Chein
From the 1930s to the 1970s, New Jersey’s J. Chein & Co. created vibrant tin lithographed mechanical banks—featuring clowns, animals, and buildings. With evolving logos and trap styles, these souvenir-style banks remain collectible gems, especially the rare 1970s “Chein Playthings” editions.
J. Chein & Company: Tin Treasures and Evolving Bust Banks
J. Chein & Company of New Jersey produced a line of colorful tin lithographed toys from the 1930s through the 1970s. Among these were 6 mechanical banks, four of which are of the bust variety and two of which were small tin buildings banks. Though they basically stayed the same throughout their production, they did evolve. Initial banks from the 30s have a hinged square trap on their base and one form of the company logo. Banks from the late 40s and 50s, which are the most common to be found today, have a round circular trap that is that is removable in its base and a second form of the logo. Finally in the 1970s, a third run of the banks was produced with again a new logo, Chein Playthings, and the same circular trap. These late reproductions are surprisingly the hardest to find. The Chein banks include a Church building, a Donald duck building (known as the 2nd National Duck Bank), a clown bust, a monkey, an elephant, and lastly a rabbit called Uncle Wiggly. Chein banks were often used as tourist souvenirs and sometimes have stickers that were added to identify where they were sold as souvenirs. Of interest in the early 2020s, a company in Asia produced a cast iron version of the clown bust.