How much do you know about the classic board game Monopoly? One of the most well-known Monopoly facts is that the board is based on the streets of Atlantic City, NJ. What else do you know about this popular game? Even if you’ve played it dozens of times in your life, you may not know some of the following interesting facts about Monopoly.
5 Monopoly Facts
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- The original version of Monopoly was called The Landlord’s Game and was created by Elizabeth Magie. (source) Magie created the game to be an educational tool about taxation, but was later popularized by Charles Darrow and published by Parker Brothers.
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- The bank only has $20,580 in cash. (source) While it may seem like you’re raking in a lot of money if you have properties like Boardwalk and Park Place, there is just over $20,000 in bills in Monopoly’s bank.
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- The most expensive Monopoly board game cost $2 million. (source) According to Guinness World Records, the most expensive Monopoly board (at $2 million) is made from 23 carat gold and includes solid gold houses and hotels topped with sapphires and rubies. The dice also have 42 cut diamonds.
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- More than 275 million units of Monopoly have been sold. (source) Since its introduction, nearly 300 million copies of the game have been sold, making it the third best-selling board game in history.
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- McDonalds has been running Monopoly-themed sales promotions since 1987. (source) The promotion has been offered in countries around the world. In 2001, the promotion was famously halted on suspicions of fraud, all of which is explained in the HBO docuseries McMillions.
Which of these Monopoly facts was most fascinating to you?
