Why Are So Many Personal Coin Banks Shaped Like Pigs?

Home » Why Are Piggy Banks Pigs » Why Are So Many Personal Coin Banks Shaped Like Pigs?

Maybe your like

One theory is that the term ‘piggy bank’ comes from the fifteenth century, where it described earthenware products, as some of them had a smoothly round structure resembling a pig’s body. As a result, those ceramics were called ‘piggy jars’.

A few days ago, I went to a gift shop with a friend who wanted to buy a small coin bank for his 7-year-old nephew. Oddly enough, most of the money boxes that we came across in the store were shaped like pigs.

Interestingly, pigs are neither known for good etiquette nor a respectable diet. With so many other animals in the wild to choose from, humans could have opted for a better mascot for their whimsical money banks, right?

Perhaps a squirrel—a cute hoarder—would be a better choice. Even something like geese or chickens, which are supposedly known for laying ‘golden’ eggs in popular folklore, would make more sense. So why pigs? Why are these money boxes/coin banks so often in the form of piggy banks? Does it have anything to do with actual pigs?

The answer to this question isn’t straightforward, with different people giving different reasons for this porcine trend, but let’s look into some of these hypotheses.

Recommended Video for you:

Why CAN'T You 'Photocopy' Money?

Tag » Why Are Piggy Banks Pigs