Recent Auctions

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

WOW! These prices are all over the place! The Tower Bean was nothing special but went very high, while the Union Hardware Tower Detective only went for a little over $300! Cummings went both ways.....one high, one low and I also can not believe how cheap the ER ball and chain went......I thought it would have went MUCH higher!!!! This flip-flopping economy here in the US seems to be causing some strange anomalies in cuff prices. It is a good time to buy, but only certain items at certain times! =)

Thanks for posting this Joe!!!

Cheers, Mike D~C/

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

What was so special about the Union hardware Tower detective model to fetch it over $ 300.00 ?

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

It is very hard to find the Tower Detective single long link (Union Hardware) model.......most are the 3 chain links with no swivel version.

Cheers, Mike D~C/

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Thx 4 helping me out Michael , I probably should study the cuffs more .

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

someone sure got suckered on the ball and chain since it is marked R R and not E R. probably has the rail road itials above it or painted over.. best buy was the s and w 200

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Amazing M says: "It is very hard to find the Tower Detective single long link (Union Hardware) model.......most are the 3 chain links with no swivel version. "

I will have to agree to disagree!

I have never even seen a Tower Detective with a 3 or more link chain.
All I have ever had or seen were the Union Hardware type with single long oval link with swivels.
The one above which sold for $280 is an Imitation Tower Detective.
As most of us know the Real Deal has semi-circular scalloped notches while the Imitations have the easier to produce "cut all the way across" notches.

Whoever won the Imitation cuff for $280 got a nice looking cuff.
Wish it were me!

mark
O--O

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Mark, I see the 3 ring version all the time.....I watch eBay for Tower cuffs a lot and see the genuine Pinkerton cuffs frequently. I have also been seeing a lot of imitations like the one I have in my collection quite a bit lately as well. The prices have been up on all the Tower Detective cuffs in recent months for some reason. I was bidding on a genuine 3 ring version a couple of months ago and it went almost $400 and it was not even pristine.

This was the first Union Hardware model I have seen this year.

Cheers, Mike D~C/

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Amazing M,

Not quite sure what I was thinking when I posted my previous message.
Of course, I have have seen 3 link detectives before, but do find the union version much more plentiful,
I memory serves (and lately, it hasn't) I think the picture on the box of a union depicts the chain version.
I would like a 3 link eventually. I will BOL.


mark
O--O

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Hey Mark,

Can you email me at timsstrengthfeats2@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Tim

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

I THINK you'll be BOLO.

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

First, the ball and chain are clearly an add-on. The large link connecting the cuff to the chain is a dead giveaway.

But I also think that the cuff itself is not genuine. The end of the lock tubes look too flat. The edges of the end caps, on the lock tube of the legitimate item, are more rounded. Granted, this could just be an optical illusion and, from a different angle, the cuff pictured here could look more original.

But there are two other matters. First, the bow, where it inserts into the lock tube, is too narrow. The real item is heftier here. And the metal of the bow is too flat. As with the caps to the lock tube, the edges of the bow are just slightly rounded on the genuine item. And, lastly, the little hole for the leg iron chain doesn't look right. I wish I could see a close-up, but the cuff pictured looks like this was added on to the side of the bow. In the original, the little loop is integral. Further, the hole in the original ER leg iron cuff actually encroaches into the surface of the bow. That is to say, if the loop were completely removed, there would still be a little rounded indentation in the side of the bow. I hope I am making myself clear on this point. Better and more detailed photos would easily resolve these matters.

Just my two cents.

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

someone sure got suckered on the ball and chain since it is marked R R and not E R. probably has the rail road itials above it or painted over.

I'm not so sure, there. The cuff is considerably rusted, which obliterates bits of the stamp, and adds depressions where they don't belong. It looks like it once was ER to me. I can't see any evidence of additional stamps. It's hard to say more without the cuffs in my hands, and the aid of a loupe.

I can't comment about the morphological differences from a "true" ER, and don't know how much variation there was in the marque. The ball is an obvious addition, as it is attached with a "cold shut" repair link. Even if it had been cobbed together in a prison, the link would have been welded. Blacksmiths were thick as flies back then.

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

DENNIS ::: i just have to add my 2 CENTS worth here.... i have had many many ball & chains over the years & many of them i got from various prisons themselves.... many were refigured IN the PRISONS & were NOT welded -- MOST old prisons had their own black smith shops & when reconfigured they used the old HAND HAMMERED way & not WELDING...... i am sure that thheir were a small few that welded, but not many or much.... i am old & senile, but not BLIND -- look at the above photo of the R R markings... look a the BOTTOM RIGHT LEG OF THE -- 1ST -- R --- now how in the world can anyone decipher that as an E .... i guess the LEG got up & turned around alittle bit -- lol .... take care all ... joe

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

?t=1314227287

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Having seen the better photos, I've changed my evaluation. The little loop for the leg iron chain is clearly not an add-on and that tips the scales for me. I believe that the shackle is genuine and was once part of a set of ER leg irons. Not the ball & chain as a whole, of course; that was clearly improvised.

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

i have had many many ball & chains over the years & many of them i got from various prisons themselves.... many were refigured IN the PRISONS & were NOT welded -- MOST old prisons had their own black smith shops & when reconfigured they used the old HAND HAMMERED way & not WELDING......

Well, there it is. I bow to your experience sir, surprising as that result is.


i am old & senile, but not BLIND -- look at the above photo of the R R markings... look a the BOTTOM RIGHT LEG OF THE -- 1ST -- R --- now how in the world can anyone decipher that as an E ....

I can turn my head and see it either as an E or an R. I'm seeing either part of the middle bar of an E and the serif of the bottom bar, or the letter R. Either way, there's part of the impression missing. I'd have to have it in hand to argue further, and then we can argue it over a beer or seven.

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

Hi, I put up the photo of different angles from those I saved when I saw the auction. The cuff is real (not an opinion) it just IS.

The hammered link attached to the second link of the shackle?? why not get the extra length of another 1 inch by correctly attaching it to the last link.

that bits very questionable?

Ian

We have a rare item this time. An ER (Elijah Rickard) ball and chain. There is some question as to when the ball was added, but the leg iron is quite real. Nice item.

The top handcuff is a Gill Flash Action Manacle, the big brother of the much more common thumb cuff.
Joe


http://handcuffs.org/auctions.html

I think the cuff is real as well. I have a single ER shackle the same size as this one although mine does not have the eye for the chain. The marking is very similar as is the overall size and shape.

Joe