Tokens are the playing pieces used in the Monopoly board game. They differ depending on the edition and the year of release of an edition. Standard editions, however different they are, usually use pewter tokens. In 1998, a new piece was voted on to be added to the existing 10 ( 11 in gold sets) The winner was a sack of money, which appeared in most standard editions until it's retirement in 2007.

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Materials & History

[1][2]"Monopoly" playing pieces, often referred to as tokens, date from 1935 when Parker Brothers bought the game rights. Prior to this, no playing pieces were supplied with the game. Players used familiar objects such as buttons and charms for tokens. Shortages of raw materials during the war years failed to disrupt "Monopoly" production, but components, including playing pieces, were replaced with lower quality alternatives. The originals being a cannon, thimble, top hat, iron, battleship, and boot. Later in 1935, the race car purse was added to the 7 token sets and then in about the middle of 1935, the purse was added to 8 token sets. In late 1935 and early 1936, the lantern and rocking horse were added to 10 token sets, these pieces are especially hard to find nowadays.

Early Pieces

The first pieces, from 1935 to about 1938, were made by the Dowst Manufacturing Company, makers of "Tootsietoys." These were die-casts from Zamak, a zinc alloy also known as white metal, monkey metal, pot metal, or die-cast zinc. Impurities in the manufacturing process caused some of them to oxidize and turn black. Later non-tarnishing tokens were made of lead and tin. These non-tarnishing playing pieces appeared in sets licensed by Parker Brothers throughout the world, although some prewar Canadian sets included generic turned wood pawns of various shapes.

War-time Playing Pieces

The metal was needed for the war effort, so wood pawns were used for most "Monopoly" pieces during that time. A few games had composite playing pieces made of compressed paper and sawdust. These playing pieces were fragile, and since not many were produced they became collector's items. In the United Kingdom, some sets used wood pawns from the game "64 Milestones" as tokens, but the majority were cardboard cut-outs slotted into black wooden bases.

Immediate Post-war Pieces

Dowst focused on die-cast toys after the war, so Parker Brothers produced its own pewter playing pieces based on the Dowst originals. In 1948, the United Kingdom sets used cardboard cut-outs in colored bases. In 1953, these were replaced by tokens cut from sheet metal, which were fitted with metal stands. These were the standard pieces until the 1960s when the pewter tokens replaced them. Some of these tokens from the 1940s being a car with driver ( counterpart to the race car ) howitzer ( counterpart to the cannon ), airplane, as well as the dog, horse, and rider, and wheelbarrow, but these tokens were officially added in the 1950s. Some of these can be seen in the photo above. A picture of the cannon can be seen at the top of the page.

Special Playing Pieces

While standard Hasbro Monopoly sets throughout the world contain the traditional pewter tokens, specially commissioned and commemorative sets have used a variety of materials for playing pieces. "Franklin Mint" sets have 22-karat gold plated playing pieces while the 75th Anniversary "Revolution" edition has plastic tokens depicting outlines of the original Dowst pieces. Sidney Mobell's £1.3 million "Monopoly" set has 18-karat solid yellow gold

In the 1940s the counterpart tokens ( the car with driver and howitzer) were made These pieces were similar to the race car and the cannon. The car with driver appeared in all sets in the 1940s but was removed in 1950 when the race car was added back. However, the token has a very interesting story, in 1935, 1937, and 1938 a few special sets were made with special tokens pictured further up. However, you may have noticed one was a car with a driver after 1938 these tokens were never seen again except for the car with a driver that survived and became a member of the monopoly family. Recently the piece along with the airplane has been getting more recognition as tokens. That being said, many still consider the howitzer and cannon the same though the cannon looks like it was from the civil war and the howitzer looks modern. Like it or not, however, the car with driver lost its counterpart battle, but the howitzer won its. Sets with the car with drivers are very easy to find if you are looking to acquire this shorter-lived piece.

Standard Edition

Current tokens: 8

The tokens are: Scottish Terrier Battleship 1935 race car mid-1935 Top Hat 1935 Penguin 2017 T-Rex 2017 Cat - (August 2013, the cat playing piece replaced the iron) Rubber Ducky 2017

Recently Retired Pieces (May still be on store shelves) Thimble (Retired March 2017) Wheelbarrow 1940s 1950s-2017 Shoe (or Boot) 1935-2017



The great scale back (2007 retired pieces)

Horse & Rider 1940s 1950s-2007 Howitzer 1946-2007 sack of Money (1998-2007) Iron (1935-2013) Train (Only in Deluxe Editions) from the 1980s- 2007

other long ago retired tokens cannon 1935-1946 car with driver 1940-1950 airplane 1946-1950 lantern late 1935-1950 Rocking Horse late 1935-1950 purse mid-1935-1950



Current Tokens: 6

They are: A Space Shuttle A Flat Screen TV A Segway A Baseball Cap An Altoids Case A Dog in a Handbag







A computer (Monitor and Tower)

A computer with the Internet

A computer monitor (Alone)

An e-mail (Hand holding envelope)

A mouse (The animal)

A 3D, pixelated 3D hand (Computer selector)

Monopoly Man on the computer

A bug (A virus)

And a surfboard (symbolizing surfing the net)

A camera, representing tourism

A hiking shoe, representing day walks and night walks

A mountain bicycle, representing cycling

A tent, representing camping

A canoe, representing canoe-paddling

A fishing reel, representing fishing





The tokens (non-pewter) are of Generation I Pokemon, the first 151. They are: 1: Bulbasaur 4: Charmander 9: Blastoise 25: Pikachu 35: Clefairy 150: Mewtwo







Pokemon in Pewter token edition are also of Generation I Pokemon, the first 151. They are: 4: Charmander 25: Pikachu 52: Meowth 54: Psyduck 61: Poliwhirl 143: Snorlax



Cowboy Hat Pretzel Egyptian Head Mask Tuk Tuk Wagon Canadian Mountie Kangaroo London Black Cab Chinese Dragon Safari Hat NASCAR Racecar Boomerang Windmill Camel Inca Mask Sumo Wrestler Matador Inca Statue Surfer Russian Dolls Baseball Glove African Mask Easter Island Head Football Koala

Potential New Tokens (in gold)

Penguin

CRT Television

Modern Racecar

Mr. Monopoly Emoji

Rubber Duck

Wristwatch

Wheel

Bunny Slippers

Classics (in pewter)

Scottish Terrier

Thimble

(Classic) Automobile

Cat

Battleship

Top Hat

Wheelbarrow

Shoe (or Boot)

A Koopa Shell

An NES Controller

Mario's Hat

Donkey Kong's Barrel

Link's Iron Boots

Link's Hylian Shield

6 tokens are in the game, as shown below:

6 tokens:

Tiara

Quiver

Magic Tart

Bow & Arrows

Target

Sword





Futurama Collector's Edition

Bender's Head

What-If Machine

Hypnotoad

Brain Slug

Seymore

Planet Express Ship

Leela's Boot

The tokens all relate to the headgear of the various villains:





Blow Dryer

Compact

Lipstick

Mascara

Mirror

Powder Brush













Sonic the Hedgehog

Tails

Amy Rose

Knuckles

Shadow

Chao













Star Wars Episode I Edition

Light Side: Queen Amidala Qui-Gon Jinn Anakin Skywalker Jar-Jar Binks



Dark side: Darth Sidious Darth Maul Sebulba Battle Droid



Star Trek: Continuum Edition

Vulcan Lyre

TOS Shuttlecraft

ST: V-era Phaser Pistol

TOS Communicator

TOS-era Command Chair

Klingon Blood Wine Goblet

A bottle cap

A delivery truck

A Contour Glass

A fountain dispenser

A Coca-Cola Polar Bear

An Original Hutchinson Bottle

A Contour Bottle

A Coca-Cola Santa

Kitty's bow

Three apples

Milk bottle

Lunchbox

Fishbowl

Teddy

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Collector's Edition

Miss Piggy

Kermit

Fozzie Bear

Animal

Gonzo

Swedish Chef

South Park Collector's Edition

South Park

Eric Cartman

Stan Marsh

Stan Marsh Kyle Broflovski

Kenny McCormick

Butters Stotch

Chef

Jebediah Springfield

Kang

Santa's Little Helper

Homer Simpson

Three-Eyed Fish

Bart Simpson





Shrek

Princess Fiona

Pinocchio

Gingy

Puss in Boots

Donkey

While original versions lacked tokens, the Junior Edition's release in 2014 contained some tokens.

Dog

Cat

Boat

Car





Transformer: Collectors Edition

Optimus Prime

Bumblebee

Grimlock

Megatron

Soundwave

Ravage

Unlicensed Versions

Current Tokens: 6

Anti-Monopoly's tokens are abstract designs, such as a crescent moon. 3 are blue and 3 are green.

Catopoly

Mouse

Tin of Sardines

Can of Ocean Fish

Fish

Ball of Yarn

Bottle of Milk

This article is not finished. If you know a Monopoly game with different tokens, please write about it here.

Monopoly's tokens are 2013 utilities and locations.

Race Car

Hat

Thimble

Shoe (Boot)

Cat

Dog

Ship

Wheelbarrow

Gallery