Featured Information about this antique box

I'm so glad you replied this long after the thread first posted because somehow I never saw that Craig had produce the promised video & probably no one was more curious about it than I was.

Wondering now if it wasn't more for confidential documents than for cash, more despatch box than strong box. Government offices, as has been mentioned, are in the vicinity of Park Row in lower Manhattan.

 

This post must have emerged before my time on this site but I roam around frequently to see what people have put up. Never heard of or saw a video from Craig. I didn't know one could run videos here. Re the box, quite possibly. Maybe a sort of early briefcase. Diplomatic? Spy? If government, I would have expected it to have some form of ID? 'If lost, please return to ...' ? Red tape to indicate that it hadn't been unsealed?

 

Can’t imagine this being government made nor manufactured. The mechanisms including springs and filings around cuts looks homemade. Obviously with a mechanical engineer skill mindset. A one of a kind home safe. The top hidden compartment being a decoy from the real treasure below(snatch and grab). The caged lid would instantly reveal its contents, while also holding them in place when owner flip it over to gain access to the false bottom. Ok, ok, I better stop now

My eyes keep going to this area which looks as though something was hand written in script, (possibly a surname?) Could very well be completely off, but no where else is this kind of aging appearing anywhere.

Regardless, a real treasure piece. Love it.