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Thread: Milner Safe 212

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    hemel hempstead
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    1

    Default Milner Safe 212

    I have a Milner Safe 212, with the markings 180281 6008 on the front. I also have the key. I have found Thomas Milner on the web but cannot find out anything about their safes. Does anybody know how I can find out about the safe, it's age etc.. Does Thomas Milner the company still exist ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Central England
    Posts
    93
    Country: England

    Default

    Milner made safes from the mid 1800s and after merging with Chatwood nearly 100 years later, safes were marked Chatwood Milner. Subsequently they were bought by Chubb in 1962. The Chubb company changed hands until becoming part of the Assa Abloy group. Assa kept the door lock side but immediately sold the safe business to Gunnebo who currently use the name on safes under licence from AssaAbloy.
    I'm sure your safe will be well over seventy years old. There were some articles about Milner in Tony Beck's Lock Collector newsletters linked elsewhere on this site.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Peteborough England
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    118
    Country: England

    Default 1881/2

    180281 relates to a safe made between 1881 and 1882.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    australia
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    3

    Default MILNER 212 safe

    I have a working milner 212 safe.
    I don't know the age of it. It is used as a drugs safe in my pharmacy. The shop is about 80 years old, but I believe that the safe originally came from a real estate agent?
    After cleaning off 3 coats of paint I found I had a number stamped on the inside facing the door. 155485.
    Any ideas on the age, as I want to restore it and polish up the brass plaque.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Cyberspace
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    Country: Australia

    Default

    No definate information exists for Milner safes anymore, the general style etc may help, plus it's a fairly high number (although Milners made vast numbers of safes)

    Some more info or a picture might help ?

    ie, the safe corners, rounded or square, if rounded - all of them or just 4 or 8 ? it all helps when it comes to dating such safes.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    australia
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    3

    Default milner 212

    I have a photograph the quality is not good but the safe is square with rounded hinges.
    Thanks Mark
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 100d0067_206.jpg  

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Peteborough England
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    118
    Country: England

    Default

    Your Milner 155485 was made between 1871 and 1877. Safes 121000 to 163703 were made between these dates.

    I have an identical (ish) Milner but don't have a pic at hand. I'll post it later. I'll Ebay it one fine day...

    When you restore it I suggest you run a thin bead of decorators filler all around the internal corners. Otherwise the joints leak dust every time you open the door - very annoying.

    The top hinge pin will probably be worn and allow the door to drop. It makes it difficult to open and close the door. If you run a heat gun over the back of the hinge (inside the door) the putty will melt and you can remove the hinge pin casting and re-make the pivot.

    I wonder, does your safe have a timber infil in the door pan? I've only seen one with the timber in place.

    R

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    australia
    Posts
    3

    Default

    No timber only galvanized iron draws that were added later. Thanks for the help I will call in a professional restorer so I can return it to its original style?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Peteborough England
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    118
    Country: England

    Default

    Hi, Professional restorer?? Are there such people for safes?

    Don't know whether I should post these pictures now...!! I'm just a humble safe dealer - a 25 year amateur, hope you don't disapprove too much.

    Sadly I don't see a valuable market in these hard to handle antiques. Perhaps I don't move in the right circles, any advice gladly received.

    I think the only difference between your safe and mine (apart from the shine) is the knob and the drop handle. I've never seen this type of drop handle on this type of Milner before so suspect it was changed a good few years ago. Yours is definitely original style.

    By the way, the timber I mentioned was WITHIN the lock pan. It was used to reduce the air spaces around the lock to reduce the effect of gun powder.

    I have another couple of pictures which I'll post separately. Let me know what you think.

    Richard
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails MilnerSafe.jpg  

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Tavistock, Devon UK
    Posts
    562
    Country: Great Britain

    Default

    The square corner construction makes the safe pre 1890.
    The No. 155485 is a key number and dates the safe between 1871 and 1877.
    In 1889 Milners started prefixing Serial numbers with Letters :-

    A = 1889, B = 1890 etc.

    ____________

    Ian

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