"Ty Cobb" Bank Questions

[aelefson]

Hi-

I recently picked up the baseball player bank pictured below that some people refer to as the Ty Cobb bank. I have some questions about mine. Is this the first version of the bank and original to circa 1910? Most of the ones I have seen have a large screw in the back but mine is hidden on the front and the back has a covered bolt type attachment. Mike H (RIP) said that this is the rarer of the two versions. Is that still generally agreed on?

Please share your own examples, especially of the front screw variety as I would love to see the different paints used. Any other information about this bank would be greatly appreciated.

Alan

[todeen]

I don't have anything to add, but I wanted to add mine in Cincinnati Reds colors (or close to it)

.



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[NiceDocter]

Cobb was a lefty hitter……. banks are a righty. But I agree it looks kinda Cobbish…..

[aelefson]

Thank you Tim! I like the colors on yours. Rocky, I agree and that is why I have his name in quotes. I never understood the connection but some folks refer to it by his name. I like baseball player bank better. Any other examples to show?

Alan

[ruth-gehrig]

Ive never owned one of these but think they are neat. Ive seen many over the years and thinking back on it now I do believe I've seen way less of your version Alan than the other one. Interesting they made 2 different versions. Attributed to A.C Williams toy company who was big into cast iron toys back in the day.

[ruth-gehrig]

Yours Alan i think is supposed to be slightly smaller than the other version correct?

[aelefson]

I think you are right. I have been looking for others like mine and aside from Mike's reference I only see two out of 10+ others that have the front screw. Mine is 5.75 inches tall. The seam on mine seems to be better connected than the other version. The paint on the hair is different too as Tim's version has the hair only painted part of the way to the shirt while mine goes right to the shirt.

Alan

[minibbcards]

looking at the coin slots the "metal" looks thinner on the Reds version and the casting looks crisper on that one as well

[HankAaron755]

Originally Posted by minibbcards

looking at the coin slots the "metal" looks thinner on the Reds version and the casting looks crisper on that one as well

Wishing you could @ someone to bring their attention to the thread. Bet Mark Steinberg would know.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by minibbcards

looking at the coin slots the "metal" looks thinner on the Reds version and the casting looks crisper on that one as well

I had another bit of business about a pennant to ask of Mark, so I asked him to join us. Hopefully he has an interesting nugget to share.


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[todeen]

Originally Posted by aelefson

I think you are right. I have been looking for others like mine and aside from Mike's reference I only see two out of 10+ others that have the front screw. Mine is 5.75 inches tall. The seam on mine seems to be better connected than the other version. The paint on the hair is different too as Tim's version has the hair only painted part of the way to the shirt while mine goes right to the shirt.



Alan

I measured my Reds one, and I would actually say it's 5 & 5/8.

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[perezfan]

Here is mine.... Same as Tim's, but with a bit more wear to the paint.

I do believe Alan's version is the scarcer of the two. Seems like you see about 3-4 of the "Reds" version for every one of Alan's version.

I am not sure about the paint on Alan's Bank though... it's a different shade than any I've previously seen. At first I assumed it to be re-painted but on second glance, it does exhibit what looks like normal wear, scuffing, scraping, etc. So perhaps there were different paint variations back in the day and it's indeed original.

As for the "thickness" of the metal body.... I believe the two are from the same basic mold. Perhaps there was some slight variation from bank to bank, depending on how much cast metal was used in the mold. The production process was not rocket science. The last photo should accurately show the thickness of the metal at the coin slot.

Not sure if any of this definitively answers the questions, but perhaps it's remotely helpful. This Bank is loosely referred to as the "Ty Cobb Bank" and has been for as long as I can remember. But it is not really modeled after Cobb, and he certainly never endorsed it.

Great stuff regardless!

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Great stuff regardless!

I see what you did there.

[aelefson]

Thank you Mark (I also hope you get better soon)! That is great information and thank you to the other posters too. I wasn't sure about the paint either but it does look like it was painted a long time ago. I like the face on the ones with the screw on the back but I like the body better on the ones with it hidden in the front.

I don't think I mentioned it but I found this at the Factory Antique mall in Verona VA for 40.00. I am amazed at what is still available at antique shops in 2025!

Alan

[todeen]

I know I've seen different painted bodies on ebay. I can remember seeing a yellow jersey once, but on ebay this time I could only find blue and silver. There is another with the paint mostly removed, but the bat is red. Just based on that, it's easy to infer there were different variations available.

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[sayheykid54]

IMO there are clearly modeled after Ty Cobb. Obviously not authorized by Cobb but the rough facial features and wide grip on the bat indicate they were trying to emulate a Cobb likeness for the banks.

[ruth-gehrig]

I'm sure there are other color combos out there. This was a 2 min google search. Touch ups and repaints were not uncommon on old cast iron toys. I'll see if I can find out the actual color combos thru some AC Williams online research. Perhaps that info is lost to time.