VB ID: VB-UNK-LTH-1910-04

Category: Early Bank Bags → Leather Clasp Purses
Item: Early Leather Bank Coin Purse with Metal Clasp
Bank: First National Bank (exact city/state not readable)
Approx. Era: 1905-1915
Material: Smooth vegetable-tanned leather
Color: Light-to-medium brown with deep age patina

Markings:

• “First National Bank” (identifiable)

• Location line beneath – mostly worn away Standard early 20th-century bank-issue stamp placement

Construction Details:

• Kiss-lock metal clasp with dual rounded knobs

• Riveted hinge hardware

• Soft-aged leather exterior with natural creasing

• Machine-stitched bottom seam (visible in side photo) Interior rough-out leather lining typical of early bank purses

Dimensions: 3 5/8″ wide by 6 1/8″ length
Condition: Heavy imprint loss, frame tarnish, generalized leather aging and surface wear; fully intact structure
Internal Notes: Potential ID possible with angled light, macro analysis, or IR photography  the second line likely once read a small rural town name.

Historical Background

This early leather clasp purse originates from an unidentified branch of a First National Bank, one of the most common naming conventions among U.S. national banks following the National Banking Act of 1863. During the early 1900s, thousands of towns, especially in the Midwest, South, and West operated a “First National Bank,” and many ordered these exact small leather clasp purses for customer and teller use.

Leather clasp purses were widely used from 1900 through the early 1910s, before canvas and mechanically printed currency bags became the industry standard. These small pouches handled loose silver coinage, cashier transactions, merchant tills, and daily counter work. The purse’s construction riveted metal frame, dual-knob closure, and machine-stitched leather perfectly matches the manufacturing traits of bank premiums produced by supply houses in Chicago, St. Louis, and Dallas during this period.

The missing location line is typical of purses heavily used in circulation: thin ink on soft leather easily wore away after years of handling. The surviving “FIRST NATIONAL BANK” imprint confirms its origin, even if the exact city cannot be determined.

Despite the missing town, this purse remains a highly collectible example of pre-FDIC era banking tools, offering a window into the everyday financial operations of small-town America during the early 20th century.