(EMAILWIRE.COM, September 29, 2006 ) DENVER, PA – The bank-collecting community is abuzz with the news that the Stephen and Marilyn Steckbeck collection of rare mechanical banks is to be auctioned on Oct. 27 of next year. Morphy Auctions of Denver, Pa., will conduct the one-day, single-owner sale.

Many regard the 50-year Steckbeck collection as being the finest of its type ever assembled. “The rarity and condition of the banks is astounding,” said Morphy’s chief operating officer, Dan Morphy. “The Steckbecks own many of the best examples known of particular mechanical banks. I just finished photographing the top 10 collections in the country for a book I wrote, so I know what’s out there.”

Morphy said the collection is so important that a year-long marketing campaign will be conducted in support of the sale. Pre-orders are already being taken for the hardcover catalog, which will be ready in January. “We want to give collectors plenty of advance notice, so they can plan accordingly,” Morphy said.

Stephen Steckbeck, a native of Ft. Wayne, Ind., whose family established residency there six generations ago, says he saw his first mechanical bank in 1938. “I was seven years old, and was visiting a school friend whose father was president of a large bank in Ft. Wayne. The father was also a friend of Andrew Emerine, one of the very earliest collectors of mechanical banks, who had convinced him to start collecting.”

Steckbeck’s early exposure to mechanical banks would later ignite his own desire to collect. In 1954, he purchased his first bank, the cast-iron bust of an American-American man, for $25. While he still owns the bank, it is one of the lesser examples. “It’s in terrible condition,” Steckbeck said with a laugh. As his collecting progressed, Steckbeck focused on acquiring only the rarest examples in the finest possible condition. “In those days, it was a lot easier to collect than now,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of auctions. You’d find them mostly in antique stores, and we’d go on a shopping junket on weekends to look for them.”

The collection rose to a new level as a result of Steckbeck’s friendship with the late Edwin H. Mosler Jr., who was chairman of the board of Mosler Safe Co. and a fabled pioneer collector of mechanical banks. Around 25 years ago, Mosler held a private, invitation-only tag sale in his Manhattan office. “I was the first one he invited,” Steckbeck said. “The way it worked, he would let me buy all the banks I wanted, then the next person would be allowed to come in and buy. He wanted the banks to go to collectors and didn’t want anyone reselling the banks. That’s all he asked. I said, ‘Why not sell me the whole collection?’ But he didn’t want that. He said he wanted everyone to have a chance to buy from the collection.”

Steckbeck said he spent the maximum he could afford – $400,000 – on banks from the Mosler collection. The next morning he was supposed to meet Mosler for coffee, but it turned out to be a second buying opportunity. “My wife said to me, ‘You didn’t buy all the banks you wanted, so why don’t you go back and buy some more, even if you have to borrow the money?’ So I did, and from those two days of buying, I ended up with some of the best banks in my collection.”

The Steckbeck collection, which will be offered in 450 lots, contains American, British and Continental European productions of cast iron, tin, lead and wood. More than 30 examples retain their rare original boxes. The banks have been featured in a number of business and investment publications over the years, including Forbes, Money and Wealth.

“It’s a dream come true to be handling what I consider to be one of the, if not the, most prestigious mechanical bank collections of all time,” said Morphy. “I bought my first mechanical bank from Steve when I was 12 years old, and now it has all come full circle.”

For additional information, log on to www.morphyauctions.com.

Contact Information:
Morphy Auctions Inc.
Catherine Watson
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