US3397890A - Board game apparatus for simulating stock market operations - Google Patents

Description

B. NEWTON Aug. 20, 1968 BOARD GAME APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING STOCK MARKET OPERATIONS 3 Sheets-Sheva t l Filed June 2, 1964 INVENTOR.

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BOARD GAME APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING STOCK MARKET OPERATIONS Filed June 2, 1964 Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

United States Patent O 3,397,890 BOARD GAME APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING STOCK MARKET OPERATIONS Burton Newton, Clintwood, Va. (434 Smith Road, Columbus, Ohio 43228) Filed June 2, 1964, Ser. No. 372,058 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-135) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Game apparatus including a game board with a revolvable disc having groups of colored panels with indicia thereon designating amounts a player pays or receives, triangular boxes designated stock splits and buy or sell options; the panels on the revolvable disc being radially aligned with rows of panels on the stationary portion of the game board having indicia designating names of companies and the price of 100 shares of stock; the colored panels being arranged `on the disc in an annular series of successive identical groups, each group consisting of a plurality of differently colored panels; the stationary portion of the board having player station indicators coacting with said triangular boxes, the numbers of said boxes and indicators being related so that no more than one box can be indicated in any position of the disc.

This invention relates to board game apparatus and more particularly to board game apparatus with a mathematically calculated arrangement of salient features on a playing eld with a movable disc and is intended primarily to provide a game of amusement and entertainment.

lt is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a board game apparatus for players to buy, sell and trade stock with a related combination of salient features arranged on a playing board with a movable disc whereby each player is given an equal opportunity to apply his skill and tact in buying, selling and trading.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following description and drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a top plan View of a game board embodying the present invention.

FlG. 2 is an overall plan View of the playing board with the movable disc removed, showing, in this embodiment of my invention, the playing board divided into twenty-four divisions with the name of a simulated company, the quality and price of one hundred shares of that companys stock, and said board having colored triangles for each of four players.

FIG. 3 is a plan View of the play or scrip money used in denominations of one hundred yand one thousand dollars.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the movable disc which shows the colored panels, the particular arrangement of the buy and sell feature, the particular arrangement of the reward and penalty or pay and receive feature, the particular arrangement of the stock split feature, and a device in the center of the disc which allows it to spin freely.

Before describing the invention in detail I will set forth certain of the salient features thereof and the general purpose of the game which is primarily for amusement and entertainment provided by the particular arrangement of the salient features. Much of the interest in the game lies in the interesting situations which develop as the movable disc rewards and penalizes according to "ice where it stops and whereby a player receives an option to buy or sell.

As will be hereinafter set forth, there are, in the disclosed embodiment of the invention, twenty-four equal divisions constituting a playing field. At the start of the game each of two, three or four players is issued, say, $30,000 in scrip money and fifty tokens of the color chosen. The first player spins the movable disc and gains the opportunity to buy or sell stock in those companies where his color stops. Each player always has the opportunity to buy or sell one of the three grades of stock, that is, common. preferred or blue chip. If the player elects to buy stock in any company he places tokens of his color on the board at that division. The next player to the left spins the disc for his turn of play. After each player spins the disc he starts at the left of his color triangle 27, 28, 29 or 30 and goes around the board paying or receiving and buying or selling at each of his color divisions. If no player owns stock where the players color stops there is no reward or penalty. If one of the three stock split triangles stops on the color triangle of the player who is playing he is rewarded by doubling the quantity of the quality of stock called for; if the player owns no stock of the quality called for on the stock split triangle there is no reward. According to the preferred rules of the game any common stock pays or receives the amount called for on the movable disc; any preferred stock pays or receives double the amount called for on the movable disc and `any blue chip stock pays or receives triple the amount called for on the movable disc. The pay and receive amounts shown on the movable disc are for each one hundred share token. For example, if the red is playing and one of the red divisions marked PAY $300 stops on Gulf which has five tokens of the blue player on it then the red player would pay triple the $300, or $900, for each of the live blue tokens to the blue player. The blue player would realize a profit of $4500 (disregarding the price of the stock) on his investment in live hundred shares of Gulf blue chip stock. As a further example, if the players color is red and one of the red divisions marked REC. $300 stops on Gulf which has five blue tokens on it then the red player would receive $4500 from the blue player. Thus, the blue player would realize a loss of $4500 on his investment in live hundred shares of Gulf blue chip stock. Much of the interest in the game lies in the interesting situations which develop whereby a player is forced to sell stock back to the broker to raise money to pay penalties or a player is rewarded several times in succession; or if a player is not shrewd in his buying he may find lanother player has gained an advantage he cannot cope with. Other financial benefits and penalties are provided according to the preferred set of rules, to which, however, my invention is not limited.

The board as a whole is indicated at 1 in FIG. 1. The name Wall Street is indicated at 2 in FIG. l. The board is divided into twenty-four equal divisions, each division having the name of a simulated company and the quality and price of one hundred shares `of its stock; buy or sell is indicated on each division as well as amounts to pay or receive. There are twenty-four different stock company spaces indicated by the numbers 3 thru 26 inclusive in FIG. 2; the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 indicate companies having preferred stock selling at $2000 per one hundred shares; in the preferred rules of the game all preferred stock pays -or receives double the amount shown 3 von the movable disc for each one hundred shares; the numbers 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 and 25 indicate companies having blue chip stock selling at $3000 per one hundred shares; in the preferred rules of the game all blue chip stock pays or receives triple the amount shown on the movable disc for each one hundred shares; the numbers 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 Iand 26 indicate companies having common stock selling at $1000 per one hundred shares; in the preferred rules of the game all common stock pays or receives the amount shown on the movable disc for each one hundred shares. The numbers 27, 28, 29 and 30 in FIG. 2 indicate the color triangles designating colors to be selected by the players upon starting the game; for example, one player selects red as his color, then his place at the board is at the red color triangle, numbered 27 in FIG. 2, and at his turn of play he pays or receives according to where the red divisions of the movable disc stop and any red tokens placed on lthe board 'indicate where the red player has bought stock. A particular object of my invention is that no one of the four colors has any advantage over another.

The numbers 31 and 32 in FIG. 3 represent the play or scrip money. In the playing of the game the player selected to act as broker also participates as a player while at the same time he takes the money from a player for the broker when stock in a company is sold, makes change when necessary and generally acts as a keeper of the money for the broker. Obviously, the broker does not act in the same capacity as the banker in the game of Monopoly inasmuch as he acts only as an expedient in keeping the money for the twenty-four different cornpanies and in making change, not engaging in loans, auctions, taxes, lines and penalties. In the herein disclosed embodiment of my invention play or scrip money is needed only in denominations of $100 and $1000, but other denominations are comprehended and my invention is in no wise limited to certain denominations.

The numbers 33 thru 56 inclusive in FIG. 4 represent the twenty-four colored divisions on the movable disc, which is made to spin freely by a device in the center which I have numbered 57 and Which I will further describe in the ensuing description. The twenty-four colored divisions are lettered BUY or SELL successively according to a particular mathematically calculated arrangement which, in this embodiment of my invention, when played according to the preferred rules of the game, allows each player an option to buy or sell stock in one company having common stock, one company having preferred stock and one company having blue chip stock, thus alloting each player the same opportunity to buy and sell. Each of the twenty-four divisions has been lettered PAY or REC. and indicates one of the amounts $100, $200 and $300; this particular mathematically calculated arrangement, in this embodiment of my invention, when played according to the preferred rules of the game, provides for rewards and penalties in a manner that is equal for each of the four colors. Each of the twenty-four divisions is colored red, blue, green or yellow as will be noted b-y the color symbols indicating the color of each. In FIG. l, the blank rectangles and associated reference numerals serve only to indicate that the `divisions in FIG. 1 have the same colors as in FIG. 4.

The stock split feature, which I have numbered 58, 59 and 60, in this embodiment of my invention, when played according to the preferred rules of the game, allows each player an opportunity to split (in common practice in the stock market a split is 2 for 1) that is, double, his holdings in common, preferred or blue chip stock. There is one stock split for each quality of stock. This feature further enhances the amusement and entertainment value of the invention by rewarding the player who chances to have one of the three stock splits stop at his color triangle. The stock split triangles are particularly arranged on the perimeter of the movable disc so that only one can stop on a color triangle of any player at one time.

` In accordance with the preferred rules of the game, the stock split reward is only to the player who is at his turn of play; for example, if the red player has spun the disc for his turn of play and the disc stops with a stock split on the opposite green triangle, there is no reward for the green player. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular number of stock splits or to any particular reward. The reward as related herein is doubling the amount of the quality of stock called for in the stock split triangle. Such a reward is indicative merely of those preferably used in accordance with the preferred rules of the game and the invention is in no wise limited to any particular values or rules.

At this point in the description of my invention I point out that the particular arrangement of the salient features of my invention, namely y(1) companies with stock for sale, (2) the price of one hundred shares, (3) the lettering BUY or SELL, (4) the lettering PAY or REC., (5) the color of the divisions and (6) the stock split triangles, provides interesting situations closely simulating those which occur in actual stock market operations and therefore affords the players a challenge and an opportunity to exercise shrewd judgement in an effort to eliminate opposing players. The length of the game may vary according to the application of different sets of rules as, for example, varying the amount of money issued from $10,000 to $30,000, or limiting the amount of stock for sale to one thousand shares, or allowing one player to buy shares of another player, but the ordinarygame with four players may be played during the course of an evening.

It is to be understood that the embodiment of the salient features herein described and illustrated provides a game whereby each player is accorded exactly the same rewards and penalties, the exact same opportunity to buy and sell and the exact same opportunity for stock splits; the degree of challenge and interest being created by the exericse of judgment, tact, shrewdness and ability as applied to the situations developed by the spin of the disc.

The one hundred share colored tokens referred to herein may be of any suitable size or shape such as, for example, round or cubical or rectangular; no definite shape or design is comprehended within the scope of my invention.

Reference has been made herein to a movable disc which is made to spin freely by a device 57 in the center of the disc. The type of device comprehended within the scope of my invention may be any suitable pin and ferrule device such as, for example, a metal ferrule installed in the center of the movable disc which would encircle a metal pin -attached in the center of the playing board, or, as another example, a metal pin attached to the underside of the movable disc in such a way that the pin would engage in a metal ferrule, permitting the movable disc to spin freely. Preferably, however, the device referred to herein, in this embodiment of my invention, allows the movable disc to spin freely with a minimum of friction. My invention is in no wise limited to any particular type of device for this purpose.

Having thus described and illustrated one embodiment of my invention herein it is to be understood that although specilic terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of my invention is set forth in the following claim.

I claim:

1. A game apparatus comprising a game board having a disc rotatably mounted thereon; two annular rows of panels, one on the disc and the other on the adjacent stationary portion of the board; the board panels having thereon indicia indicating companies and the quality and price of shares of stock of each company; the disc panels having thereon indicia indicating buy or sell and the amount to pay or receive; on the board panels a series of more than two differently colored triangular boxes; on the disc panels a series of more than two triangular boxes having thereon indicia indicating stock splits; the disc and board panels being radially alignable by movement of the disc; each disc panel being of a single color, and the color of each of said colored triangular boxes corresponding to one of the colors of the panels; said colored panels arranged in an annular series of successive identical groups, and all the colors in a `group being different, whereby there is provided to each player an equal opportunity to buy or sell stock, pay or receive money, and acquire different qualities of stock or stock splits.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Clark 273-135 Fry 273-135 X Draper et al 273-142 X Robbins 273-134 Jenkins 273-135 Borci 273-1 Derrington et al. 273-135 X DELBERT B. LOWE, Prima/y Examiner.

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