How old is my Monopoly set?

Use copyright dates printed on the board. Parker Brothers earliest date is 1935 but they left Charles Darrow 1933 on the jail square for some years. Look for property prices not printed on the board. Look for chance, community chest, and luxury tax squares that have printing only without pictures. Look at the back of the property cards, if they are blank you have an older set. Check for $22 rent on the Marvin Gardens property card, it was later corrected to $24. Look at the chance cards, if they have printing only without pictures then you have an older set. If your board does not have Charles Darrow 1933 on the jail square then the copyright date is your best guide.

I know eight board types with Darrow 1933 printed on the jail square. They have these patents.

  1. Trade Mark
  2. Patent Pending
  3. Trade Mark outside board, Patent Pending inside
  4. U.S. Patent 1,509,312
  5. Same on inside board but Patent Pending outside
  6. Same on inside board but U.S. Patents 1,509,312 - 2,026,082 outside
  7. U.S. Patent 1,509,312 outside, U.S. Patents 1,509,312 - 2,026,082 inside
  8. U.S. Patents 1,509,312 - 2,026,082 inside and outside
The first two have no property prices on the board and Income Tax is 10% or $300. The third, fourth, and seventh ones I have not seen but were described to me. Please email if your board does not match these. Also, please contact me if you know a way to date these boards by publication month and year.

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