Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This original key unlocks the coin compartment on a Mercury model metal bank manufactured by Duro Pattern & Mold Co. of Highland Park (Detroit), Michigan in the early 1950s. Although labeled on its packaging only as a "Rocket Bank," this model was known as the Mercury model. Shaped like a comic-book-style rocket ship, with curved sides and a pointed end, the Duro Mercury bank had a mechanism that allowed the owner to shoot coins (pennies, nickels, or dimes) into a slot in the "nose cone" of the bank. The key opened a hatch on the underside of the bank through which the coins could be retrieved.

Raymond Reines donated this bank to the Museum in 2011.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type MEMORABILIA Manufacturer Duro Pattern & Mold Co.
 Dimensions 3-D: 2.2 × 1.6 × 0.3cm (7/8 × 5/8 × 1/8 in.)
 Materials Metal
 Inventory Number A20110028002 Credit Line Gift of Raymond R. Reines. Dedicated to the Berzac Family, in honor of Team NASA. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.