Monopoly goes postal with a set of 10 stamps issued by Royal Mail

By David Hartwig

Great Britain’s Royal Mail celebrates the 90th anniversary of the board game Monopoly with a set of 10 stamps in an Oct. 16 issue.

The stamps, presented in two horizontal se-tenant (side-by-side) strips of five, show different areas of a Monopoly board during gameplay. Each stamp is valued at the first-class rate (currently £1.70).

The stamps in one strip highlight the following spaces on the board: Collect £200 salary as you pass Go, Old Kent Road, Pentonville Road, Whitehall, and Free Parking adjacent with Vine Street.

The stamps in the other strip show Park Lane, Liverpool Street Station, Oxford Street with Regent Street, Coventry Street, and Chance.

Monopoly traces its roots to a game created in 1903, and after purchasing the rights, Parker Brothers released Monopoly in the United States in 1935.

The game pits at least two players against each other in an attempt to force other players into bankruptcy. Players purchase and develop property and then charge others rent when they land on the owned properties.

Today the game is licensed in more than 113 countries and printed in more than 46 languages. Hundreds of different editions exist.

The game arrived to the United Kingdom through John Waddington Limited of Leeds, a printing company known as Waddingtons that had branched out to the production of playing cards after World War I. In 1932 Waddingtons published the card game Lexicon and later sent a copy to Parker Brothers, who returned the favor in 1935 with a copy of Monopoly.

Waddingtons obtained a license to produce and market the game, but replaced the American locations on the board with locations in London before production. Not all of the locations are streets, such as the former pub The Angel on one of the light blue spaces.

Some of the different color sets have different themes in the properties. The orange set has locations dealing with police and law, and the yellow set includes locations related to entertainment and nightlife.

A presentation pack included with the issue showcases more interesting facts about the game and explores its history in the United Kingdom. The presentation pack includes the set of stamps.

Royal Mail also offers a collectors sheet with the set of 10 stamps and attached labels featuring symbols from the game.

An official first-day cover is franked with all 10 stamps in the set. A pictorial postmark from Tallents House shows the Chance symbol, and an alternative postmark from London shows the Free Parking symbol.

Other products offered with the stamps include a limited edition Monopoly playing piece in the shape of a postbox.

The Monopoly stamps were designed by Hat-trick design and printed by Cartor Security Printers by lithography. The stamps measure 41 millimeters by 30mm and are perforated gauge 14.5 by 14.

Each of the two strips of stamps is available in sheets of 50 stamps (sold in panes of 25 at most postal outlets).

The Monopoly stamps and related products are available online from www.royalmail.com/shop. Ordering information also is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland.

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