Mechanical Coin Banks

Moving metal banks have always intrigued the child or collector, as it is more fun to save pennies when the penny makes a pig jump through a hoop or if the penny is eaten by a hungry clown. Adults have been just as fascinated by the moving banks as the children. Books have been written about these banks, and several lists of banks, furnishing the rarity and value, are to be found at the library. There are mechanical banks, still banks, and registering banks. The best of the collectors' banks are the mechanical types that move when the penny is inserted. Metal banks have been made from 1868 to the present, many of the old ones being reproduced since 1950 in either iron or plastic. The value of the bank today is determined not by age alone but by rarity and condition. Some banks of the 1900s are worth more than those made during the 1800s. Still banks became popular with collectors as the price rose on mechanical banks. Painted or lithographed tin, cast iron, white metal, pottery, wood, glass, and porcelain were used to make still banks. Many were made in the form of a bank building or a safe. Here again rarity helps to determine the value. Registering banks were made like cash registers, and the amount of money deposited is totaled on the face of the bank. They are not so valuable as the other types, but they are still of interest to a bank collector. Registering banks are not so old as the other types. The bank you may have owned twenty-five years ago that was shaped like a cash register is worth more today than it was when purchased new at the store. -- Kovels' Know Your Antiques [1981], by Ralph and Terry Kovel (q.v., Kovel's Know Your Collectibles [1992], by Ralph and Terry Kovel)

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The first known patent for a mechanical bank was issued to James Serrill on February 16, 1869, for a disappearing coin bank made of wood. It is still known as Bureau, Serrill Patent. Just ten months later John Hall of Watertown, MA [Massachusetts, USA] was given a patent for his Hall's Excelsior Bank. It is accepted as the first cast iron mechanical bank. -- A History of Antique Mechanical Toy Banks, Penny Lane [1987], by Al Davidson [view bookcover]

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