Newly aquired Darby's

Hello,
    New Here on the forum. I joined this group cause I a have acquired 2 sets of Darby's 1set are Hiatts and the other set just says HARD that's it, but when I was researching Thompson, Hiatt I came across Froggatt and thought maybe the pair I have that say HARD only might be Froggatts??? Did those companies mentioned ever made cuffs then not stamp their credentials on the handcuff?? Let me know what you think of these. Purchased 2 weeks ago at a Estate sale they were $60 usd for both. Cheers

You got a bargain at $60 for both.
The Blued or black pair look like Hiatt, but the key looks much older with some pitting to it.
The silver pair have a recently made key, but that's all I can see from the photos.

Thankyou PaulJDavies. Ok so the browned/blued pair are indeed Hiatts. Ok I thought the keys were probably original? but hey they work perfectly. The company that was running the Estate sale originally had $80 for them I just asked if they would take $60 cause that's all I had. Lol!. Thankyou again my friend

PaulJDavies wrote: ↑

Jul 03, 2022

You got a bargain at $60 for both.
The Blued or black pair look like Hiatt, but the key looks much older with some pitting to it.
The silver pair have a recently made key, but that's all I can see from the photos.

Im going to have to disagree on the Hiatts identification. I think he may be right, that they could be Froggatts. One of the tell tale signs of a Froggatt or of a Providence Tool Co. Cuff is the slightly dome shaped endcaps. If you look closely at the last pic, it shows the brown patina pair to have that dome shape to the endcaps. The key is not a key you would see with a Providence Tool Co. Darby, so that eliminates that one. Leaving the Froggatt as the likely suspect. The silver pair are Hiatt and the key that is in them looks like a modern key made either in Pakistan or China. I also have a darby in my collection, that I stuck that same key with, until I found a more era correct key to put with them. My set was also a set of Hiatts. Thoughts?
-Richard Knip-

Sir you got a sweet deal! You have from what I can see a Hiatts Best stamped Warranted Wrought with a reproduction key. As to your marked HARD Darby I’m with Richard, it looks like a few Froggatt’s I have that are marked Froggat but without a makers name stamped into them it’s hard to say who really made them. Either way you  have two nice looking Darby’s there. Welcome to the forum, lots of great info on this forum. It’s taught me a lot about handcuffs and leg irons in my short time of collecting (almost two years)   Ron J

Thankyou Djhalfdead and rejonesh68!. I'm not a expert but I have done enough homework on Hiatts. I am leaning toward Froggatts the dome shape but also has a wide base hinge like the Froggatts I have googled images, just was not 100% on my research. Wealth of good information guys! Thankyou! Yeah I have a Houdini / magician display and I'm just playing around with antique handcuffs these are my first pair. On the hunt for shackles to match except eveytime I see them there big money. Bummer about the keys but they are made very well and have that nice heft to them and work nicely too

I have Hiatts with domed caps and 12 Froggatts that do not. 
My closest match is this FWSM - Domed caps, round Clevis, Flat area on the swivel, similar key.
I would like to see a better photo of the end caps. Really though, if it just says Best, then it was probably made by a worker in his own time.

PaulJDavies wrote: ↑

Jul 03, 2022

I have Hiatts with domed caps and 12 Froggatts that do not. 
My closest match is this FWSM - Domed caps, round Clevis, Flat area on the swivel, similar key.
I would like to see a better photo of the end caps. Really though, if it just says Best, then it was probably made by a worker in his own time.

I added 2 more pictures at the top with a nice view of the hinge and the end caps for you. The key looks almost identical to yours. It just has a stanp that says ""HARD"" nothing else.

Wow I just realized how much of a great deal you got when you purchased these both for $60. Because I sold the marked Hard Darby’s on eBay for around $42 before taxes and shipping and the Hiatts for around $100 before taxes and shipping. That key with the Hiatts is actually a Chicago Darby key with the stamp that said Chicago Handcuff filled off the key. They were both sold to a guy in Washington state if I remember right. I could check my eBay sales records to be certain but see no need for that. Thoughts? Ron J

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

Wow I just realized how much of a great deal you got when you purchased these both for $60. Because I sold the marked Hard Darby’s on eBay for around $42 before taxes and shipping and the Hiatts for around $100 before taxes and shipping. That key with the Hiatts is actually a Chicago Darby key with the stamp that said Chicago Handcuff filled off the key. They were both sold to a guy in Washington state if I remember right. I could check my eBay sales records to be certain but see no need for that. Thoughts? Ron J

That's interesting cause I live in Seattle and the estate sale was in Marysville the guy passed away and left alot WWII and WWI stuff as well as old English police whistles. I bought some boyscout patches and some some other stuff for my Girlfriend to sell on ebay she has a little shop there. Chicago key? Is there away to get a original key for these? The one that they have works very well! I noticed something was scratched off of it. How long ago did you sell these?

Thomas I sold those cuffs to a guy named Brian in Everett Wa. in May of this year. Within a week apart. Sorry to hear of his passing, he seemed to be a very friendly guy. We chatted by messaging on eBay. The Hiatts were sold to me with the Chicago Handcuff key probably a year or so ago. I asked the seller when I purchased them about the file marks on it and that’s what he told me. It was a Chicago handcuff co. key and it worked so he paired the two together. Getting an original Hiatt key? You might occasionally see one come up on eBay. If you look at the endcaps on the Darby marked HARD you will see they have different markings, I believe they may have been repaired a very long time ago. Ron J

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

Thomas I sold those cuffs to a guy named Brian in Everett Wa. in May of this year. Within a week apart. Sorry to hear of his passing, he seemed to be a very friendly guy. We chatted by messaging on eBay. The Hiatts were sold to me with the Chicago Handcuff key probably a year or so ago. I asked the seller when I purchased them about the file marks on it and that’s what he told me. It was a Chicago handcuff co. key and it worked so he paired the two together. Getting an original Hiatt key? You might occasionally see one come up on eBay. If you look at the endcaps on the Darby marked HARD you will see they have different markings, I believe they may have been repaired a very long time ago. Ron J

OK that all ties together, yeah Marysville is right next to Everett. I drive all around here to Estate and Garage sales so that sad. Well I will have to keep a look out for a key!! But Chicago key works very well though. Thankyou for all that information sir!

Thomas wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

Thomas I sold those cuffs to a guy named Brian in Everett Wa. in May of this year. Within a week apart. Sorry to hear of his passing, he seemed to be a very friendly guy. We chatted by messaging on eBay. The Hiatts were sold to me with the Chicago Handcuff key probably a year or so ago. I asked the seller when I purchased them about the file marks on it and that’s what he told me. It was a Chicago handcuff co. key and it worked so he paired the two together. Getting an original Hiatt key? You might occasionally see one come up on eBay. If you look at the endcaps on the Darby marked HARD you will see they have different markings, I believe they may have been repaired a very long time ago. Ron J

OK that all ties together, yeah Marysville is right next to Everett. I drive all around here to Estate and Garage sales so that sad. Well I will have to keep a look out for a key!! But Chicago key works very well though. Thankyou for all that information sir!

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Thomas most collectors don’t care if a cuff has an original key or not as long as the cuffs have a working key, and that key works those Hiatts just as it’s original key did. Kind regards, Ron J

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

Thomas wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Jul 04, 2022

Thomas I sold those cuffs to a guy named Brian in Everett Wa. in May of this year. Within a week apart. Sorry to hear of his passing, he seemed to be a very friendly guy. We chatted by messaging on eBay. The Hiatts were sold to me with the Chicago Handcuff key probably a year or so ago. I asked the seller when I purchased them about the file marks on it and that’s what he told me. It was a Chicago handcuff co. key and it worked so he paired the two together. Getting an original Hiatt key? You might occasionally see one come up on eBay. If you look at the endcaps on the Darby marked HARD you will see they have different markings, I believe they may have been repaired a very long time ago. Ron J

OK that all ties together, yeah Marysville is right next to Everett. I drive all around here to Estate and Garage sales so that sad. Well I will have to keep a look out for a key!! But Chicago key works very well though. Thankyou for all that information sir!

Thomas most collectors don’t care if a cuff has an original key or not as long as the cuffs have a working key, and that key works those Hiatts just as it’s original key did. Kind regards, Ron J

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Absolutely! Thankyou again!

I'm happy with them! I will just leave them be. And thankyou again Sir!