You are here:

Antique Safes/mosler safe price

Advertisement

Expert: - 12/21/2009


Question
i have a large (59"h x39"d x20"w)it weights 1500 to 2000 lbs. it was made in nov. 1965 it has a large door on top and a small round door on bottom. It does say Mosler on it. I am trying to sell it i just dont know what to ask for it. Can you please give me a ballpark as to what amount i should ask.  

Answer
Jesse,

The large door on top is probably the fire safe, the chest on the bottom with the round door is the burglary chest.

Unfortunately you have a couple of problems with this safe, first this type of unit is no longer a marketable product.  Up through the mid 70's fire safes and burglar safes were pretty much two separate safes.  They may be combined in several ways such as top and bottom configurations (such as yours), or inside/outside units.  Basically the fire safe offers little to no burglar protection, and the burglary safe offers little to no fire protection.  Current safes offer either fire or burglar or composite safes which are both fire & burglary.
Second, because Mosler went bankrupt in 2001, there are no parts available for repairs, especially for the round burglar door.

Value:
Fire:         $100-$250    (composite unit)     The reference date I use for fire is 50 years.  Your safe is only a couple of years away from being considered - "does not meet the standard"!
Burglary:     $100-$150     (Composite unit)     Obsolete, round door unit.  Small storage compartment, parts not available for repairs.
Retail:       $200-$500     Note:  as you can not split the two units apart for separate sale, the value is a composite of the two units.  Retail price would of course depend on the overall condition, both physical and operational.  If unserviceable obviously the value may be less than $0!!!!!
Antique:     $0     This unit is not over 100 years old.
Collectible: $0     Though this unit is close to the 50 year mark for collectibles, it is not considered a collectible item.

Unfortunately, The cost to move the unit to a new home may be more than the unit is worth, which may scare some customers away.  If you don't have to sell it "soon", you may get your asking price if you can sit on it for awhile.  If you need to get rid of it, you may want to just have someone haul it away.  If you called us and offered it for sale, we would probably charge you $500 to haul it away for disposal.

Sorry, I wish the news was better.

Andy

Antique Safes

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Terry V Andreasen (Andy)

Expertise

Safe and Vault related Questions; Antique Safe Repair and Restoration; With over 40 years in the Safe & Vault industry, if I can't answer your question I know where to get the answer. Current Project: Restoration of two Tilton & McFarland Safes from the 1860's. Will answer Safe & Vault related questions concerning age, value, restoration, moving, opening & repairing, parts, operation and history. Note: It is not my intention to teach you to open safes or to provide information which may aid in the unlawful opening of a safe. I will not give out drill points or information which I deem inappropriate.

Experience

40 years in the Safe & Vault Industry. Service Manager for one of the largest Safe & Vault companies on the West Coast. Graduate of Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing, Safe lock Manipulation and Safe Deposit Lock Courses. Graduate of Locksmith Institute. Certified Instructor for the California Locksmith Association teaching Basic and Advanced Lock Servicing, Basic Safe opening and Repairing. Factory Trained by AMSEC, LORD Safes, LeFebure, Mosler, KabaMas, LaGard and Sargent & Greenleaf

Organizations
Safecrackers International and the National Antique Safe Association

Education/Credentials
Graduate of Locksmith Institute 1972 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Servicing 1974 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Lock Manipulation 1975 Graduate Lockmasters Safe Deposit Lock Servicing 1985 Instructor Certified - California Locksmith Association - 1985 Factory trained by AMSEC, MAJOR, STAR, Johnson-Pacific, Kaba-MAS, Allied-Gary, ISM, Lord, Brown Safe, EXL, Mosler, Diebold.

Awards and Honors
2009, 2010 & 2011 Listed in AllExperts top 50 Experts. All Experts Categories - Safes & Security Containers, Locksmithing, Antique Safes. Retired US Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer (CW3), with 32 years of total service. With numerous awards from Vietnam, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. US Navy - 1971-1981 US Army Reserve 1984-2006 US Army Retired Reserve 2006-present

Past/Present Clients
US Secret Service, FBI, BATF, Local Law enforcment agencies, Diebold, Hamilton Pacific, Red Hawk Int., Chubb International, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Mechanics Bank, El Dorado Savings Bank, many Credit unions and smaller banks. McDonalds, Togos, BurgerKing, TacoBell, Carls Jr. FoodMaxx, SaveMart, Lucky's, Albertson's, Raley's, Safeway, NobHill, Bell Markets, PW Markets. Great America, Century Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, UA Cinemas, and many homeowners and small businesses. Provide warranty service for lock and safe manufactures. Service area is Northern California - Fresno to Oregon, including western Nevada

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.