Gene, I have a lock that is identical to this. I don’t know much about the history of it, but I do know that it was made in Germany. My guess is, it was made pre-WWI. This is a very well made little lock and if your’s came with the combination, you got lucky…..most do not. Mine had no working combo when it arrived but I cracked it in just a couple of minutes (it’s not the highest security lock in the world).
BTW, this lock is not terribly rare…..I have seen a lot of these at local antique shops and all over eBay. The ones at local antique shops are usually priced a little too high for my taste; I found mine on eBay for about $9.00.
Congrats on your find!
Cheers, Mike DC/
