From Long Island, NY to Minnesota and Back
Published in the April 2023 Penny Bank Post | Written by David Dods
Years ago, I acquired this Central National lead coin bank shown in Fig. 1 from long-time SBCCA member Charlie King (deceased), who at the time lived in Minnesota. Charlie was a big eBay seller and I came across the Central National Bank, Mineola, N.Y., on his eBay store.
Figure 1
Mineola, N.Y., is a town on Long Island about thirty miles east of New York City, not far from where I live. I definitely had to purchase the bank for my collection. I bought it without hesitation, and Charlie shipped it to me right away. He did not recall where he found it, and how it wound up in Minnesota remains a mystery. Nonetheless, it has been back on Long Island ever since.
The bank was manufactured by the American Artcraft Company in Coshocton, Ohio, circa 1920’s-30’s. The trap on the back of the bank is stamped accordingly. It was most likely a promotional piece for bank officers and possibly significant depositors. The casting and detail of the image are exquisite.
After having the bank in my collection for many years, I thought it would be fun to do some research on the Central National Bank and try to determine whether the building from which the coin bank is fashioned still existed. During the COVID shutdown, I embarked on internet research hoping to learn more. To my disappointment, I wasn’t successful in finding much information or history about the Central National Bank, the street address where it was located, or if at some point it had merged with another financial institution.
I thought that the building might have been razed years ago since Mineola is a town that was significantly developed post WW II when Long Island was growing.
I did find on the internet letterhead from Central National Bank that featured the same architectural entrance depicted on the coin bank as shown in Fig. 2 below.
Figure 2
I also learned that . . .
