ID this safe!

[Aschmidt]

I recently purchased a house and this old safe was left in the basement. Does anyone know anything about it, or what it would be worth if I wanted to sell it?

[kwoswalt99-]

I don't recognize the hinges, although very distinctive. The rest is very generic, a lot of makers' safes look similar, maybe someone here will know. It's not going to be worth much at all.

[Squelchtone]

Just fyi, the [image] command only works if the address is to the direct image file such as i.imgur.com/filename.jpg it will not show images if the URL is to the imgur album where the photo is.

[Squelchtone]

It feels like a Pittsburgh safe based on the hinges, but Cary and HHM had similar ones as well.. hmmmm the pointy ends on the handle also remind me of Pittsburgh safe.

OP where in the USA are you? certain safes are more common to certain areas, New England, East Coast, Ohio, Chicago, California..

Thanks
Squelchtone

[Aschmidt]

I'm an hour away from Pittsburgh so that would make sense!

[kwoswalt99-]

Squelchie got it, it's a Hermann safe made by Pittsburgh.

[Squelchtone]

Squelchie got it, it's a Hermann safe made by Pittsburgh.

Good to have confirmation, I wasnt sure.

OP if I saw that safe on craigslist, and I wanted to buy a vintage safe to decorate my office or living room I would consider $100 a steal, $250 fair, and $500 to $1000 unreasonably overpriced. A lot of folks selling safes on ebay and craigslist seem to think an old cast iron safe is worth a ton of money but a lot of these safes are in rough condition, missing hinge or lock parts, or are rusty and in need of tlc. You could put it on craigslist for $300 firm, you may actually get that for it.

Purely my opinion based on how I shop for used old safes,
Squelchtone

[Silverado]

I've been trawling Pittsburgh craigslist for a really long time trying to find anything interesting in the way of safes. Nothing really ever surfaces and I saw one that was missing the dial and mechanism, was open, door was off, the ad said it weighed about 300 pounds, and in the picture it was sitting outside in the elements rotting away...They were asking $350 or something ridiculous.

[Squelchtone]

Squelchie got it, it's a Hermann safe made by Pittsburgh.

hey kwos, I was digging around some more and I'm wondering if it isnt just a Hermann made by Hermann in San Francisco, I read they sold their safes with no name as well to other safe companies and locksmith shops and others put their branding/name on them. But until HHM (Herring-Hall Marvin ) bought them Hermann safes used HHM and S&G logos on the dials, so it is odd to see a Yale dial on one of their safes, so maybe Pittsburg (Pittsburgh as well) bought a Hermann and outfitted it their way before reselling it? Sort of like going to Dicks and choosing if you want your Liberty safe to have a mechanical combo dial or an electronic keypad these days...

I wish I had a time machine so I could answer some of these questions that are long lost to time.

let me know your thoughts / insights on this, thanks!
Squelchtone

[kwoswalt99-]

I guess the only way to know whether it was sold by Hermann or Pittsburg is to strip the paint off. Can't find an example of either with a Yale, only S&G's.