Posted 6 years ago
ScotMal
(1 item)
Found while digging in backyard when I was a kid. Anyone know what this key might have been used for or what era it's from? thanks in advance for your help.
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Posted 6 years ago
ScotMal
(1 item)
Found while digging in backyard when I was a kid. Anyone know what this key might have been used for or what era it's from? thanks in advance for your help.
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The key of course slammed up against a large magnet. Doesn't have intricate teeth cuts like most old keys. Hollow barrel and it's been no less than ten years since I dug it up in Texas.
You don't say how long it is. Assuming it is apx. 4" - 4 1/2" long then it is early-mid-1800s. Keys tended to get smaller over time as the internals of locks became more refined. This key would fit a door, an "immigrant" trunk, or even a large padlock. Rather than the "cuts" you refer to, which operated the locking mechanism, early locks often had complicated entry holes which only admitted a matching key. Once the key was inside however, the actual locking mechanisms - the bolts - were nearly identical, making early locks fairly easy to pick. Making locks more complicated, and thus harder to pick, is what drove the evolution of lock technology.
My husband just measured it he says it's 4 and 5/8
Thank you for answering my unsovled mystery.