Welcome to our world exploring the Historical, Political and Technological aspects of Locks, Keys and Safes

Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default Large Antique Safe Auction in March 2013

    I have just received advanced notice there will be a very large auction of highly collectable antique safes put on by Morphy Auctions and "theantiquesafecollector" in early March of 2013. I know there are several safe collectors on here who will be interested in attending , and this would a good opportunity for those across the pond wishing to acquire some very nice and interesting safes. Many of these could easily be considered museum pieces and are quite rare. Pedestal and boudoir safes, hobnails and mini cannonballs, I have been in the trade for around 35 years and hardly ever run across safes like these, except in someones collection.

    At some point down the road a pre-auction catalog will be available both in print and online. I just went on Morphy's website and at this time it is listed as an advertising auction but the date has been confirmed. It is to be on

    Sat march 9, 2013

    Morphy Auctions
    2000 n. Reading Dr.
    Denver, PA

    phone (717)-335-3435

    Denver is east of Harrisburg, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
    Bidding can be in person, over the phone or over the internet.

    I know I will be there, nosing around around for locks to take apart and hope to meet some of you there. I will post again as soon as I know the catalog is available. Doug

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default Auction Date Change To March 30th

    "Due to the high initial response to this event, Morphy Auctions of Denver, PA. has moved the date of the Antique Safe Auction to a more high profile date of Saturday. March 30th, 2013." Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Don't shoot the messenger. Doug

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default

    The online catalog for this safe auction is now up on the Morphy Auction website. There are several good pictures and a short description of each safe. It took me a while to figure out how to access them. Click on the single safe pictured and several pages will come up. The safes start with lot 127 after the advertising mugs. Doug

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Cyberspace
    Posts
    1,318
    Country: Australia

    Default

    Some very nice items. I'll admit I have great doubts about the capacity of a limited market to absorb that many safes at any one time ? After all the same stuff tends to be listed and re-listed on ebay a fair bit, and while these are generally better and more collectable just how many safe collectors are out there .............

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    New Port Richey, Florida 34655
    Posts
    22
    Country: United States

    Default More than you would think!

    Quote Originally Posted by oldlock View Post
    Some very nice items. I'll admit I have great doubts about the capacity of a limited market to absorb that many safes at any one time ? After all the same stuff tends to be listed and re-listed on ebay a fair bit, and while these are generally better and more collectable just how many safe collectors are out there .............
    There are a lot more than you would think there are. point in fact there are three bidders already registered from Australia. You are right that the stuff on ebay gets listed and relisted as far as safes go. The reason is that the dummies who are listing their safes are asking crazy prices for garbage because they don't know what they truly have. So you ask $2,500 for something that is worth $700 why are you surprised it did not sell. Then another person with the same knowledge level and the same safe says well if his is worth $2,500 mine must be worth $2,500 and the lie gets proliferated.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
    Posts
    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default

    While I can't speak to the pricing of these safes, I do know that here in the U.S., many of the safes would be purchased by non safes collectors such as interior designers, for their purely decorative value in restaurants, homes, building lobbies, etc., as objets d'art of the Industrial Age. Of course, that would depend on how well the auction was advertised to that market. Doug

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    7
    Country: United States

    Default Guy Zani Jr. collection & auction

    Quote Originally Posted by guy zani Jr. View Post
    There are a lot more than you would think there are. point in fact there are three bidders already registered from Australia. You are right that the stuff on ebay gets listed and relisted as far as safes go. The reason is that the dummies who are listing their safes are asking crazy prices for garbage because they don't know what they truly have. So you ask $2,500 for something that is worth $700 why are you surprised it did not sell. Then another person with the same knowledge level and the same safe says well if his is worth $2,500 mine must be worth $2,500 and the lie gets proliferated.
    Hi Guy and Doug

    Looking forward to seeing both of you at the auction.

    Personnally to me, I'm really looking forward to the auction, as I believe that it will help us to establish some type of "base" when evaluating and appraising safes in the future. I'm happy to see so many (and such a wide variety) of safes being offered at the same time.

    I've already downloaded a copy of all the listings (took nearly a ream of paper), so that I can prepare for the auction. I'm really hoping that there is a good turn out of prospective buyers as this could set the stage for future auctions. I've already had three potential buyers contact me with questions concerning a couple of the safes that they are interested in.

    On a side note, Guy - I've noticed that a couple of the safes are incorrectly identified. It's not a big problem and won't affect any value.
    For instance Lot 143, listed as a "Cook's Patent Safe" is probably a Meilink, as is lot 196 (Wards personal safe w/combo), and 212 (Wards personal safe w/key)

    Overall this is a great offering, and I'm hoping you do extremely well.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Frankfurt Main
    Posts
    705
    Country: Germany

    Default

    What about the small cast iron safes, are they also for sale on the auction?

    Because I would be interested in one of them.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    New Port Richey, Florida 34655
    Posts
    22
    Country: United States

    Default Small safes for sale at auction

    Quote Originally Posted by dicey View Post
    What about the small cast iron safes, are they also for sale on the auction?

    Because I would be interested in one of them.
    I am not sure what you mean are the small safes for sale at the auction. There will be over 15 safes that weigh under 100 lbs and are only 16" tall or smaller for sale. If you check out the on line catalog you can see them all there with dimensions weights and projected costs. All safes are sold with no reserve. That means if you bid ten dollars and no one else bids you own it for that. If you have any questions about any of the safes in the auction please feel free to either phone me or email me. Both my phone number and email address are on my web site. Guy

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •