Identify · before anyone opens, moves, sells or scraps it
What safe is this?
It came with the house, or from a relative, or out of a workshop being cleared. Before anyone opens it, moves it or calls a scrap dealer, find out what it is: the maker, the model, what it was built to resist and roughly when. Every one of those answers changes who can help and what they will need from you.
PHOTOGRAPHS FIRST.
Nothing here needs a tool, and a safe made before 2000 should not meet one.
- Photograph it before anyone touches it The whole safe, then close-ups of the lock, the handle and the hinges. When the label is gone, a technician can often place a safe from exactly these details — the hinges, the style of dial or keypad, the shape of the handle, the thickness of the door. The pictures are your label.
- Read the outside The maker's name is on a badge, a cast plate or painted on the door. The name on the dial or keypad belongs to the lock's maker — usually a different company, and a separate clue. A row of patent dates gives a floor, not a birthday: a door marked with an 1878 patent was not made before 1878. And a name painted across the top is often the first owner's, not the maker's.
- Find the model and serial number There is no single place. The lower right corner of the door front is the commonest; after that the sides, the back, the door frame on the hinge side, and — on some older or smaller models — the handle or the dial ring itself. One maker's own support page lists a different spot for almost every product line it sells, so check them all.
- If the door opens, read the inside of the door That is where certification lives. A European plate gives the grade, the certificate number, the safe's own manufacturing number, its weight and the year it was made; a UL or ETL label gives the rating. How to read the plate ›
- Work out what it was built to resist Fire and burglary are separate tests with separate labels, and a fire safe is no serious obstacle to a burglar. Fire safe or burglary safe ›
- If the name on the badge no longer trades Many old names were merged into firms that still exist, and the period catalogues in the archive show the models, plates and lock options of their day. Names on old safes ›
- Take the evidence to the right person A maker that still exists: model, serial number and proof of ownership. A European certified safe whose maker you cannot name: ECB·S identifies the certificate holder from a photograph of its mark and one of the safe from outside. Anything else: a technician, with your photographs.
Where the evidence usually is
| Where | What you may find | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Door front, lower right | A label or plate with the model and serial number | The most common place. With it, the maker can look the safe up. |
| Sides, back, top, bottom | A serial label | Depends on the product line — one maker's own support page lists every one of these, model by model. |
| Hinge-side door frame | A label on the jamb | Only visible with the door open. |
| Handle or dial ring | A number stamped into the metal | Found on some older or smaller models, where there was no room for a label. |
| Dial ring or keypad | The lock maker's name | The lock family — usually a different company from the safe maker, and the name a technician needs. More › |
| Inside of the door | A certification plate, or a UL or ETL label | What it was tested against and by whom. A European plate also gives the year it was made and its weight. More › |
| Top of the body | A painted family or business name | Often the first buyer's name, not the maker's. Cary painted it on request for most of the safes it sold. |
Made before 2000? Presume asbestos until shown otherwise
Ireland's Health and Safety Authority notes that certain makers used asbestos as a door seal —
often a woven strip or tape on the door frame — and sometimes in the packing sealed inside the
door and walls. Its guidance: if a pre-2000 safe cannot be shown to be free of it, presume it is
there. That changes nothing in daily use, but destructive cutting must not be allowed, even
precision drilling needs controlled conditions, and a safe whose internal packing is escaping
should be taken out of use and left alone until the material is tested. The original maker may
be able to confirm what went into that model — one more reason to identify it first.
What this page will not do
Put a price on the safe, or on what might be inside it. Nothing here is an appraisal, and the procedure for an unknown combination is on its own page — with the same demand for proof of ownership that every honest maker makes.
The plate inside the door PLATES
Fire safe or burglary safe FIRE
Names on old safes MAKERS
Which lock is on it LOCKS
You have the safe, not the number CODE
Catalogues of 1853–1925 ARCHIVE
Where this comes from
- Sure Lock & Key — Find your safe model and serial number
- SentrySafe — Find your model or serial number
- Waldis Tresore — Safes: what does EN 1143-1 actually mean?
- VdS — information sheet VdS 5012 (2025), fixing and monitoring of secure storage units
- Liberty Safe — Understanding UL and ETL ratings for your home safe
- Wikipedia — Cary Safe Company
- ECB·S — frequently asked questions
- Health and Safety Authority, Ireland — Asbestos risks in safes and fire resistant cabinets
Every source above was read on 25 Sep 2026. If one of them changes or disappears, the line that rests on it is corrected or removed — see method.