Bertoia Auctions to Sell Dr Robert E. Booth Jr.'s Mechanical Bank Collection on September 25

More than 100 rare mechanical banks from the collection of Dr Robert E. Booth, Jr. will be offered at Bertoia Auctions on Friday, September 25, in the house's first major sale of a busy fall calendar. The auction is devoted exclusively to the mechanical banks Booth assembled, a group described as among the finest private holdings of its kind in the United States. Booth, who lived from 1945 to 2026, was known for building one of America's leading private collections of Americana and folk art. His home, which appeared in Architectural Digest and Antiques magazine, was itself a record of decades of collecting at the highest level. Although Booth gathered material across numerous categories, only his mechanical banks will be consigned in the September event. The sale is titled the Mechanical Banks & Cast-Iron Toys Auction and is headlined by the Booth collection. Bertoia Auctions has positioned the sale as the opening major event of an active autumn season. Further details on individual lots, estimates and the full catalogue have not been released in the announcement.