Bank, Mechanical, Duro, Atomic

This metal mechanical bank is the first such bank produced by Duro, a Detroit-based company that began producing mechanical banks in 1947. Such banks were made to be distributed by individual bank branches as a part of promotions or as premiums with a opened account. Note the blank space below the target where a sticker with the name of the local bank branch could be afixed. A spring-loaded mechanism could launch a coin placed on the pedestal to enter the bank in the middle of the bull's eye.

Although the Atomic bank is not particularly space-themed, it does reflect the interest in atomic power that was prevalent in the late 1940s. The other seven models produced originally by Duro in the 1950s all had space themes.

Raymond Reines donated this bank to the Museum in 2011.