ANTIQUE ORIGINAL Cast Iron Humpty Dumpty Circus Clown Mechanical Bank WORKING

  
Antique ORIGINAL "Humpty Dumpty" cast iron mechanical coin bank, in the form of a clown. First patented in 1884, and believed by many to be the most attractive of bust banks. The Humpty Dumpty Bank is one of the most enduring and endearing mechanical banks to Collector's. The operation of the Humpty Dumpty bank is quite simple. A coin is placed in its right hand, and the lever in the back is pressed down. Simultaneously, his eyes roll up, his tongue recedes, and his right arm raises the coin, whereby it is flipped into his awaiting mouth and deposited within the bank. Coin removal is achieved by unscrewing the metal plug on the base. Cast into the back of the bank and raise letters are the words the Humpty Dumpty bank. The majority of these clown banks that can be found today are from the 1950s and were produced as reproductions of the older, original bank. These reproductions are marked as such (on the bottom plate), and this is the case with the vast majority, as there were far more reproductions produce in the 50s than the number of original antique pieces. This particular bank bears no such designation of being a repro, and as an original antique Humpty Dumpty Bank, is exceedingly rare and hard to find. The fact that the mechanism still works exactly as it is meant to it is quite a nice bonus about this piece for any Coin Bank Collector.

ALL REASONABLE OFFERS WILL BE CONSIDERED! The following link is to another listing of the same item, one which is in poorer condition than this example, although their asking price is double the cost of this one.