Help with leg irons

Hi,
I purchased a pair of leg irons from a collector who has a huge collection of Civil War memorabilia and would like to know if there is any way to identify the maker. Any history would be appreciated, I had thought of keeping these and now plan to resell them. The marks are "Pat'd June 17'72 June 17'76". I am trying to post photos but am having problems. Any help would be appreciated.

The patent date would probably be 1876, and I'm sure there's people here who will probably be able to identify the cuffs from the patent date alone. For the rest of us, a photo would be great.

When were the the first patents issued anyhow?

Nils

Hi,
I purchased a pair of leg irons from a collector who has a huge collection of Civil War memorabilia and would like to know if there is any way to identify the maker. Any history would be appreciated, I had thought of keeping these and now plan to resell them. The marks are "Pat'd June 17'72 June 17'76". I am trying to post photos but am having problems. Any help would be appreciated.

Palmer?

Hi,
I purchased a pair of leg irons from a collector who has a huge collection of Civil War memorabilia and would like to know if there is any way to identify the maker. Any history would be appreciated, I had thought of keeping these and now plan to resell them. The marks are "Pat'd June 17'72 June 17'76". I am trying to post photos but am having problems. Any help would be appreciated.

By all means, e-mail me a photo.

Kind regards
Nils

Hi,
I purchased a pair of leg irons from a collector who has a huge collection of Civil War memorabilia and would like to know if there is any way to identify the maker. Any history would be appreciated, I had thought of keeping these and now plan to resell them. The marks are "Pat'd June 17'72 June 17'76". I am trying to post photos but am having problems. Any help would be appreciated.

My Tower bottom key handcuffs are marked on the hinges "PATD June 17 '62" on the top line of text and "July 17 '66" centered on the second line of text beneath the first. So, my guess is that you have Tower Bottom key (early) legirons. I think it's interesting to note that Tower brand restraints were used into the 1940's, especially the legirons. The legirons were a durable and trusted pattern and I think it was a while before the swing through Wesson/Pomeroy invention was applied to legirons. Maybe our S&W or Peerless experts on board could tell us when those companies first produced legirons.

Hi,
I purchased a pair of leg irons from a collector who has a huge collection of Civil War memorabilia and would like to know if there is any way to identify the maker. Any history would be appreciated, I had thought of keeping these and now plan to resell them. The marks are "Pat'd June 17'72 June 17'76". I am trying to post photos but am having problems. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you all kindly for your responses.