Christmastide (holy feast days) occurs immediately after Christmas and lasts twelve days - from the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve to the Epiphany Blessing of water. On these days, Christians were going from house to house singing Christmas carols to attract wealth. In the new issue of our special project, The publication "Money-bank saves ruble", and we present thematic photo album with the images of money-boxes created by Russian artisans that are stored in the museum Collection repository.

Almost simultaneously with the beginning of monetary circulation, moneyboxes bypassedto the everyday life of people that were interested in increasing and preserving their finances. The appearance of money-boxes dates back to old times - the first one appeared in the ancient China. They were the boxes for collecting donations. Throughout money-boxes existence, the shape and material from which they were made was omnifarious. Old money-boxes did not have an aperture for withdrawing money, and after being stuffed - they were simply broken. Most often, they were made from ceramics, plaster or porcelain. Initially, money-boxes were single-use items. Hence, with time, the shape and decoration of money-boxes became more and more diverse and elegant. People realized that smashing to smithereens beautiful and sometimes expensive item, in which they stored their savings was impractical. Therefore, “returnable” money-boxes appeared, most commonly they were made from wood or metal.

In Russia, the history of money-boxes enumerates hundreds of years as well. For a long time, coins were stored in stockings and ceramic vessels with wide sides and narrow necks. They were called thriftboxes. Metal money-boxes with built-in locks or padlocks appeared in Russia in the 18th century.

Tula armorers were among the most skilled artisans that manufactured money-boxes in Russia, they mastered the art of processing steel perfectly. They were often called "goldsmiths".

Money-boxes were made from silver as well. Moreover, each artisan that manufactured money-boxes wanted to distinguish himself by his skills, since the branded metal money-boxes were presented to banks, various trade, financial institutions and insurance companies.