Good find on that. I know of one possible way to determine if it was made in 1872. If it has a time lock built into the boltwork, then it would not be that early. Safes that early, if they are found with timelocks, had the time locks added on over the boltwork. This may not be true on large chests and vault doors, but is on small chests where available space is at a premium. Of course it may not have have any time lock at all. Also let me describe a little about forge welding. Unlike modern common welding methods except spot welding, no filler metal is used, so you will not see a bead. In fact ideally, you don’ t see a seam. Wrought iron forge welds considerably easier than low carbon steel, making it ideal for the welded outer angles described. The parts are brought up to a white heat just short of melting, and then hammered or pressed together. If modern welding methods ( mig, tig, gas, stick) were used on safes in the 1870′ s or even the 90′ s, all the seams would have been filled and then generally ground smooth, to avoid detection. Back then putty was commonly used to cover up seams and defects.
