Commonwealth Bank Australia CBA Money Boxes

I was comparing a few Commonwealth Bank Australia CBA Money Boxes and confirmed that there are the 1960 originals and some reproductions made in the late 1970’s or perhaps 1980’s or both?

In any case, the purpose of this post is to highlight the differences that I identified between the two money boxes I had here.

There are 3 major differences:

• The colouring is the most obvious with the later issue being lighter or brighter in the colour selection
• The height of the earlier issue is 3 3/8 inches or ~86mm while the later issue is around 3 5/8inches or ~93mm
• The other major point is the ability to open the base of the later issue to retrieve coins. The original ones were opened at the bank, or at home, with an old school can opener.

The less obvious feature but quite easy to check once you know what to look for, is the dimpling effect on the 1960’s issues. You can rub your finger across the main faces of the tin and feel the indentations. These indentations were pressed in the tin as it was rolled for the lithograph paint. The idea is that they align to the window and door frames to give a 3-D effect to the building facade.

The other thing to look for is the writing on the top of the money box. The early issue has it but the later issue is just bright gold metal. What is the white stripe on the top of the earlier issue? It is a plastic tape strip and I am sure it was for writing the name of the owner rather than scratching it into the tin. I have a vague memory of having one as a kid with my name in that strip.

Both the original 1960’s issue is available for sale from Antique Toy World, as well as the later issue model, that were used for this post examples.