Darktown Battery Bank
 

My early Christmas present to me!

nice paint left on that one

Always liked these! May I ask, what are the tricks for identifying an original version vs a reproduction?

Reproductions say "Hometown Battery" not "Darktown Battery"

Interesting...thanks! So nobody has copied the name etc verbatim?

The Hometown Battery banks were made in the 50s and were considered faithful legitimate reproductions. They depicted white players are are collectible in their own right. They are not considered fakes/forgeries.

I am sure there are illicit forgeries of the Darktown Battery bank, but wouldn't know how to distinguish them. I imagine it takes a trained eye. I believe the fakes would have a rougher surface and the parts wouldn't fit together as well and would be slightly smaller due to shrinkage from recasting.

The paint would be different as well. It's the kind of thing in which you can easily tell after you've seen enough of them up close.

The pictures don't due justice to the bank. If you have held one of each in your hands you will know the difference. The bank didn't work right when I bought it but when I got it home there was a penny caught with the batter. I removed it very carefully and it works great. I will try to post a video of it working if I can.

Great piece! Thanks for the info. May I ask what is a fair price range for the originals, if one were to find one?

Nice addition D. :D

Thanks Mike sometimes where in the right place at the right time;)

Congrats!!
 

Chris, we've never seen a decent example get away for less than $1,200. Average price we've seen
for nice ones at auction over the last twenty years or so, ranging from $1,200+ to about $4,400.,
has been around $2,500. -- not including an outlier price of over $13,000. at Heritage seven years ago.

More pictures

Thanks!

Awesome!!

Link to auction prices from 94-last month
 

http://www.mechanicalbanks.org/auction_$/auction_$_d-h.htm

As it says at the top, price depends on many factors.

I think it would be very difficult for a beginner to understand how much paint equals what kind of price, also where and how to look for repaired or missing parts.