopoly sets to give to friends and family. These early sets were made on round pieces of oil-cloth and Darrow drew the designs for the properties himself. His wife and son colored in the property spaces and made the title deed cards and Chance and Community Chest cards.
To help his family survive the Great Depression, Darrow began selling these sets and is said to have produced about one or two a day. While these early hand-made Darrow Monopoly boards rarely turn up, one set was sold in 2011 for about $120,000. It is believed to be the oldest-known Monopoly set.
Did you know?
Charles Darrow’s greatest contribution to the Monopoly board game was codifying the rules. Before Darrow wrote down the rules, most people just played the game how they were taught by others.
Year Released 1988
Estimated Value: $2 Million
photo source: Museum of American Finance
Mobell created the golden Monopoly game to be the featured showpiece at the 1988 World Monopoly Tournament in London.
Did you know?
Sidney Mobell’s Monopoly set was never sold to anyone, but it currently is housed at the Smithsonian Museum.
