Collectible Cast Iron Toys

The first cast iron toy to be patented in the U.S. was known as “Hall’s Excelsior Bank” named after the inventor of this toy, John D. Hall, in 1869. Today, many collectors look for company names such as, Carpenter, Welker Crosby, and Wilkins, that produced many of the now collectible cast iron toys in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Many of these cast iron toys reflected life in America; horse drawn carriages, animals, and trolleys were the norm.

Once America moved to power driven automobiles and aircraft, so did the cast iron toys. One of the best known cast iron toy collectors was a man name F.H. Griffith, whose collection was sold at Sotheby’s in 2000. His collection of 126 lots of cast iron toys brought in more than $600,000.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archives July 7, 2005 . . . .