| Vintage Cast Iron Banks from the Charles Westley Atwood (1862-1938) Collection |
Mr. Atwood started collecting cast iron banks when he was a boy. His collection centered around Still banks but every so often a mechanical bank caught his eye. Agnestelle of Whitewood is proud to showcase his collection here.
A Still Bank describes any type of money box, strong box, or receptacle designed to receive and store coins. The most famous type of still bank is the piggy bank, which gets it name from an orange-colored clay called pygg, but many more still banks came in all sorts of shapes—from houses to bureaus to the busts of presidents and famous persons.
A Mechanical Bank describes any type of containers with a decorative mechanical action, used to store coins. They were originally intended to promote saving money among children in the mid-19th century. Frequently made cast iron, mechanical banks were often creatively designed, depicting historical, legendary or everyday events to increase their appeal. Each bank performed a stunt or an action when a coin was dropped into a slot and a lever was pulled. The banks quickly became popular with children and adults alike and soon became a sought after collector's item.
The oldest coin storage units were sturdy portable boxes modeled after military banks of the 18th century. When made for children, the goal of inexpensive “bank boxes” was to encourage saving money inside them. Parents and grandparents tend to think that having children save their coins is an excellent practice that fosters thrift or at least preplanning.
In a step beyond sturdy slotted boxes, many early shapes were pigs made of ceramics or glass. Once a coin was dropped in a piggy bank, it was stored perhaps in perpetuity. Most ceramic and glass pigs (or elephants or other shapes) had to be smashed with a hammer (or dropped from a great height) in order to break them open.
Today, the two main groups of collectible cast iron banks consist of simple coin collectors, known as still banks, and mechanical banks.
Still Banks
When using a still bank, a person drops money into a box, and it is locked away. Perhaps the most popular of these were the classic piggy banks. Mostly made of ceramic or glass, the oldest of these required breaking the bank with a hammer in order to get the money out (although a magnet sometimes could finagle a coin back out of a glass piggy). Those still banks made of metal were virtually impregnable fortresses for money.
Coins went in, and children couldn’t get them out without a key, or in recent years, a code. Many still banks depict either a generic “bank building” or have the name of a particular bank imprinted on them. By the 1930s, local banks were giving away still banks with their names as an advertising gimmick to lure customers and keep their names in front of current customers.
Mechanical Banks
Toward the end of the 19th century, a fad for mechanical banks emerged that lasted well into the 1930s. Small portable banks were activated to do something when a coin was inserted: arms moved, flags waved, or a cover closed. A lid might come down and hide the coin slot or a message might appear. Made of metal, largely cast-iron, perhaps with tin outer parts, mechanical banks are usually heavy even when not loaded with coins. At any rate, “mechanical” here means something changes, and often that something was quite clever, serving to amuse or puzzle children.
By the early 1930s, popular mechanical banks often depicted movie stars or other historical figures. Soon advertisers understood the marketing value of still and mechanical banks. Among the most popular of mechanicals are those emulating a sports action, such as swinging a bat or kicking a soccer ball when a coin is dropped in a slot.
Still another collectible area consists of banks involving cars, mostly models of luxury racers. Adding a coin releases a wound coil that drives the car’s wheels a modest distance. These pseudo-banks have little to do with saving money but a lot to do with entertainment. Generally, turning the car upside down and shaking it released any coins inside to “play” the action again.
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| The Aris Collection |
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Hobby Ceramics |
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Cast Iron Banks |
| Collectible items made in Occupied Japan during the summer of 1945 through the spring of 1952 while U.S. troops were in the country. The entire collection is up for sale and includes all documentation. |
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| Authentic still and Mechanical cast iron banks from the Collection of Charles Westey Atwood. These banks were first manufactured in the late 1800s, to instill the concept of earning saving money. |
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