Mechanical bank:Dog on Turntable

Collectors note a distinction between antique still banks and American mechanical banks of the 19th century and after. Still banks, as the term implies, offer no action. The owner simply deposits a coin in the tiny slit, placing the coin out of reach and thus "saved." The mechanical bank, on the other hand, offered coin depositors an entertaining reward for their thrift. The weight of the coin placed on the bank caused the action, or a turn of a switch or lever by the young depositor activated the spring that set the bank in motion. Parents hoped children deposited more and more coins just to see the cleverness of the banks' movement.