NatWest Pigs etc.

zxspeccy

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

I used to work for NatWest and a child would receive a Woody (the baby) piggy bank just for opening the account with us. When we stop the piggy accounts (I believe they were replaced the WWF World Saver coins) I was asked to get rid of a load of Woodys we had in storage as we would no longer be handing these out. A few of the staff took some home with them, but at least 50 that were mint in box were thrown away. Looking back I wish I had taken all them home with me, but was not sure how I was going to get them all home on the bus. Seems such a waste as we could have donated them to a school or something. However, I was presented with a Sir Nathanial piggy bank (a spare display module we had at the branch) back in the day (late 80’s), as I was the only one foolish enough to wear the Sir Nathaniel costume when we had promotional days. I would be in the banking hall, sporting my bow tie and suit, handing out balloons and stickers to the young (and not so young) children, which I believed was better that sitting behind a till all day long.

Do you still have your Sir Nathaniel pig ?

Yes, in the original polystyrene box with a cardboard address sleeve (which still had the bank’s address on it). I think this must have been how they were sent out to customer in the post as baby Woody was just in a plain cardboard box, which would have been no good for posting, however these were the ones we handed out at the branch when the accounts were opened. We had the whole family of pigs on display in the banking hall but kept some spares in case the display ones got damage or stolen (which never happened). I am guessing we must have had all the other pigs in storage as well, but I never saw them.

PiggyBankCollector

zxspeccy said:

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

I used to work for NatWest and a child would receive a Woody (the baby) piggy bank just for opening the account with us. When we stop the piggy accounts (I believe they were replaced the WWF World Saver coins) I was asked to get rid of a load of Woodys we had in storage as we would no longer be handing these out. A few of the staff took some home with them, but at least 50 that were mint in box were thrown away. Looking back I wish I had taken all them home with me, but was not sure how I was going to get them all home on the bus. Seems such a waste as we could have donated them to a school or something. However, I was presented with a Sir Nathanial piggy bank (a spare display module we had at the branch) back in the day (late 80’s), as I was the only one foolish enough to wear the Sir Nathaniel costume when we had promotional days. I would be in the banking hall, sporting my bow tie and suit, handing out balloons and stickers to the young (and not so young) children, which I believed was better that sitting behind a till all day long.

Do you still have your Sir Nathaniel pig ?

Yes, in the original polystyrene box with a cardboard address sleeve (which still had the bank’s address on it). I think this must have been how they were sent out to customer in the post as baby Woody was just in a plain cardboard box, which would have been no good for posting, however these were the ones we handed out at the branch when the accounts were opened. We had the whole family of pigs on display in the banking hall but kept some spares in case the display ones got damage or stolen (which never happened). I am guessing we must have had all the other pigs in storage as well, but I never saw them.

Do you have a picture that you can share ?

zxspeccy

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

I used to work for NatWest and a child would receive a Woody (the baby) piggy bank just for opening the account with us. When we stop the piggy accounts (I believe they were replaced the WWF World Saver coins) I was asked to get rid of a load of Woodys we had in storage as we would no longer be handing these out. A few of the staff took some home with them, but at least 50 that were mint in box were thrown away. Looking back I wish I had taken all them home with me, but was not sure how I was going to get them all home on the bus. Seems such a waste as we could have donated them to a school or something. However, I was presented with a Sir Nathanial piggy bank (a spare display module we had at the branch) back in the day (late 80’s), as I was the only one foolish enough to wear the Sir Nathaniel costume when we had promotional days. I would be in the banking hall, sporting my bow tie and suit, handing out balloons and stickers to the young (and not so young) children, which I believed was better that sitting behind a till all day long.

Do you still have your Sir Nathaniel pig ?

Yes, in the original polystyrene box with a cardboard address sleeve (which still had the bank’s address on it). I think this must have been how they were sent out to customer in the post as baby Woody was just in a plain cardboard box, which would have been no good for posting, however these were the ones we handed out at the branch when the accounts were opened. We had the whole family of pigs on display in the banking hall but kept some spares in case the display ones got damage or stolen (which never happened). I am guessing we must have had all the other pigs in storage as well, but I never saw them.

Do you have a picture that you can share ?

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

PiggyBankCollector said:

zxspeccy said:

I used to work for NatWest and a child would receive a Woody (the baby) piggy bank just for opening the account with us. When we stop the piggy accounts (I believe they were replaced the WWF World Saver coins) I was asked to get rid of a load of Woodys we had in storage as we would no longer be handing these out. A few of the staff took some home with them, but at least 50 that were mint in box were thrown away. Looking back I wish I had taken all them home with me, but was not sure how I was going to get them all home on the bus. Seems such a waste as we could have donated them to a school or something. However, I was presented with a Sir Nathanial piggy bank (a spare display module we had at the branch) back in the day (late 80’s), as I was the only one foolish enough to wear the Sir Nathaniel costume when we had promotional days. I would be in the banking hall, sporting my bow tie and suit, handing out balloons and stickers to the young (and not so young) children, which I believed was better that sitting behind a till all day long.

Do you still have your Sir Nathaniel pig ?

Yes, in the original polystyrene box with a cardboard address sleeve (which still had the bank’s address on it). I think this must have been how they were sent out to customer in the post as baby Woody was just in a plain cardboard box, which would have been no good for posting, however these were the ones we handed out at the branch when the accounts were opened. We had the whole family of pigs on display in the banking hall but kept some spares in case the display ones got damage or stolen (which never happened). I am guessing we must have had all the other pigs in storage as well, but I never saw them.

Do you have a picture that you can share ?

It's been a while since I Iast took this out to have a look but here you go...

paye

I remember my mum opening up a Halifax saving account for me back in the the early 90s when I was a kid, I remember getting a  house shaped money box   These days the banks don't give away anything  for opening a kids account. I don't care what anyone says, 90s were the best days. 

Ed-1

paye said:

I remember my mum opening up a Halifax saving account for me back in the the early 90s when I was a kid, I remember getting a  house shaped money box   These days the banks don't give away anything  for opening a kids account. I don't care what anyone says, 90s were the best days. 

I got one of these safes for opening a HSBC kids current account in the 90s:

JezR

There were plastic money boxes from Lloyds Bank in the shape of a horse's head.

eskbanker

JezR said:

There were plastic money boxes from Lloyds Bank in the shape of a horse's head.

Sounds like an offer you can't refuse....

Kat78MFW

HSBC were still giving out safe money boxes around 2015 when my youngest opened her account through the school bank. I'm not sure if kids also got them when opening in branch. 

PiggyBankCollector

Thanks for the great response to my original post on NatWest pigs - it seems unlikely that high street banks will ever offer savings incentives that match the long term popularity of NatWest pigs.

Whilst the value of the original five pigs, Woody, Annabel, Maxwell, Lady Hilary & Sir Nathaniel, has fallen in recent years it is worth reminding ourselves that they were 'free' and any 'profit' on sale is a bonus in addition to the function (of saving) that they have provided for almost 40 years.

However, don't forget the subsequent (and rarer) versions of NatWest pigs, which included Cousin Wesley (limited edition of 5,000) pigs, gold Woody (limited edition of 250) pigs, gold Annabel (limited edition of 400) pigs and gold Maxwell (limited edition of 400) pigs which are increasing in value.

One of the rarest versions, the Lombard (limited edition of 100) pigs sell for sums in excess of £750 if you can find one - see picture.  

Don't discount these rarer versions which look like a good investment ?

Malthusian

It would be intriguing to know whether the 40 years of saving in cash plus the free pig (at current open market values) would have beaten a diversified stockmarket investment over time. Getting NatWest's interest rates over that period would probably be prohibitive, but you could use the table on swanlowpark.co.uk as a proxy.

As you say, I doubt they'll be repeated. At the time NatWest launched its piggy bank campaign, piggy banks were already retro. They were a throwback to the days when the general population couldn't access banking services and therefore kept their money under the floorboards (if they had any). Just as adults dress children in the fashion of the last decade, they gave their children piggy banks so they could save up in the way that their grandparents did.

Nowadays children would be more likely to have their own bank account (CTF or Junior ISA). Before too long they'll have their own banking apps and cash will be some weird thing that old people fiddle about with.

I may be stating the obvious but a NatWest pig to a new buyer is only as good as an investment as any other collectible, i.e. not very. It has no yield, will depreciate over time and the only way to make money is to sell it to someone for more than you paid for it, aka Greater Fool Theory.

Moreover, the market for NatWest pigs consists almost entirely of a) people who collected a pig or pigs as children, have broken it and want a replacement or b) the same people who like their pig enough to want a bigger collection. This is an inherently shrinking market - as these people who were young savers in the 80s get old and die off, the demand base will shrink, and the price will go down. With classic cars or stamps we can reasonably expect new blood to continue entering the market for the forseeable future.