How is it that small coin banks came to be in the shape of a pig?

Hello.

From the article "Where Did Piggy Banks Come From?" on the Pitara Kids Network:

 'In the 15th and 16th century Europe, there were no banks to put your
money into. What money people saved had to kept at home...
  The only way they could was to put it in pots and jars... Pots,
pans, jars and other household items were made of an orange-coloured
clay known as "pygg".
  People would use a jar made of "pygg" to save or "bank" what money
they could. When banking started, people realised that what they were
saving in "pygg" moneyboxes at home was personal banking! Slowly over
time, this "pygg bank" became corrupted to become "pig bank". In the
19th century, potters who had heard the term decided to make a
coin-saving moneybox in the shape of a pig.'
http://www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/69.htm

Also see:
The Straight Dope: "What's the origin of the piggy bank?"
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpiggy.html

Cool Quiz: "Where did the Piggy Bank come from?"
http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/bank.asp

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search strategy:
"did piggy banks"
"piggy bank" pygg

I hope this helps.

wow ... and with lightening speed!  .... thanks very much