Micky money box under the hammer
ABOUT eighteen months ago a young British businessman working in America happened to notice a newspaper report that a rare tinplate Mickey Mouse moneybox had come up for sale at an auction in New York. It looked vaguely familiar.
“Didn’t grandfather have a Mickey Mouse money box?’ he asked his father when they were speaking on the telephone a few days later.
“He did,” responded his father. “It was a favourite treasure from his childhood. We were never ever allowed to touch it.”
“Have we still got it?’ asked the businessman.
“We have. Why?”
“There’s one over here that has just sold at auction – for $27,000.”
Twenty-seven thousand dollars is a touch over £20,000, a sum that indicates just how rare the little moneybox is and just how prized it is in the collecting field. That auction result prompted a family discussion – and the eventual decision to sell their Mickey Mouse moneybox. It is to go under the hammer in our toys, diecast model cars, dolls and vintage teddy bears auction next Friday.
The novelty was made by a German company, Saalheimer and Strauss of Nuremberg, a leading tinplate toymaker of the inter-war years. It dates from the early 1930s, which puts it amongst the first Disney memorabilia. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, introducing him to the world in a couple of largely ignored short cartoons but then followed Steamboat Willie, the first animation film to have synchronised music and sounds. That was a huge hit and Mickey became an international star.
Merchandising of the character started within a couple of years and it was, by the standards of the day, very slick. Saalheimer and Strauss were quick to spot the potential and decided to dip their toes in the water, although fairly cautiously. They created four variants of their moneybox, with slight differences in the Mickey figure on the front.
None of them were produced in large numbers and they are all extremely rare today.
The variant that we will be putting under the hammer next week (Mickey with folded hands) is a Type 1. A motto on the reverse of the moneybox explains how it works: “If you only pull my ear you will see my tongue appear. Place a coin upon my tongue save your money while you’re young”.
It is in remarkable condition for a children’s novelty that is now almost a century old. That is of course entirely down to Victor Swain, the film-loving small boy who was thrilled to receive the present and continued to treasure it until his death at the age of 97 two years ago.
Just a handful of examples of this moneybox – or money bank as the collectors call them – have passed through auction rooms in the past few years, all of them in the United States, none in this country as far as we are aware.
Results have ranged from the $15,000 (£11,257) up to $35,670 (£26,771), a price that was recorded at an auction in Denver as recently as March last year.
The catalogue for the toys, diecast model cars, dolls and vintage teddy bears auction is available online (davidduggleby.com). The viewing sessions are at the Vine Street Saleroom in Scarborough, on Wednesday and Thursday (December 1-2) plus on Friday morning from 9am until the start of the auction at 12.30pm.
The auction is to be webcast with online bidding through DD Live and thesaleroom.com.