This guide will be for collectors and sellers who want to sell or buy vintage pottery and porcelain banks!    

       What is a vintage bank?

1.  Most Made prior to 1950. A few made by well known pottery companies such as Hull were made later and have cork stoppers!

2. Most are break to open banks. Roseville did make a few early banks with bottom holes! Sellers show a picture of the bottom of the bank, this is important to serious collectors!

3. Most Manufactured in USA, England, Europe and Japan.

4. Majolica head banks made in Czechoslovakia seem to have the most value although not the rarest !

BANK MISCONCEPTIONS:

1. Most blade banks are not break to open banks and have a shaving or barber theme.

2. Shawnee did not make a regular production Smiley piggy bank other than the cookie jar banks, most of the banks mistakenly labeled Shawnee on ebay were made by American Bisque or Royal Copely! Watch out for the Shawnee cookie jar banks they have been recently reproduced. Most of the sellers of the repos hide bidders ID.

3. Holed eyed pigs, often mislabeled as bennington, most were made in Austria between 1880 to 1920 and are very common and not rare!

4. The Razorback pig and others with similiar bennington type glazes were not manufactured by Roseville, but were produced by Brush/McCoy in the 1940's! If you know glazes and molding used from the era it is easy to see all were produced by Brush!

5. There are many occupied Japan reproductions. Mainly black collectibles recently produced. Also watch out for reproduction McCoy banks with the same theme! 

     If you are thinking about collecting pottery and porcelain banks invest in a guide or join a group to learn about collecting banks. Make sure to read feedback of sellers before bidding.  Collecting banks can be a rewarding hobby with a wide range of subject matter from pigs, buildings, animals,people and other interesting items. Starting a collection of Japanese banks would be a good place for a novice to start, because of  the low cost and subject variety of the banks out there. Happy Banking!