Estate Aquisition. 70+ Locks. HELP.

thecollector

I need some help from the pros here. I know next to nothing about locks, but quite a bit about other areas of antiques (stanley wood planes mainly). Here is a link to the picture of the items.http://thecollectibles.shutterfly.com/56 Names from Yale, Corbin, Union Pacific, Townley, Slaymaker, Excelsior,BD, Reese, Standard, Enders, Danpatch, USN, US army, Guard, Superb Brass, Shurloc, American, Fraim, M.W. & Co., & Triumph. Patent dated from the late 1800’s. I know some of these are worth quite a bit, yet I am in need of some help. What is the best route to take? I am not personally inteested in collecting these, and you guys obviously are. I would like to sell them, yet not get completely ripped off. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your responses.

Paul Prescott

You say ‘ some are worth quite a bit ’ - how do you know that ? Locks are a highly specialised field, and as such some are, it is true worth quite large amounts. The majority though are not.

If you haven’t already I would advise getting a copy of the only serious price guide ever published, even though it’s years out of print copies can be found and it will provide a starting point for you.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/091463805X?tag=antilockcom-20&linkCode=sb1&camp=212353&creative=380553

If you purchase using the above link this site will get a small credit for the sale.

With such a guide then it’s up to you, ebay is a good venue, as are collectors sales (the latter are only a really good idea if you have lots of locks though), either way you will be forearmed with some knowledge about what you have.

It’s worth bearing in mind though that a number of factors can have a bearing on a locks value :

Does it have a key ?
Has it been taken apart ?
If no key - is the shackle frozen ?

These and other factors can adjust a locks value up (and down)

Good luck.

thecollector

thanks oldlock,

just bought the book. hope the thirty dollar investment pays off, i’m guessing it will. This will help me to see which items are worth putting up on e-bay or not. If anyone is interested, seller name will be thecollectorsauction. Thanks again for the info.

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

Oldlock is correct. The link you provided is fairly useless in helping anyone here determine any value since it is almost impossible to determine any details about any single lock from that one picture. What you really need is a picture or two of each lock.

In lookin at what I can see, it looks like you may have one lock with a higher value but I’m not sure about others. The one that is more valuable would be the one marked Townley. You can see a lock that sold in 1999 at this link.

http://www.1st-net-lock-museum.com/lb4.htm

Hope that helps.
BBE.

thecollector

Thanks BBE,
once i get this book and do a little research, I’ll be sure to post some pics. The townley lock I have is identical to the one you showed in the link, now to find the key among the hundreds in the box.