Please assist in identifying these keys?

nfalk

I’ve been collecting keys for about 30 years now and I have a few that I believe are historical, but the lack of knowledge and sources to assist in identifying them just frustrates me. I’ve decided to go public and see if I can’t get some help from pro collectors to help identify some of them. Please, please, please help me I.D. these keys (time period, usage, history, etc…) and thanks for ANY information.

I believe the keys are from a brig ship about 4-4.5 inches, then there are 2 large gate keys about 6 inches, I think an ancient roman key about 2 inches and the Seattle Police keys which is about 3 inches. I’ve reached out to the Seattle Police Museum for information but they never responded. Again, I’m looking for information on the time period, usage, general history around them…and a HUGE thank you for any assistance provided. I can be reached directly via email or by reply to this thread.

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

nfalk wrote
I’ve been collecting keys for about 30 years now and I have a few that I believe are historical, but the lack of knowledge and sources to assist in identifying them just frustrates me. I’ve decided to go public and see if I can’t get some help from pro collectors to help identify some of them. Please, please, please help me I.D. these keys (time period, usage, history, etc…) and thanks for ANY information.

I believe the keys are from a brig ship about 4-4.5 inches, then there are 2 large gate keys about 6 inches, I think an ancient roman key about 2 inches and the Seattle Police keys which is about 3 inches. I’ve reached out to the Seattle Police Museum for information but they never responded. Again, I’m looking for information on the time period, usage, general history around them…and a HUGE thank you for any assistance provided. I can be reached directly via email or by reply to this thread.

I have no knowledge of the first 4 photo’s, but the next 2 are definitely Roman. The Seattle Police marked is a call box key. The next one for some kind of cabinet and the last is a handcuff key.
BBE.

[unknown]

nfalk

Thank you so much for confirming the roman key and providing insight on the Seattle Police key set. Hopefully others can help ID the other 2 sets of keys! Thanks again so much!

Huw Eastwood

The key in pictures 5 & 6 definitely looks Roman but I’d be suspicious of the ‘bronze’ keys in the first 4. Difficult to tell from the pics alone but they don’t seem to resemble anything in particular and there looks to be what looks like flashing left all over them from the casting process- typical of the sort of stuff still being made in some countries, so I’d be cautious on those

nfalk

MaxVaultage wrote
The key in pictures 5 & 6 definitely looks Roman but I’d be suspicious of the ‘bronze’ keys in the first 4. Difficult to tell from the pics alone but they don’t seem to resemble anything in particular and there looks to be what looks like flashing left all over them from the casting process- typical of the sort of stuff still being made in some countries, so I’d be cautious on those

Only the lighter one is bronze, the other two are iron (based on weight and oxidizing). The single one is iron and possibly lead underneath. Through the oxidized spots the metal underneath has an extreme shine. I did note the flashing, but due to the under metal I was prone to placing it as a brig key (lead key coated in iron). It came into my possession quite rusted over and took some cleaning to discover the under metal. Coating a lead key in iron is quite a process and not one I would think a counterfeiter would pursue.

Resemblence seems to be a major recurring issue in identifying keys, I have found limited access to sketches and line drawings to assist in my pursuits, so I find my research in your expert hands.

[unknown]

Dean Nickel

Seattle PD doesn’t respond well to things not in their control anymore. I live here and they don’t respond well to me… and I have worked on the jail and precincts.🙁giggle):

Those call boxes are all gone, but one and it is in the museum.

nfalk

Dean Nickel wrote
Seattle PD doesn’t respond well to things not in their control anymore. I live here and they don’t respond well to me… and I have worked on the jail and precincts.🙁giggle):

Those call boxes are all gone, but one and it is in the museum.

I can see that, I just relocated from Seattle to Washington D.C. and knowing that there is just the one call box left makes me feel like that set is all the more historically special, to me at least. Maybe when I visit this mid may I will visit the museum and see the call box!

[unknown]

Huw Eastwood

nfalk wrote
Only the lighter one is bronze, the other two are iron (based on weight and oxidizing). The single one is iron and possibly lead underneath.I did note the flashing, but due to the under metal I was prone to placing it as a brig key (lead key coated in iron). It came into my possession quite rusted over and took some cleaning to discover the under metal. Coating a lead key in iron is quite a process and not one I would think a counterfeiter would pursue

Well I’m not sure about the expert bit, but thanks nfalk- I’m vaguely familiar with the term ‘brig’ in terms of a ship, but I’ve never heard of an actual brig key? And as for lead keys, have I totally, and I mean totally misunderstood, as it sounds like you are referring to the keys actually being made of Lead, as in the metal (Pb)? In which case two things immediately spring to my mind. First- chocolate fire surrounds, and second- ashtrays on motorbikes.. As for the process of then coating Lead keys in Iron, well… please tell us more

[unknown]