Thought it was a dirty old can because it behaved the same way.
Big, loud, pretty deep but the square shape got me curious so I started to rub on it before I threw it in my trash bag and I saw writing etched into in a strange, art nouveau old style font.
After cleaning it I find a thick flattened little box looking thing that is not an old can but something called a pocket bank.
Thick brass and chrome plated and mine still has most of the chrome.
No treasure trove of coins in this thing but in this case this is the treasure.
Evidently a popular promotional device bought by banks and handed out to use to get more business.
Fill it up with coins, take it to the bank and the teller would use a small flat screwdriver like tool to spring the top open and then empty the money to be deposited in your account.
If I was a kid I would have loved to have owned one of these and would have carried it around everywhere...in my pocket.
Mine is missing the slotted top and the metal plate inserted into the square indented space that had the bank info and owners account number imprinted on it.
I found two others on eBay that are complete, pics below, and one was from Wisconsin while the other was from another bank in Illinois.
Add to this I assume mine came from a bank here in Birmingham so I suspect these might have been popular nationwide.
The best thing was the info I found doing research.
Could not find a thing on the web about the Safety Pocket Bank Co out of Chicago until I came across a link to an advertisement in an old financial newspaper used by bankers and high finance types...The United States Investor.
That ad is posted below, notice the date...October 21 1905!
Mine is slightly different than the picture in the ad but still says pats pend on it so I guess they slightly improved this design at about that same time or soon after.
Just a little beat up twisted piece of metal but so cool it rates a special place in my collection of oddities.
Check out those dirty trash finds a little closer in the field when you come across them...you might just be surprised on what you have found.
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