"Cast-iron banks are cool collector's items, and this one's no exception. Expect about $4,500."
-Expert
Facts[]
- Fact 1: Cast-iron mechanical banks became a popular way to teach children the importance of saving money in the mid-19th century.
- Fact 2: The first known coin bank dates to 2nd-century Greece. It was a small Greek temple with a coin slot in the base.
- Fact 3: This bank recalls a popular story about American president Teddy Roosevelt and a bear. A coin placed in Roosevelt's gun fires into the tree, surprising a bear inside.
- Fact 4: On a 1902 hunting trip in Mississippi, Roosevelt famously ordered the mercy killing of a wounded black bear. Roosevelt was associated with bears in politcal cartoons from then on.
- Fact 5: Following the bear incident, toy seller Morris Mitchom contacted Roosevelt about using his name in selling stuffed bears Mrs. Mitchom made. Roosevelt agreed, and the Teddy bear was born.