J & E Stevens Co., Tammany Hall Mechanical Coin Bank

Cromwell, Connecticut, patented 1873, designed by John Hall, painted cast iron, to use bank: place coin in man's right hand to activate the weighted mechanism as the figure pockets the coin and bows his head in a gesture of appreciation, the sides of chair stamped "TAMMANY/BANK" and the chair back stamped "PATd DEC 23 1873".

6 x 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.

From a Prominent Collector, Aiken, South Carolina

It is believed this bank may caricature a corrupt politician of New York City's Tammany Hall, the seat of the city's Democratic Party at the time, nodding in appreciation with each coin deposited. The J. & E. Stevens Company, founded in 1843, began producing banks in 1869 and their line became the largest in the world during the 1870s and 1880s.

Source: The Henry Ford Digital Collections

Mechanical action working at time of evaluation; old paint surface with scattered small areas of paint loss.