View source for Piggy bank

{{Short description|Novelty container used for holding coin money}}
{{about|the item traditionally used to store money|the song|Piggy Bank (song)}}
{{redirect|Money box|the BBC programme|Money Box (radio){{!}}''Money Box'' (radio)}}
[[File:Sparschwein Haspa02.jpg|thumb|A piggy bank, circa 1970.]]
[[File:Earthen pot 02.jpg|thumb|Earthen pots used in [[Nepal]] as piggy banks.]]
'''Piggy bank''' (sometimes '''penny bank''' or '''money box''') is the traditional name of a [[coin]] container normally used by [[child]]ren. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "[[mechanical bank]]s" popular in the early 20th century. These items are also often used by companies for promotional purposes, and many financial service companies use piggy banks as logos for their savings products.

Piggy banks are usually made of [[ceramic]] or [[porcelain]].<ref name=Schroy>{{cite book|last=Schroy|first=Ellen|title=Warman's Americana & Collectibles|year=2011|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-1440228223|pages=367|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4er4MhgPBPAC&q=Porcelain+pig+piggy+banks&pg=PA367}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They are generally painted and serve as a pedagogical device to teach the rudiments of [[Frugality|thrift]] and [[saving]] to children; money can be easily inserted. Many piggy banks have a rubber [[bung|plug]] located on the underside; others are made of vinyl and have a removable nose for easy coin access. Some incorporate [[Electronics|electronic]] systems that calculate the amount of money deposited.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/digibank-piggy-and-panda-banks-learn-to-count-239597.php|title=DigiBank Piggy and Panda Banks Learn to Count|publisher=Gizmodo|access-date=2008-11-09}}</ref> Some piggy banks do not have an opening besides the slot for inserting coins, which will lead to smashing the piggy bank with a hammer or by other means, to obtain the money within.<ref>Sandy Donovan, ''Budgeting'', p. 22, Lerner Publications, 2005 {{ISBN|0822526654}}.</ref>

==Origins==
[[File:Hellenistic Money box in shape of a temple from Priene Antikensammlung Berlin.jpg|thumb|An [[Hellenistic art|ancient Greek]] money box from [[Priene]], 2nd century BC.]]
The oldest Western find of a money box dates from the 2nd century BC [[Greek colony]] [[Priene]], [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], and features the shape of a miniature [[Greek temple]] with a slit in the [[pediment]]. Money boxes of various forms were also excavated in [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]], and appear quite frequently on [[Late Antiquity|late ancient]] [[Roman province|provincial]] sites, particularly in [[Roman Britain]] and along the [[Rhine]].<ref name="New Pauly: Money boxes">Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg): "Money boxes", Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (ed.): ''[[Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft|New Pauly]]'', Brill, 2009</ref>

===Pig-shaped money box===
[[Image:Majapahit, Piggy Bank.jpg|thumb|left|[[Majapahit]] [[terracotta]] piggy bank, 14th/15th century [[Trowulan]], [[East Java]]. (Collection of [[National Museum of Indonesia]], [[Jakarta]])]]
The earliest known pig-shaped money containers date to the 12th century on the island of [[Java]]. The [[Javanese language|Javanese]] term ''cèlèngan'' (ꦕꦺꦭꦺꦁꦔꦤ꧀; literally "likeness of a wild boar",<ref group="n">A ''cèlèng'' (ꦕꦺꦭꦺꦁ) is a wild boar, with the "an" affix used to denote a likeness</ref> but used to mean both "savings" and "piggy bank") is also in the modern [[Indonesian language]]. 

A large number of boar-shaped piggy banks were discovered at the large archaeological site surrounding [[Trowulan]], a village in the Indonesian province of East Java and a possible site of the capital of the [[Majapahit|Majapahit Empire]].<ref>Supratikno Rahardjo. "Tradisi Menabung dalam Masyarakat Majapahit: Telaah Pendahuluan terhadap Celengan di Trowulan". In ''Monumen: Karya Persembahan Untuk Prof. Dr. R. Soekmono''. Depok: Fakultas Sastra Universitas Indonesia, 1990. pp. 203-217.</ref>

There are some [[folk etymologies]] regarding the English language term "piggy bank," but in fact, there is no clear origin for the phrase. The earliest citation in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] is from 1913,<ref>{{oed|piggy bank}}</ref> and from 1902 for the variant "pig bank".<ref>{{oed|pig bank}}</ref> It is believed{{by whom?|date=October 2022}} that the popularity of the Western piggy banks originates in Germany, where pigs were revered as symbols of good fortune.<ref>"[http://www.bbc.com/storyworks/chinese-new-year/piggy-bank-origins Twisted tale: The great piggy bank mystery]". ''[[BBC]] Storyworks''</ref> The oldest German piggy bank dates to the 13th century and was recovered during construction work in [[Thuringia]].<ref>{{cite news |agency=Welt|title=Geröntgt: Mittelalterliches Sparschwein ist leer |url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/boulevard_nt/article121366015/Mittelalterliches-Sparschwein-ist-leer.html |date=30 October 2013}}</ref> The earliest known uses of "pig bank" are in newspaper articles from 1900.<ref>Sioux City Journal, July 20, 1900</ref><ref>Kalamazoo Gazette, September 27, 1900</ref> In Mexico, piggy banks are called ''alcancía'', a term originating from [[Andalusian Arabic]].

==Uses ==
The general use of piggy banks is to store loose change in a quaint, decorative manner. Modern piggy banks are not limited to the likeness of pigs and may come in a range of shapes, sizes, and colors. They are most commonly used by temples and churches because they are locked money boxes with narrow openings to drop cash or coins. The box is opened via a plug underneath it at regular intervals when the collected money is counted and recorded.

==See also==
{{Portal|Money|Banks}}
* [[Maneki-neko]]
* [[Tudor money box]]

==Image gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px" class="center" caption="">
File:Antike Sparbüchse, Archäologische Staatssammlung, München.jpg|[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] vase-shaped money box (2nd/3rd century AD). Ancient money boxes appear in the archaeological record in a wide variety of shapes.<ref name="New Pauly: Money boxes"/>
File:南宋灰陶扑满.jpg|Money box from the [[Song_dynasty#Southern_Song,_1127–1279|Southern Song dynasty]] (1127–1279).
File:Spaarpot, collectie Raakvlak, BR09-NDS-1-13-A-84.jpg|Broken money box in red earthenware (between 1250 and 1350), archaeological find from [[Bruges]].
File:Tudor money pot green, used in late medieval Britain.jpg|[[Tudor money box]] from the 16th century, England.
</gallery>

==Notes==
<references group="n"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscat-inline|Piggybanks}}
* [https://www.straightdope.com/21342682/what-s-the-origin-of-the-piggy-bank What's the origin of the piggy bank?] (from [[The Straight Dope]])

[[Category:Money containers]]
[[Category:Banks]]
[[Category:Coins]]
[[Category:Figurines]]
[[Category:Traditional toys]]
[[Category:Pigs in art]]

[[da:Sparebøsse#Sparegris]]