Money (USA)
Monopoly money is probably what makes the game so much fun. Contolling thousands of dollars of the colourful bills is pure joy. Through the years the money has had several changes; from design to colour to copyright changes. There were even metal coins in the early De Luxe editions.
Darrow used money from a dime store in his early games. By the time the white box games were produced he was having the money printed. These bills were fairly plain with the denomination printed only in the center. The colors on these bills is as follows:
$1 - White; $5 - Pink; $10 - Yellow; $20 - Green; $50 - Grey; $100 - Goldenrod; $500 - Salmon
These are known as Darrow type 1 bills. The Darrow black box has the same type money, but the denomination was added to each of the four corners as well. These are known as Darrow type 2.
When Parker Brothers took over production in 1935 the same type of money was used. It's not known if the Darrow money from the sale was used, or if Parker Brothers produced their own from the start (like the Title Deeds). During the "Trade Mark" run the $100 and $500 bills switched colors to goldenrod for the $500s and salmon for the $100s. This was still Darrow type 2 money. These bills lasted into the "Patent Pending" run.
During the "Patent Pending" run the money was re-designed to the design we know today. This money has "MONOPOLY" above the centre denomination and "COPYRIGHT 1935 BY PARKER BROTHERS, Inc." below it. The colours on the bills carried over from the previous design:
$1 - White; $5 - Pink; $10 - Yellow; $20 - Green; $50 - Grey; $100 - Salmon; $500 - Goldenrod
Beginning in 1936 the blue #6 set had smaller money. The money looked the same but was both shorter and narrower. This smaller money was used in the blue #6 until the end of its run in 1951. The blue #6 was the ONLY set to have this size money.
$1 - White; $5 - Pink; $10 - Yellow; $20 - Green; $50 - Grey; $100 - Salmon; $500 - Goldenrod
After Hasbro acquired Parker Brothers in 1991 the money was changed once again. The copyright information was removed from below the centre denomination and moved to the lower right side of the bill in the border. The 60th anniversary bills have "©1994 PARKER BROTHERS" and the 1995 Deluxe edition has "©1935, 1995 PARKER BROTHERS". In 1996 the information was changed to "©1935,1996, HASBRO, INC.". This was the money in through August 2008.
August 2008. Monopoly has been standardised throughout the world. What does that mean for the money in the USA? Some of the colours have been changed again. The new colours are:
$1 - White; $5 - Pink; $10 - Blue; $20 - Lime Green; $50 - Purple; $100 - Peach; $500 - Goldenrod
Changes to the money itself include the new Monopoly logo across the top, new designs on the house and the train, and "©1935, 2008 HASBRO".