Skeleton Keys - Please assist

[Dean Nickel]

The first key looks like a cabinet key, warded lock, also looks like it is broken.

The second is a door key, warded lock.

Age without markings or a lock will be near impossible.

[Fuzyhamster]

The first key looks like a cabinet key, warded lock, also looks like it is broken.

The second is a door key, warded lock.

Age without markings or a lock will be near impossible.

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it regardless =)

[lucysmith]

For me, it looks like an old korean key. :)

[timof5stars]

Dean,

I would have guessed the first key to be a gate key, but as you know I'm just getting started in all this. Is it the fact that it is a barrel key (i.e. hole in the end) that is more indicative of a cabinet key
(vs. the solid shank of a traditional skeleton key)? Thanks.

Tim

[NigelKTolley]

That first key looks broken. The post should sit into a nice hole, & that key is missing the bottom edge. It is a simple warded key, not a skeleton key.

The second one could be nearly anything, most likely a cheap gate lock. Certainly you could call it a skeleton key, though it isn't really.

[Scott Klemm]

Since you appear to be new to key collecting, I want to explain why the previous post said your key is not a skeleton key. Here is the definition of a skeleton key according to An Encyclopaedia of Locks and Builders Hardware. "A key with a bit which is cut away as much as possible to avoid fixed obstructions in a lock, but having enough left on to lift the tumbler and move the bolt." In others words the key is cut back to "bare bones" like a skeleton.

Although your keys are typically called skeleton keys by the general public, the correct name would be bit key (in the U.S.) or pin key (in the U.K.). Or, you can simply call them warded keys. One more piece of locksmith nomenclature: The bit is the flag-like projection at the end of the key that goes into the keyhole and moves the bolt.

[Doug MacQueen]

Scott, I am curious if you found the origins of the claim itself. Did it start with the 1800's archeologists or does it go back further? Doug