Opening an old piggy bank/lockpicking

Mike Danger

While cleaning out my great-aunt's apartment, we came across two piggy banks. One of them, the less mysterious one, is just a rectangular box with a little handle (kind of reminds me of an old-school lunchbox) that says REGULAR SAVINGS ACCUMULATES GREAT WEALTH. It had a key tied to it already, I can open the bottom, not a big deal.

The other one is much cooler, but does not have a key. It's made to look like an old-fashioned leather-bound book. The cover says SOCIETY FOR SAVINGS, and it has a picture of what I'm guessing is the interior of the old Society for Savings bank. Below the picture is THE PRATT STREET BANK, then ORGANIZED 1819, then HARTFORD, CONN.

The spine of the "book" says THE FIRST STEP, and the author is just THOMPSON.

Money was supposed to be inserted through a slot at the bottom of the bank, and it was supposed to be opened from the side opposite the spine with a key. As previously stated, the key is now long gone, and I'm looking for a way to open it.

I've tried jiggling it with an unbent paperclip, and the whole "credit card slide-through" trick (I believe that the front cover of the book is what serves as the "lid".), but nothing seems to work.

Anyone know how I can get this thing open? I'll post some pics once I can get my hands on the digital camera.

fuelish

It probably has a simple single pin lock. You need to tension the key slot and then work the pin. this requires a tensioner, which is a piece of metal bent 90 that will let you rotate the mechanism. Then you need a pin tool that will let you manipulate the lock pin(s).
This is one of those things that is very easy to demonstrate but kind of hard to explain. Sounds like it might be pretty old so be careful not to damage it.
Also you might do a search for this piggy bank and see if there are keys out there. They are proabably simple and all the same

Ruckus

PM me your email address and I can send you a basic lockpicking guide.

diorist

I know this thread is ancient, but in case anyone finds it based on a more recent need, I'll jot down what worked for me in the OP's scenario.

I also found a couple of old Bankers Utilities Co. "book" banks at an estate sale. The manufacturer is important, because different manufacturers used different locks. The locks for these particular banks can't be slipped with a credit card or otherwise jimmied without structurally damaging the bank walls. However, you can use a rigid capital-T-shaped piece of wire to pick their locks. A wire loop from a small office binder clip is a pretty natural fit and will work without modification. (Note, this is a binder clip as described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binder_clip, not a plain paper clip).

1. Remove the wire from the binder clip, so you have a single loop that looks a little like a space alien with just two feet and a head.
2. Make sure the slots in the rotating and static parts of the lock face are aligned.
3. Slip one of the alien's feet into the rotating part of the bank lock jiggle it around until the wire actually goes through the back side of the lock (this won't break anything: the lock has a hole in the other side, too).
4. Then pinch the wire legs together so you can slip the other foot of the wire down into the non-rotating part of the lock. Let the wire foot slide under the skin of the lock so that you can turn the whole wire loop (one foot will still be in the rotating part of the lock).
5. Turn he whole loop clockwise about 20 or 30 degrees. This will move the outer wire foot toward the front of the book, where it will eventually catch against something (i.e., a small sprint-loaded plate).
6. These locks can be quite stiff, but continue turning the foot of the alien against the plate and jiggle it until you feel the plate yield. At this point, the "book" will literally spring open.

FWIW...

donb0099

My mom has one of these banks and your opening technique worked perfectly! Thank you very much! This bank was handed out by Washington Mutual Savings Bank which was later WAMU, expanded rapidly, got sucked up in the sub prime mortgage crisis and was acquired on the cheap by Chase.

The bank my mother has is in mint condition in the original box, just did not have a key. Thanks for the info!!

FYI, these banks were handed out for by banks to kids without a key - the idea being that once it was full they would bring it back to the bank to open and hopefully open a savings account at the bank.

PinballLizard

I just came across a Zellco Credit Union book bank (says "The First Step" on it, similar to others out there) and I tried using the method described by diorist, which was successfully used by donb0099. However, despite persistent jiggling, I can't seem to find the hole in the back side of the rotating part of the lock. I'm thinking that perhaps my binder clip is the wrong size (with the wire part I'm using potentially too thick to enter that hole). If either diorist or donb0099 (or anyone else out there) could tell me what size binder clip to use, I'd be very grateful.