Apr 29: A closer link at the most common savings vehicle – the piggy bank

April 29, 2024

We all have one or more of them, lying around the house, holding little caches of change. But how did the tradition of piggy banks come about?

Save with SPP decided to do a little digging about our porcine cash-saving pals.

Wikipedia defines the piggy bank as “the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children,” noting they are traditionally made of ceramic or porcelain.

“They are generally painted and serve as a pedagogical device to teach the rudiments of thrift and saving to children,” the article continues.

OK, but why are they shaped like pigs? “The earliest known pig-shaped money containers date to the 12th century on the island of Java. The Javanese term cèlèngan (literally `likeness of a wild boar, but used to mean both `savings’ and `piggy bank,’) is also in the modern Indonesian language,” the article notes.

In fact, Wikipedia adds, “a large number of boar-shaped piggy banks were discovered at the large archaeological site surrounding Trowulan, a village in the Indonesian province of East Java and a possible site of the capital of the Majapahit Empire.”

While most of these change-hoarding wild boar statuettes are small, the folks at Guinness World Records tell us that the largest piggy bank ever recorded was “achieved by Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg (Germany)… on 18 May, 2015.” This monster piggy bank, Guinness reports, was 8.03 meters long and 5.54 meters wide.

“Money was inserted into the piggy bank using a small crane, carrying each coin to the slot one by one after inserting it into a smaller piggy bank at the bottom of the crane,” Guinness reports.

The only other piggy bank record that comes up is that of Leo, a cocker spaniel owned by Emily Anderson of Aberdeen, Scotland, who holds the record of being able to put 23 coins in a piggy bank in under one minute.

OK, they can be small, big, have origins in Java, and a canine deposit connection. We wondered what people do with their piggy banks, and the money in them?

A few years ago, ABC News reported on the delightful story of Aryana Chopra, then five, who used money she saved in her piggy bank to buy residents of a nearby nursing home “a New Year’s cake as well as a decorative Santa Claus and a vase.” She also gave each of the 200 residents a handmade card, the article reports.

Many people collect piggy banks, reports the Vintage Virtue blog.

Few of the very earliest piggy banks survive, the article notes, because they had to be smashed with a hammer to retrieve the coins within. Once the idea of having a removeable plug in the base of the bank began, banks “were saved from destruction, making them a fun collectible today,” the blog reports.

Collectible banks have been made in Europe and the U.S., and the article suggests you do some online research if considering buying a bank you think has value.

“If you are interested in the traditional `still’ piggy bank, the cast-iron banks manufactured between the 1870s and the early 1930s are considered the most valuable from an investment standpoint. Early cast-iron banks were made by hardware foundries which were often out of business by the turn of the century. Foundries manufactured some later cast-iron banks as a way to diversify their offerings and stay in business during the lean years of the Great Depression, but by the mid-1930s, cast-iron still-bank production had come to an end,” the article notes.

“Through careful selection and research, you can become part of a vibrant global community that seeks to preserve and celebrate the history of these simple yet charming objects. So join the party and get collecting,” advises the blog.

We have two piggy banks on the go here. One, a porcelain armadillo featuring a Texas flag, is where we put our U.S. change. When we go over the bridge to Ogdensburg, N.Y. we run the coins through a change machine and then add the bills to our shopping budget.

Our other one is shaped like a delivery truck, and the coins it carried have mostly been used to bolster our Saskatchewan Pension Plan savings – we convert the change to bills and then deposit them in the bank before making a “bill payment” to our future selves.

If your piggy bank is filled to the brim, why not consider making a contribution to SPP, the made-in-Saskatchewan do-it-yourself pension plan that’s open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan room? Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

ABC News, Guinness World Records, Vintage Virtue, Wikipedia

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