interesting old padlock found metal detecting

Greg Sebring

Greetings All,

This is my first post on the web site. To break the ice I thought I would start with this interesting old padlock I found during one of my favorite past times,... metal detecting. It was about 8+ inches buried at the base of a very old tree. I could tell by the size of the "beep" it wasn't a coin unless a BIG one. It came out of the ground a a rusted/encrusted blob but I could tell it was some kind of padlock. I washed it good and when dry, put the wire wheel to it as it was quite pitted. When I cleaned it the best I could, I painted it to stop the oxidation. When dry, I soaked it in oil and "giggled" the catch which was locked. I took a wire coat hanger and fashioned a small "L" shaped piece about the size the key should be. After quite a while of fiddling with it, I got the catch to open. It works fine now. I first thought I had some sort of military padlock for obvious reasons. I took photos of it and wrote the Smithsonian. They sent back a nice letter with some photocopies of other locks, mine included. Due to the fact mine has "Made in the U.S.A." stamped on the catch, they informed me it was made sometime after the 1890's when the Trade Act went into effect. It is just a commercial variety as there were others that said "U S Navy" and other things.

I know the value is nil but it was fun to get it working again. If nothing else, it is a great conversation piece. It measures almost 2 ½ inches in diameter.

Greg

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

Your lock is a warded lock of a style commonly referred to by collectors as a ‘pancake’ style. Made by the United States Lock Co. They made a few pancake style locks where they put US on one side and Army or Navy on the other side and some just had floral designs on them. Typically those locks sell for $5-$10 at a collectors show.
BBE.

Greg Sebring

BBE,

Thank you for your input. When it first came out of the ground it was a rusted glob. I cleaned it the best I could and painted it to stop the corrosion. I just thought it was an interesting old piece and wanted to see what I could find out about it.

Much obliged,

Greg

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

I can tell by the pitting that it was exposed to weather. I am amazed that you got it working again, I have never been quite that lucky with some locks that demonstrate less pitting. Good Job.
BBE.

Greg Sebring

Here is another interesting one that came out of the ground. I couldn’t get this action to work but it will open/close without a key. It appears to be solid brass and has a patent stamp with 1892 date.

Anyone seen one like this before??

Greg

Greg Sebring

I’m just kicking an old post to stir things a bit. I never got any bites on the brass padlock and wonder if any “new” eyes might have some information on it. What does “RR” stand for?

Greg

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

I just looked in Arnall’s sixth edition and found the brass RR lock on page 259. The price page for that lock says it is a Fraim Slaymaker and was estimated to ahve a value of $25.00 in 1996. I guess no one knows for sure what the RR was for, but it was common in the late 1800’s and up until the 1920’s to make locks with different designs and markings and then get a design patent to prevent competition from making the same markings. The sub-brand names created by such markings created a dedicated market. Look around and you will see that the name Champion was obviously very popular in those days because you find more examples of it that have survived until today.

The RR lock is also a warded mechanism and the primary reason yu cannot get it to operate is likely that a steel spring was used to do the locking of the bolt. Age and exposure of course have likely destroyed the spring. Hope that helps.
BBE.

Greg Sebring

BBE,

A very belated "Thank You" for your time, effort, and reply. I just found your reply as I have not been to this site lately.....obviously.

:oops:

Greg

skizziks

I collect bottles mainly, but every once in a while I come across something cool, and one time found a box of old locks. One had the RR stamp like yours, and living in the country I had several old timers tell me that it stood for Rural Route. People apparently locked their mail drop boxes. I don’t know how factual that is, but it might be worth looking into. Hope it helps.
packrat

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

That is entirely possible and the best explanation I have heard so far. There were of course many mail box locks around in the first half of the 1900’s and a majority of them marked RFD for Rural Free Delivery. I have also seen those mailbox locks marked 1901, 1902, 1903 and 1904.
BBE.

Greg Sebring

I guess we’ll never know for sure….but what a substantial lock for a mailbox.

Thanks for the input,

Greg

Angusbuddy

Hi Greg, for what it’s worth a fellow collector friend of mine had one at a lock show a few years back and referred to it as a Rat River. I guess it was a short line railroad with a short existance. I don’t collect railroad locks but it might be worth looking into, and like I said “for what it’s worth”

Good Luck, John

Greg Sebring

I took these close ups of stampings wondering if anyone would recognize or confirm the earlier information.

Greg