Lot 344: A British WWI No. 23 Mk II Mills Grenade Souvenir Coin Bank

A British cast iron souvenir coin bank fashioned from an inert Mills bomb. The item is constructed from a hollowed segmented fragmentation grenade body mounted to a flat circular iron base. A narrow vertical slot has been cut into one of the shoulder segments to function as a coin bank. The assembly includes a striker lever and a safety pin with an attached white cord. The base of the grenade body features an impressed mark consisting of a central threaded hole flanked by two lugs. The left lug is impressed with a numeral 1 and the right lug with a 7. Around the lower circumference of the plug are the impressed characters NO. 23 MII, identifying the component as being from a Number 23 Mark II grenade. A small diamond or square device with a circular centre is impressed at the top of the plug. The striker lever bears a small cast mark reading ASL.