There's often mention of one discovered with Ramesses II, which would predate the Roman arca ferrata's by well over 1,000 years, but not sure where it is or what happened to it. Always assumed it...
It's worthwhile for anyone who's collecting those sort of padlocks to scour online shops like scaramanga to get familiar with the sort of repro stuff that's constantly being churned out of those...
The patent, concerning ease of production, is 1939: https://patents.google.com/patent/GB508247A/en?oq=gb508247 Thes push-key padlocks were common in America than Britain. Their ancestor is Strutt's...
Iran is another country where locks were made using centuries-old techniques and patterns. Makes dating difficult, but when an 'antique' lock comes with two original keys, be wary. 'Rare' is another...
Well done- very nearly right! It would not have survived at all in Pompeii- which was incinerated , but along the coast about 10 miles is Herculaneum which was engulfed in a volcanic mudslide at the...
Firstly, not all the older patents have been digitised, so Internet searches do not find them. Pre-1851 or 1852, patents were not numbered. A new Commissioner of Patents had all existing records of...
Bell Ringing Antique Lock