eBay Handcuff of the Year?

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

HI ! folks - ya it is me... i like to be punished - don't i.... let me start off by saying that I AM SURE THAT THESE CUFFS ARE OLD & LEGIT !!! -- BUT these are the kinds of questions that i would ask myself during the many years of me buying restraints..... big difference between just being able to see a photo & being able to have it in hand to check it............. have they been REPLATED -- if they are suppose to be that old - should they even be plated...... plating may be old, but MAYBE the markings are NOT as old as one would think & were ADDED just 40 years ago & then cuff was plated.. are the letters etc evenly stamped & same depth..... open your minds folks & think.... don't just be cattle & follow the herd... JACK - thanks for showing it to us.... joe

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

Here is another nice one. On eBay UK # 270129971472



Marc

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

Joe Tanner brings an interesting question to my mind. Isn't 1820 a little too early for plating? According to the article on electroplating in the Wikipedia the process did not become available until the mid 1800s.

Marc

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

Marc:

Prior to electroplating, iron objects were nickel plated by the "friction" method. First, the item was washed with a copper sulfate and sulphuric acid solution to leave a copper coating on the item. Then, the item was washed with a solution of tin, nickel and acid, then wiped down with pulverized zinc.

The procedure wasn't that great and the nickel plating tended to flake off. The black areas you see on old items plated in this manner are oftentimes not the underlying iron, but an oxidation of the copper coating.

If you look at the other pictures of these cuffs on the eBay listing, it seems there is some flaking of the nickel plating in the areas around the hinges and lock areas.

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

FRANKLIN - NO NAME : it seems that the procedure has not changed much then from the old days to the current days.... i have had many cuffs that were replated sometime between the 1920s & the 1990s & for the most part the plating & the copper finnish was very FLAKY on parts of the cuffs... but then again, many of the cuffs were not cleaned properly & the underlieing metal was rough etc.... looking at the cuffs that are listed on EBAY, it looks like the underlieing metal was either a rough casting or not cleaned properly before the plating was put on.... just some conjecture to ponder on.... joe

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

I have an old pair of Mattatuck handcuffs
that the nickel plating has at times looked
like a tree with the bark peeling off. most
of the plating is gone now. I have also a
pair of Froggatt darbies standard size that
has been nickel plated with some plating worn
off but no peeling.

thanks to Franklin no name and Joe Tanner for
the information about how this plating process
was done at the point of manufacture and why
one set of cuffs would have the plating falling
off while another set has the plating for the
most part still intact.

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

ATLANTA-CASTING: you are welcome... as i said, i just want to open peoples brains & get people to think & not just follow the herd... joe

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

Hello,

At 1,420 quid, or about $2,806, the eBay handcuff of the year has found a new home.

It is about the nicest, probably is the nicest, darby I ever have seen. Steeped in history and in minty condition. Time will bear this out to be a bargain buy.

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

The seller is certainally celebrating. I'm sure he had no idea that it would bring what it did.

Hello,

I think quite likely so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0124941278

ANTIQUE GRIFFIN & NICHOLS HANDCUFFS, ASTON CANTLOW, C. 1820

<IMG HEIGHT="600" BORDER="0" SRC="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u224 ... ay2001.jpg">

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm

Click to expand...

Dear Stan,

I'm sure you are correct. I looked at the seller's other items and their descriptions. This seller deals in good quality items in good condition and knows what he is selling. Still, he could not have been prepared for this, especially as he is a generalist, not a specialist, dealer.

The moment I saw these handcuffs, on the day they were listed, I knew there was something very special about them, by which I do not mean the price they made. Beyond their purely aesthetic beauty, they are a stunning and superb specimen of the transition, or development or evolution, from the blacksmith's craft to the industrial factory. In that context, they are extraordinarily revealing. To me, that is their great historical value. They exemplify the primary global process of the 19th Century, industrialisation, and at a relatively early stage.

Enough from me. I make short stories long...

Cheers,

Jack
http://www.editing.org.uk/tanis/collectibles.htm