An Original 19th Century Working “Speaking Dog” Mechanical Cast Iron Bank. All our banks-including this one- came directly from the estate of an avid collector of 19th century banks. The Speaking Dog was patented, as inscribed on the under base plate, July 14, 1885. It was first made by the Shepard Hardware Company and then by J. Stevens Company of Cromwell, Conn. Other than variations in the painting, the only differences between the Stevens bank and the Shepard bank are the coin traps. Shepard used their conventional rectangular locking trap and Stevens their regular round coin trap. The outline of the filled in rectangular section for the Shepard trap can be seen on the Stevens Speaking Dog Banks. The text of this bank’s patent consists of two sheets, one full printed on both sides and the other sheet part printed on one side. Of particular interest in the text is the fact that the item held in the girls right hand, thought by most collectors to represent a mirror, is a fan or tray. The bank as manufactured is practically identical to the patent drawings. To operate the bank a coin is placed on the fan or tray. Then all the following happens when the operating lever is depressed a section of the seat under the fan or tray opens the right arm moves back dropping the coin into the open seat section the dog opens his mouth as though barking (lower jaw drops down) the tail of the dog swings up. On releasing the lever all parts return to position except the tail which is counter balanced so it wags up and down for a short period of time. ORIGINAL, with wear consistent with age. Approximate length: 7 3/4 inches. The item “1885 ANTIQUE ORIGINAL WORKING SPEAKING DOG CAST IRON MECHANICAL BANK NO RESERVE” is in sale since Saturday, October 03, 2015. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Banks, Registers & Vending\Still, Piggy Banks\Other Collectible Still Banks”. The seller is “antiqueauctionsinc” and is located in Chicago, Illinois. This item can be shipped to United States, to Canada, to United Kingdom, DK, RO, SK, BG, CZ, FI, HU, LV, LT, MT, EE, to Australia, GR, PT, CY, SI, to Japan, to China, SE, KR, ID, to Taiwan, TH, to Belgium, to France, to Hong Kong, to Ireland, to Netherlands, PL, to Spain, to Italy, to Germany, to Austria, RU, IL, to Mexico, to New Zealand, SG, to Switzerland, NO, SA, UA, AE, QA, KW, BH, HR, MY, CL, CO, CR, DO, PA, TT, GT, SV, HN, JM.

• Original/Reproduction: Original