A closer look
Piggy banks did not get their name or shape because pigs have any historical connection to wealth, saving, or finance in the ancient world. During the Middle Ages, metal was incredibly expensive, so people stored their extra coins in cheap, everyday clay jars made from an orange-colored earthenware clay known as "pygg" clay. Over several centuries, as the English language evolved and vowels shifted, the pronunciation of the clay became identical to the farm animal, prompting clever 19th-century potters to start molding the coin jars into the actual shape of a pig. Your childhood concept of saving money is based on a linguistic misunderstanding and a terrible old pun. It is perfectly fitting that our foundational education in personal finance and capitalism is built upon a completely accidental joke, preparing us for a lifetime of interacting with a banking system that rarely makes any logical sense and is heavily reliant on superficial branding
