Bidspirit auction | Shepard Hardware Co. Jolly Top

Shepard Hardware Co. Jolly Top Hat Mechanical Bank - This mechanical bank is a Jolly Top Hat model manufactured by the Shepard Hardware Co. of Buffalo, New York. The item is constructed of cast iron and features a caricature bust of a man wearing a high top hat and a red jacket with a bow tie. The bank is operated via a lever located on the figure's rear left shoulder. When the lever is depressed, the right arm raises a coin toward the open mouth, while the eyes roll backward and the tongue recedes to accept the currency. The back of the torso features an embossed oval containing the following text: JOLLY NIGGER BANK PAT MARCH 14 '82 PAT APRIL 10 '83. The casting details and specific patent dates identify this as an original late 19th-century production rather than a later reproduction.