I
have always asked my readers to contact me and let me know what they
would like to read about. Several banks collectors did just that so
this month we will discuss Goebel banks. Goebel made hundreds of different
banks going back to at least the 1920’s, but almost all of these were
made in the 1980’s. The older letters denoting banks were SD and under
the newer numbering system, the first two numbers are 50. I will just
be giving the middle three numbers if I can read them. Very often, they
were filled in by glaze and are just not discernible.
Since
many of my previous column featured goebel animals, I will start with
them here as well. Picture #1 features an elephant SD21, a bunny rabbit
041, and a squirrel 051. Picture #2 continues animals with a duck 091,
a pig, and a smaller duckie. 
Next we go to the sea with picture #3 where we see a seal 085, a walrus 087 and a whale 086.
We
take to the air next with picture #4 where we have an owl, a penguin
089 (yes I know penguins don’t fly) and a bluebird 039.
Picture
#5 begins the domesticated animals showing three cats, 11 940 (I don’t
know why this is a different number), 044 and 047.
Picture
#6 continues with one more cat 050 and two doggies, 038 and 048.
We
combine the two in picture #7 with a cat in a basket 010 and two cats
on a dog house ( with the dog at home too) 011 and a mouse on a slipper
015. Where are all those cats when you really need them?
Picture
#8 shows two teddy bears, 004 and 040, with 050 cat in the middle, but
this time in white. Goebel changed the color with many of their motifs.
Picture #9 shows some very unusual banks. These are made of terra cotta
or clay pottery with a heavy glaze coating. We have a 
??
bird, a little boy and an owl. Picture #10 shows a clown, a female cook
and a male chef. I don’t mean to be sexist, but it is a known fact that
most of the world’s most famous chefs are male. (I’m afraid I may get
a lot of e-mail over that comment). The banks in picture #11 are part
of large series which include everything from creamers and sugars to
condiment sets. The owl series come in two color schemes 50 027 and
the chimney sweep is 50 002. Note that goebel still gave then the 50
designator.
