Coasting bank - cast iron mechanical bank

[pete76]

Hi, hoping someone can help me find out how to research a mechanical bank I have. It’s says 1884 J&E Stevens coasting bank. Many thanks in advance

 

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[ARC]

When posting in "What Is It?", please give members the information they need to help identify your find:

1. Post MULTIPLE sharp closeup photos of both the front and the back and sides.
2. State the actual size of the item. Also, if possible, put something with it in the photo for scale: a common U.S. coin, a ruler, etc.
3. If there are any inscriptions which cannot be easily read in the photos, type them in full in your post.
4. If there are maker's marks, numbers, symbols, or other marks on the back which are not easily seen in the photo, post a close-up or a drawing of them.
5. Indicate the composition of the item. For example: "thin brass, filled with lead on the back."
6. Knowing where you found the item or how you got it can also be helpful in identifying the find.

• Once your item has been identified, don't forget to mark it "Solved."
• Finally, if someone identifies your item or provides other helpful information, take time to post your appreciation.
either with a response saying so OR by clicking the "LIKE" button.

 

[ARC]

Need pictures of screws.

 

[pete76]

Thank you for the sage advice on what to provide, really appreciated. I’ve attached a few more images and dimensions are (approximately): length 16cm, width 7 3/4 cm, hieght 19cm. Pictures of flat head screws to both figure and box attached. Found in Australia 🇦🇺 😁. There looks to be numbers on the lock to get coins out but can’t really see them, maybe PAT FEB 218765?

 

[pete76]

Thank you for the sage advice on what to provide, really appreciated. I’ve attached a few more images and dimensions are (approximately): length 16cm, width 7 3/4 cm, hieght 19cm. Pictures of flat head screws to both figure and box attached. Found in Australia 🇦🇺 😁. There looks to be numbers on the lock to get coins out but can’t really see them, maybe PAT FEB 218765?

Also cast iron

 

[pete76]

Also cast iron

Found a few more screws after a closer look!

 

[ARC]

Well first off... IMO... this is a real cast iron bank.
Second....
Its worth some $ $ $

 

[ARC]

Woah..... um..... i just did a search for your bank.... ***GULP***

Ehhhhh.... ONE... repeat ONE of these has come up for sale.... FOR - - $

$266,500 ! ! !​

Holy crapola... is all i can say.

 

[ARC]

AND !
Yours blows the one i saw in the water as far as condition.

One-of-a-kind toy bank coasts to $266,500 – The History Blog

www.thehistoryblog.com

 

[pete76]

Thanks Arc, it seems original - daughter loves it as well! …..whoah just saw your second post!

 

[ARC]

NOW.... with all this said........ when i see something like this the red flags start popping up.

This needs an expert appraisal.

ME..... I am NOT and expert in mechanical banks.

 

[pete76]

The figure doesn’t move on this one - screwed down but it looks so similar - even the gold coloured parts on the side of the bank

 

[ARC]

Be VERY warry when seeking help on this... personally i would submit / contact Sotheby's OR Christies auction houses via E-mail.
And would seek no other advice.
Dont let it out of yours hands and dont tell a sole near ya.

 

[pete76]

Good call,

Be VERY warry when seeking help on this... personally i would submit / contact Sotheby's OR Christies auction houses via E-mail.
And would seek no other advice.
Dont let it out of yours hands and dont tell a sole near ya.

wow, that escalated quickly😁. Appreciate the advice Arc, will reach out to the auction house or at least try have it examined (?)

 

[ARC]

Be VERY warry when seeking help on this... personally i would submit / contact Sotheby's OR Christies auction houses via E-mail.
And would seek no other advice.
Dont let it out of yours hands and dont tell a sole near ya.

With that said....
IF i were you AND one of those auction houses were interested in selling it for you...
I would do it.
Yours would... IF REAL would possibly far surpass the other banks value.

 

[pete76]

With that said....
IF i were you AND one of those auction houses were interested in selling it for you...
I would do it.
Yours would... IF REAL would possibly far surpass the other banks value.

Thank you, I’ll keep you posted

 

[ARC]

Thank you, I’ll keep you posted

That would be great.
Items like this that grace the TreasureNet presence are what and why I live on here.
Love it when a great item comes on.

Listen one more thing.....

 

[ARC]

IF.... your bank is a "copy" / "repro"....
There is still going to be some value there.

FOR... the guys that cant get the real deal will still cough up for the next best thing just to have it.
So.... IOW's....
If it gets that assessment dont fret.

 

[Red-Coat]

Interesting.

The original for that design had an unclothed baby rather than a clothed child. As @ARC discovered, the only known example turned up on the BBC’s “Antiques Roadshow” having been found in Scotland. It ultimately sold at auction in Philadelphia in 2013 for $220,000 ($266,500 including buyer’s premium), way beyond the pre-sale estimate of $30,000-50,000. For collectors of these items, it was regarded as the “Holy Grail”.

From the UK newspaper “Daily Mail”:

A woman who found an unusual money box in her mother-in-law's attic has sold it for more than £160,000 at auction.
The unidentified owner had been cleaning out the loft in Peebles, Scotland, when she discovered the antique 'Coasting Bank'.
The curious contraption, believed to be the only one in existence, features a painted baby resting atop a gold-painted cast steel slide - while straddling a coin slot.
It is likely to have been made by famous toy designer Charles A Bailey while he was working for leading mechanical bank manufacturers J & E Stevens of Connecticut from the 1880s to about 1915.
Mr Bailey, who also created the rare Bismark Pig Bank and the Germania Exchange Bank, was known for his use of lead or white metal - materials that are believed to have been used for the 'Coasting Bank'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...red-BBC1s-Antiques-Roadshow-sold-160-000.html

Even hardcore collectors had no idea it had ever existed until 1955, when antique dealer William J. Stackhouse found an advert for it in an old copy of “Ehrich’s Fashion Quarterly” among a stack of old magazines from a second hand shop in New York.

These banks have been heavily reproduced in later times, with the casting usually including the original manufacturer’s name and other details. I haven’t seen a reproduction of this particular item but, since it was unknown until 1955 (with the baby, not the child), I would assume it to have been copied after that date, and produced ‘from scratch’ rather than re-moulded from an original. Many Stevens’ (and other manufacturer) reproductions were made for collectors in the 1970s.

Definitely worth getting it checked out by an expert, but I would expect it’s a reproduction, for which prices start at around $100 for vintage items.

 

[ARC]

Interesting.

The original for that design had an unclothed baby rather than a clothed child. As @ARC discovered, the only known example turned up on the BBC’s “Antiques Roadshow” having been found in Scotland. It ultimately sold at auction in Philadelphia in 2013 for $220,000 ($266,500 including buyer’s premium), way beyond the pre-sale estimate of $30,000-50,000. For collectors of these items, it was regarded as the “Holy Grail”.

From the UK newspaper “Daily Mail”:

View attachment 2167715

A woman who found an unusual money box in her mother-in-law's attic has sold it for more than £160,000 at auction.
The unidentified owner had been cleaning out the loft in Peebles, Scotland, when she discovered the antique 'Coasting Bank'.
The curious contraption, believed to be the only one in existence, features a painted baby resting atop a gold-painted cast steel slide - while straddling a coin slot.
It is likely to have been made by famous toy designer Charles A Bailey while he was working for leading mechanical bank manufacturers J & E Stevens of Connecticut from the 1880s to about 1915.
Mr Bailey, who also created the rare Bismark Pig Bank and the Germania Exchange Bank, was known for his use of lead or white metal - materials that are believed to have been used for the 'Coasting Bank'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...red-BBC1s-Antiques-Roadshow-sold-160-000.html

Even hardcore collectors had no idea it had ever existed until 1955, when antique dealer William J. Stackhouse found an advert for it in an old copy of “Ehrich’s Fashion Quarterly” among a stack of old magazines from a second hand shop in New York.

View attachment 2167716

These banks have been heavily reproduced in later times, with the casting usually including the original manufacturer’s name and other details. I haven’t seen a reproduction of this particular item but, since it was unknown until 1955 (with the baby, not the child), I would assume it to have been copied after that date, and produced ‘from scratch’ rather than re-moulded from an original. Many Stevens’ (and other manufacturer) reproductions were made for collectors in the 1970s.

Definitely worth getting it checked out by an expert, but I would expect it’s a reproduction, for which prices start at around $100 for vintage items.

Good post Red...
I have had the privilege of handling and being around MANY of these mechanical banks.
Beings....
My first blunder in my Antique career was in 1990 involving an Uncle Sam mechanical bank.
it was a 15$ deal that i passed.
Sold for 5k.
Since then.... i took it upon myself to learn them.... there are some tells to these as to the authentic versus repop... and this bank has none. (obvious ones anyways)
It looks real to me... OTHER than.... the paint is ALMOST... "too good to be true".
Everything else looks right.
With that said... I have seen and handled many with paint this good... so...... i hope the op keeps us posted... FOR i for one am especially interested.