Expert: Terry V Andreasen (Andy) - 7/16/2008

Question
My circa 1917 safe has been repainted black. However, I can still make out the floral designs and the stencil of the railroad company. I am a good artist and have experience reproducing 19th century art; will it hurt the value of the safe to strip off the old black paint and restore the decorations and stencil?

Answer
Thom,

I love restoration quesions.

First there is no antique safe collectors association that rates and values old safes, therefore the value of the antique safe depends on several factors.  First being the safes condition, second would be any documented history, w/pictures, third would be size and appeal.

I rate the safes condition by the following:

1.  Excellent condition:  in like new / out of the box condition
2.  Good condition:  great shape, all locks work, and keys are present.  Paint and art work are worn but not damaged.  Interior cabinetry and carpet is worn but not damaged.
3.  Fair condition:  minor damage to paint and interior (scratches, rust, wear marks, etc).  Doors are open, though keys and combo's may not be present, bolt work functions.  Safe needs service work.
4.  Poor condition:  damage to body, interior, bolt work.  Safe is locked up with no combo or keys.  Needs major repair work to be come functional.

Documented History:  includes original purchase receipts, photo's over the years that shows the safe in use in the business or home.  Newspaper articles that are about the safe (documented of course), such as "Billy the Kid robbed the safe", or "The new bank opened on "date", money was placed in the safe".  The more history, the more interesting the safe, the more potential value it has!

Size and Appeal:  Obviously, to a collector, having a safe that can be displayed is optimal, so the smaller safes tend to sell quicker and fetch top dollar.  Conversly, if the collector wants the safe to store other antique items for security or display, a larger safe may be more attractive.

I'm not a paint expert but there are ways to remove paint one layer at a time to avoid damage to lower layers.  If you can recover the original paint, take lots of photos before trying to restore.  Some of the art work may have been gold leafing or oil paintings.

You may be able to get help from your local college art department as a restoration project.  Same with the cabinetry work and the wood shop department.

I have seen many restoration projects that cost several thousands of dollars, so be prepared.

Hopefully you can see that as you restore and meet the above critera your safe will gain in value over the delapatated condition that it may be in now.  In current condition your safe may be worth $0-$500, after your restoration it should be worth at least as much as you put into it.

Good luck and send me some before and after photo's

Andy
andy@securitysafeusa.com