Moneyboxes & Piggy Banks | Collectibles & Collectors Items

Collecting piggy banks and money boxes provides many people with colourful, diverse collections that can often be worth a significant amount of money as time passes. Throughout the years there have been many examples to collect, coming in all kinds of shapes and sizes with almost all examples becoming collectables at some point. See the tips below on which items to collect and the tell tale signs to look for.

A bit of Piggy Bank history
Many people are uncertain of the origination of the name, but there tends to be a general agreement that it is derived from the word 'pygg', which is the type of clay that they were originally crafted from. Back in the Middle Ages many people used to store items such as salt in wide necked pots also made from the same material. By the start of the eighteenth century, money was also being stored in these pots, which resulted in them being called pig banks. This name evolved in to piggy banks as time went on. These early banks were ceramic and had no hole in the bottom, requiring them to be smashed completely to get to the contents. Examples of such pots have been found, dating back as far as 500AD.

Types of pottery used
Many types of pottery are used in the construction of piggy banks such as

Clay
Porcelain
Ceramics
China
Stoneware
Pottery
Earthernware

Know how to spot the real deal
With many collectable examples available it is inevitable that a number of counterfeit items enter the marketplace. If you are going to build an impressive and valuable collection then you need to be able to tell the fakes apart from the real deal. Experience will always be the best tool at your disposal but unfortunately that only comes with time. The markings on the potteries will provide you with the best clues to the products authenticity. Apart from countless books that can be purchased there is an excellent website that you can check out for free. The Pottery Marks website (http://www.potterymarks.co.uk) is a huge database featuring markings from many of the top potters. When you are purchasing piggy banks or money boxes ensure that you pay attention to the finest of details and compare them with the sources available to you.

Manufacturers
There are so many manufacturers of piggy banks these days it would be impossible to list them all, but, here are a few of the more famous or collectable ones.

Wade
Wade and Sons was started in the 1800's and was one of several potteries made by the family. Over the years the various potteries combined and merged becoming Wade Ceramics as we know them today. Countless examples have been produced by Wade over time, with many becoming extremely collectable items. The most famous of which are probably the Natwest Pigs, which were originally offered to children as an incentive to open and maintain a savings account. These pigs will now often fetch well over �200 at auction, with certain individual unique pieces being worth a similar amount on their own.

Arthur Wood
Wood's piggy banks stand out from many by offering extremely contemporary, colourful and collectable pieces. There are very many shapes and designs available from this company that you will be sure to find something to fit in with your current collections. Wood was originally known for bowls and vases only moving towards the manufacture of hollowware in the late 1960's. Due to the unique nature of Woods potteries, they are an excellent form of money box to watch out for.

Masons
Masons originally produced many examples of vases and jugs, crafted in Ironstone, providing a cheaper alternative to Chinese porcelain. Masons only began making piggy banks in the mid 1900's, prior to joining the Wedgewood Group in 1973. Masons piggy banks can be set aside from most by using metal stoppers which adds to the unique nature of these products. However, many items from Masons are based on very similar moulds reducing the numbers of individual pieces available.

Wemyss
The pigs produced by Wemyss take collectable pieces to a different level. Potteries by Wemyss were produced in Scotland until it closed in the early 1930's. Prices for many of the Wemyss potteries run into thousands of pounds with a set of rare pigs being sold by Sothebys auction house in 2004 for �70,000. Obviously, not all examples fetch this kind of money but they are definitely a manufacturer to search for. Due to the elevated prices there are a number of counterfeit items for sale, usually through the internet auction sites so if you do find a rare example for sale, ensure that you make every effort to confirm the authenticity of the product. You will need to inspect the item thoroughly comparing manufacturer stamps and marks down to the finest details.

Collecting money boxes and piggy banks can provide you with an enjoyable and highly lucrative hobby if you can pick the right items to collect. Hopefully the information above should start you on the right track to building an impressive collection.