Old Padlock

Tencents

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Unusual keyhole configuration only text is patent date. Brass and really well made. 20241017_172633.webp20241017_172640.webp
 

Upvote 16
Nice find ;) I wish there was a way to get keys for the locks we find
 

Interesting padlock. US patents take their date from the Patents Bulletin, habitually published on Tuesdays. Occasionally, such as over the Christmas holiday period or for other administrative reasons, publication was delayed and the backlog was published the following Tuesday. However, there were no patents issued for 23 February 1871 since it was a Thursday, so that can’t be the actual patent date.

I thought it might be a ‘Patent Pending’ date but the ‘antique-padlocks.com’ website clearly shows the same lock with that date as ‘Pat’d’.

patent1.webp


Occasionally, patentees have been known to ‘jump the gun’, using the date they were informed their application had been successful although not yet published in the bulletin and I suspect that’s the case here.

The actual application for this padlock design was made on 10 December 1870, and it was granted on 29 August 1871 as patent number 118473. It was granted to Hermon Nelsen of Jerome, New York although the actual signature looks more like ‘Herman Nelsen’. Probably, this is a typo error in the print and ‘Herman’ is more likely to be the correct spelling.

patent2.webp


patent3.webp
 

Neat looking lock, I've never seen one with a keyhole configuration like that before.
 

Interesting padlock. US patents take their date from the Patents Bulletin, habitually published on Tuesdays. Occasionally, such as over the Christmas holiday period or for other administrative reasons, publication was delayed and the backlog was published the following Tuesday. However, there were no patents issued for 23 February 1871 since it was a Thursday, so that can’t be the actual patent date.

I thought it might be a ‘Patent Pending’ date but the ‘antique-padlocks.com’ website clearly shows the same lock with that date as ‘Pat’d’.

View attachment 2174741

Occasionally, patentees have been known to ‘jump the gun’, using the date they were informed their application had been successful although not yet published in the bulletin and I suspect that’s the case here.

The actual application for this padlock design was made on 10 December 1870, and it was granted on 29 August 1871 as patent number 118473. It was granted to Hermon Nelsen of Jerome, New York although the actual signature looks more like ‘Herman Nelsen’. Probably, this is a typo error in the print and ‘Herman’ is more likely to be the correct spelling.

View attachment 2174742

View attachment 2174743
Thanks Red Coat,
Interesting padlock. US patents take their date from the Patents Bulletin, habitually published on Tuesdays. Occasionally, such as over the Christmas holiday period or for other administrative reasons, publication was delayed and the backlog was published the following Tuesday. However, there were no patents issued for 23 February 1871 since it was a Thursday, so that can’t be the actual patent date.

I thought it might be a ‘Patent Pending’ date but the ‘antique-padlocks.com’ website clearly shows the same lock with that date as ‘Pat’d’.

View attachment 2174741

Occasionally, patentees have been known to ‘jump the gun’, using the date they were informed their application had been successful although not yet published in the bulletin and I suspect that’s the case here.

The actual application for this padlock design was made on 10 December 1870, and it was granted on 29 August 1871 as patent number 118473. It was granted to Hermon Nelsen of Jerome, New York although the actual signature looks more like ‘Herman Nelsen’. Probably, this is a typo error in the print and ‘Herman’ is more likely to be the correct spelling.

View attachment 2174742

View attachment 2174743
Thanks Red Coat, interesting to find it has a bogus Patent date on it. Your gift for research continues to amaze me.
 

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