Lucky Guess Opens Safe

wylk

A locked safe in Alberta, Canada, was opened by a visitor’s lucky guess. He tried 20-40-60 and it opened for the first time in around 40 years. The article does not explain what brand the safe is, only that the dial seems to go from zero to 60. They think it was purchased around 1907.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48477081

You can also search for “Vermilion Heritage Museum” and “safe”.

Timothy

Yeah i read that too. Never know when you get some fool come around and to get the safe open. I recall a while back that there was a little girl got a safe open….Timothy…..

Gary Stephenson

I once opened a lips safe fitted with a sercas combination lock and found out after the opening that 20-40-60 was the sercas factory setting

Huw Eastwood

Gary, you got me scratching my head over the name Sercas, hadn’t heard of that one so looked it up and found they made the comb locks fitted on Juwel safes with the old telephone style dials.

Amazing (make that frightening) how many safes get used on factory settings and really basic numbers. Remember a building society 20 years ago where the main atm cash safe was still set on five turns to ‘50’.

wylk

A related story involves the Manhattan Project. The man in charge (General Groves) left the project after World War II without leaving the combination to his office safe. A locksmith was called in who immediately determined the lock was still set to the default combination.