Some are, most aren’t, and the gap is wider than you’d expect. We went through real asking prices, auction results and scrap rates in the UK, the US and Australia. A big Milner went for £10 at auction, while small, decorated or rare safes sell for hundreds or thousands.
£10
hammer price for a large Milners’ 212 safe, Surrey, 2021
£325–845
small Victorian safes sold by UK dealers, with keys
$9,440
a restored Marvin parlour safe at auction, Pennsylvania, 2013
£15–35
scrap value of a 250 kg safe at UK prices, October 2026
Key takeaways
- Most ordinary old safes sell privately or at auction for somewhere between nothing and a few hundred pounds or dollars. Dealer asking prices are much higher because they include cleaning, keys, delivery and a guarantee.
- Small beats big. A safe two people can carry finds buyers; a half-tonne safe often costs more to move than anyone will pay for it.
- Original paint and transfers, a working lock with its own keys, and an unusual form (parlour safes, cannonball safes, salesman samples) are what push prices up.
- Drilling, a fresh repaint, missing keys and rust push them down. Scrap is a last resort, worth tens of pounds, and many yards refuse filled safes.
In This Article
The short answer, by type of safe
Find your kind of safe in the first column. These bands are our reading of the real prices set out in full below, all checked on 26 October 2026. “Private or auction” is what sellers actually get or ask without a dealer; “dealer” is what a shop asks or sold for after cleaning and checking the safe.
| Type | Private or auction | Dealer |
|---|---|---|
| Small Victorian fire safe or strongbox (UK) | £50–£400 | £325–£845 sold; £1,295 asked |
| Large Victorian safe, 300 kg and up (UK) | £10–£300 | Rarely stocked |
| Painted American parlour or office safe | $100–$200 if it works | $1,575–$1,650 sold |
| Rare decorated, cannonball or sample safes | $1,000–$10,000 at specialist sales; a sample safe $56,580 | Few on the market |
| Post-war office safe (Chatwood-Milner, Chubb, Tann) | £50–£400 | £230–£525 + VAT, reconditioned |
| Floor or wall safe, removed | £15–£20 | Not an antique item |
| Scrap, 250 kg safe | About £15–£35 (UK) | n/a |
Not a valuation
Everything on this page is informal guidance drawn from public prices, not a valuation of your safe. We do not give formal valuations. For insurance, probate or a sale, ask an auction house or antiques dealer who can see the safe in person. If you are on the other side of the deal, read our guide to buying an antique safe.
Real prices, checked October 2026
Three kinds of price appear below, and they aren’t the same thing. An auction hammer price is what a buyer actually paid (some houses add a buyer’s premium on top). A dealer’s sold price is the last price the shop listed before the safe sold. An asking price, from a dealer or a private seller, is only a hope until someone pays it. eBay sold listings and most UK auction archives weren’t viewable when we checked, so we’ve left out figures we couldn’t open.
Small Victorian fire safes and named British makers
If your safe is in Britain, Australia or New Zealand, it’s most likely one of these: a fire-resisting safe by Milner, Chubb, Tann, Ratner, Withers, Cartwright or one of dozens of Midlands makers, usually painted green, black or brown with a brass plate. The name on the plate matters less than size and condition. Named Milner safes alone range from a £10 hammer price to a £1,295 dealer asking price.12
If you’re searching for the value of a Milners’ 212 patent safe, the badge itself won’t help much: it was fitted to a great many safes over a long period, so it doesn’t make one rare. On Gumtree in October 2026 a Victorian Milners’ 212 was offered at £300 or near offer, and a loose Milners’ 212 brass plaque on its own at £55.3
| Safe | Price | Kind of price and source |
|---|---|---|
| Milners’ patent floor safe No. 212, 26 × 26 × 32 in, “will need specialist lifting equipment” | £10 | Hammer, Crow’s, Dorking, April 20211 |
| Milners, c.1870–80, 56 × 40 × 41 cm, original green paint and key | £325 | Dealer, sold, Antiques Atlas4 |
| Milners steel safe box, c.1900, 34 cm high, new keys cut | £395 | Dealer, sold |
| Ratner, 1900s, 68 cm high, “overpainted at some time” | £385 | Dealer, sold |
| Hobbs & Co, c.1900, 20 × 14 × 14 in, original key | £550 | Dealer, sold |
| Cartwright & Sons, c.1890, 66 cm high, original paint inside and out, keys | £625 | Dealer, sold |
| Thomas Withers, late Victorian, 47.5 cm high, original paint and decoration, all keys | £675 | Dealer, sold |
| Milners, c.1900, 64 cm high, “totally refurbished”, key | £845 | Dealer, sold |
| Milners of Liverpool, c.1870, 40 cm high, key present | £1,295 | Dealer, asking2 |
| Tann’s Defiance, c.1880, fully restored, on a stand | £2,995 | Dealer, asking5 |
| Ratner (£200 and £675), Tann’s Reliance (£300), Samuel Withers (£350), Chubb & Sons with keys (£400), Cyrus Price (£220) | £200–£675 | Private, asking, Gumtree UK3 |
The pattern is clear. Small safes with keys and either untouched original paint or a careful restoration sell to dealers for a few hundred pounds. Large ones struggle even to reach double figures at auction. A collector on the antique-locks.com forum put it bluntly in 2011, looking at a Tann and a Milner priced at thousands in the United States: he would expect neither “to fetch more than £100 each” at a British auction or on eBay.6
Australia has its own Chubb, Tann and Milner safes, but few prices are published. The clearest we found was a tiny 19 cm Bank of Victoria cash box with a Chubb lock and its original key, c.1870s, sold by a Sydney dealer at A$1,875: a reminder that small, early and local-history pieces are where the money is.7
Painted American parlour and office safes
American safes of about 1870 to 1920 by makers such as Hall’s, Herring-Hall-Marvin, Diebold, Mosler, Victor and Cary were often painted with gold lines, the owner’s name and landscape panels. That paintwork is what collectors are really after.
A Wisconsin dealer sold a 315 lb Hall’s safe (patent 1906) with “original black paint, pin striping and logos” in fine condition for $1,650, and a 260 lb Herring-Hall-Marvin safe of the 1890s with its original painted finish for $1,575. Both had working combination locks with the combination supplied.8
At the top end, Kovels reported a Pennsylvania sale in 2013 where “Victorian parlor safes” auctioned for $1,000 to $10,000.9 That appears to be Morphy Auctions’ sale of 30 March 2013 in Denver, Pennsylvania, which included dozens of safes, many of them restored. A Marvin parlour safe of about 1870, with velvet-lined drawers and a secret compartment, made $9,440, while a plain 700 lb Silas C. Herring safe of about 1852 made $1,121 against a $2,000–3,000 estimate.10
Private sales are another world. On r/Safes, a working railroad safe listed at $200 on Facebook drew no serious buyers, and an experienced commenter’s verdict was “If everything works it’s $100-200”. Another told an owner who had inherited a safe in Tennessee that similar safes are “given away for anywhere from $200 – Free”. A 300 lb York safe offered at $2,500 was called “grossly overpriced”.11
Cannonball and bank safes
Round “cannonball” safes, with a screw door, were made for banks from about the 1860s into the early 20th century by Marvin, Mosler, Victor, York and others. They’re among the most collected American safes, and also among the heaviest, which is the catch.
At the 2013 Morphy sale a restored Marvin “mini-cannonball” of about 1865, weighing about 1,300 lb, made $8,260 including premium.10 The record we found is not a full-size safe at all: in October 2026 a 17-inch Mosler cannonball salesman’s sample, in its velvet-lined carrying case, sold at Morphy for $56,580 against a $15,000–25,000 estimate.12 Salesman’s samples are rare and light, which is exactly why they sell.
Bank safes with a famous name on the door attract interest, but the Mosler, Diebold and Herring-Hall-Marvin bank safes and vault doors that turn up most often are big, plain and very hard to move. Treat a high price for a sample or a restored showpiece as the ceiling, not as your safe’s value.
Post-war office safes: Chatwood-Milner, Chubb and Tann
If yours is a grey or green office safe of the 1950s to 1980s, it’s bought for use, not as an antique, so it’s priced by its insurance cash rating and condition rather than by age. A Coventry dealer was selling reconditioned examples at £230 to £525 plus VAT, plus delivery: a Tann Consort 11 at £230, a Chubb Lichfield at £240, a 355 kg Chatwood Milner Minor at £375 and a 778 kg Chatwood Milner Duplex Anti Blowpipe at £525.13 More on the firm behind them in our entry on Chatwood and Chatwood-Milner safes.
Private sellers ask far less. On Gumtree UK the same week, a Tann Consort 11 was offered at £150, a Chubb of about 300 kg with keys at £100, a Chubb commercial safe that “three people can’t lift” at £50, and a 525 kg Chubb at £550.3 A dealer’s price covers servicing, new keys or a combination change, delivery and installation, which is most of the difference.
Floor and wall safes
A safe set into concrete or brickwork has little resale value, because getting it out means breaking the floor or wall around it and the buyer then needs a builder to fit it again. Removed floor and wall safes on Gumtree UK were asking £15 to £20 in October 2026.3 An old Chubb or Milner floor safe is usually best left in place and mentioned in the house sale: some buyers are glad of it. If you want it opened, call a safe engineer.
What makes an old safe valuable
Read the dealer descriptions behind the prices above and the same features come up again and again. In rough order of importance:
- Size and weight. Dealers advertise “very small” safes because buyers can take them home. Every extra 100 kg cuts the number of people who can collect it.
- Original paint, transfers and decoration. “In original paint and decoration” and “original paintwork inside and out” are selling points in themselves; American buyers look for pinstriping, gilt lettering and painted panels.48
- A working lock with its own keys or combination. Nearly every dealer listing above names the keys. A combination supplied with the safe matters just as much on American safes.
- Maker and form. A known maker helps, but form matters more: parlour and boudoir safes, cannonballs, salesman’s samples and safes built into furniture are rarer than plain office safes.10
- Provenance. A name painted on the door, a bank, railway or courthouse history, or the original receipt gives a safe a story, and local museums or collectors may want it for that alone. Dating your safe from its plate and serial number is the first step.
- Restoration quality. A careful, documented restoration can lift a price; the restored Tann on a stand above was asking £2,995. A quick spray job does the opposite.5
What kills the value
- Drilling. A drilled lock or door needs repair and is listed as a defect. Most mechanical-lock safes can be opened by a safe engineer without drilling, so ask one before anyone reaches for a drill.14
- Repainting. Dealers flag overpainting as a fault: the Ratner above “has been overpainted at some time” and sold at the low end.4 Don’t paint a safe before you sell it.
- No key, no combination. Buyers price in the cost of a safe engineer. A missing drawer key is mentioned even on dealer listings.
- Rust and damp. A safe kept outdoors or in a wet cellar loses its paint and transfers first, and those are the most valuable part of the surface.
- Weight and access. Stairs, basements and narrow doors add to the buyer’s moving bill, so they come straight off the price.
Paint has been hiding problems for a very long time. George Hayter Chubb warned buyers of second-hand safes in 1875 that “the more the defects the nicer the safe frequently looks”, because cracks and bad joints could be filled with putty and painted over. He also noted that safe makers’ names were forged on cheap safes, and that his firm had brought nearly a dozen legal actions over it.15 A maker’s name on the door is a clue, not a guarantee.
Did you know?
Chubb told of a “second-hand” safe being sold at an auction in Scotland as one of the best ever made. It fell over, broke open, and its fireproofing turned out to be fresh garden turf, with live worms in it.15
Myths about old safe values
Antique safes are worth thousands.
A few are. Most sell for hundreds or less; the thousands go to small, decorated, rare or restored ones.
A bigger safe is worth more.
Usually the reverse. A large Milners’ 212 safe made £10 at auction in 2021.
A fresh coat of paint will help it sell.
Dealers list overpainting as a fault. Original paint, even worn, is worth more.
At worst it is worth its weight in scrap.
Light iron pays about £60–£80 a tonne in the UK, and many yards refuse filled safes.
Old safe scrap value
Scrap yards pay for the metal only, and an old safe is graded low, usually as light or mixed iron. Prices published in the last few weeks:
| Where | Grade and price | Date |
|---|---|---|
| UK, national guide | 5c light iron £60–£80 a tonne; No. 1 old steel £95–£135 a tonne16 | September 2026 |
| UK, Portsmouth yard | Light iron £70, mixed iron £80 a tonne17 | 22 October 2026 |
| US, New Jersey yard | Light iron $110, cast iron $165 a gross ton (2,240 lb)18 | 23 October 2026 |
| Australia, Melbourne | Light and mixed steel A$0.05–0.20 a kg, indicative19 | July 2026 |
Our arithmetic from those figures: a 250 kg safe is worth about £15 to £35 as UK scrap, roughly $27 to $41 in New Jersey, and A$12.50 to A$50 in Melbourne. Even a one-tonne safe brings only about £60 to £135 in the UK. Three catches:
- Filling. Much of an old safe’s weight is fire-resisting filling or concrete, not metal, and yards may refuse a filled safe or not pay for its full weight.
- Asbestos. Some safes made before 2000 contain asbestos. Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority says such a safe must not be cut open and should be disposed of as hazardous waste.14
- Payment rules. In England and Wales a scrap dealer may not pay cash.20 Rockaway’s yard sets a 500 lb minimum before it pays for steel or iron.18
Collection usually costs more than the scrap is worth, so don’t count on the yard covering your costs. Scrap only makes sense if a scrap or removal firm takes the safe away as part of a wider clearance.
Moving often costs more than the safe
This is the single biggest reason old safes sell for so little. Our guide on how to move or get rid of an old safe has the full costs. The Master Locksmiths Association estimates that removing and disposing of a safe of up to 500 kg starts at about £110 plus VAT, with heavier safes and awkward access costing more.21 In the United States, the Locksmith Ledger‘s 2024 price survey puts safe moving at $250 to $500.22 One r/Safes member summed it up in a post title: “Got this for $100 but cost me $80 to move it to my house.”11
“Old safes usually cost more to remove than people will pay for ownership.”
A collector on the antique-locks.com forum, 2012
So before you set a price, work out the weight. Measure the outside of the safe and use our safe weight calculator, which works from makers’ published weights. Put the weight, the size and the access (ground floor, steps, stairs, parking) in your advert: a buyer who can see the moving bill in advance is far more likely to come and collect.
How to sell or rehome an old safe
- Identify and photograph it. Take clear photos of the maker’s plate or transfer, any serial number, the keyhole or dial, the inside of the door and the whole safe.
- Find the keys or combination and check that the lock works. If it’s locked, have it opened by a safe engineer, never by drilling it yourself. A working, empty safe is easier to sell.
- Do not paint, grind or sandblast it. Clean off dust with a soft cloth and leave the rest to the buyer.
- Measure it and estimate the weight, then get a written quote from a specialist safe remover so you know what a buyer faces.
- Choose the route that suits the safe (below), and describe it honestly: maker, date if known, size, weight, keys, faults and access.
Small or decorated
Dealer or auction
Antiques dealers, a local saleroom or, for American parlour and cannonball safes, a specialist sale. Expect a dealer to offer well below the shop prices above.
Ordinary or heavy
Private sale, collection only
Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace or eBay. Price it to go, or offer it free to anyone who collects: that can still save you a removal bill.
With a story
Museum or heritage group
A safe from a local bank, shop, railway or courthouse may interest a museum or society. Send photos and its history first; few can collect.
Two cautions. An antique safe has no modern burglary grade, so do not sell it as an insurance-rated security safe. And where a safe may contain asbestos, selling it can be restricted: Ireland’s authority says the EU ban on selling asbestos-containing products applies to second-hand safes presumed to contain it.14 For every other step, from dating to donating, see our owner’s guide, I have an old safe: what now?
Ask us
Want to know what you have before you sell? Send us photos of your safe’s plate and serial number and tick “What it might be worth” or “Selling or rehoming it”. We’ll tell you what we can about the maker and date and point you to comparable prices. It is free, and it is informal guidance, not a valuation.
Frequently asked questions
Are antique safes worth anything?
Some are. Small Victorian safes with keys and original paint sell to UK dealers for about £325–£845, and rare American parlour or cannonball safes can make thousands. Most large, plain old safes fetch little, because moving them is expensive.
How much is a Milners 212 patent safe worth?
It depends far more on size and condition than on the badge. We found a large one at £10 at auction, private asking prices around £300 and small dealer examples at £325–£1,295.
What is the scrap value of an old safe?
Low. At October 2026 UK prices of about £60–£135 a tonne, a 250 kg safe is worth roughly £15–£35, and many yards refuse safes still full of fire-resisting filling.
Should I restore or repaint my safe before selling it?
No, put the paintbrush away. Dealers treat overpainting as a fault, and original paint is worth more even when worn. Leave restoration to the buyer, or to a specialist restorer if you plan to keep it.
Can you value my safe?
We do not give formal valuations. We can help identify and date it and share comparable prices; for a valuation, ask an auction house or antiques dealer who can inspect it.
Sources:
- Crow’s Auction Gallery, Dorking, Antiques & Collectables, 14 April 2021, lot 1227: “An antique Milners’ patent floor safe, No212”, 26 × 26 × 32 inches, hammer £10 (checked 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- London Fine Antiques, “Antique Patent Safe, English Cast Iron Lock Box, Milners of Liverpool, Victorian”, asking £1,295 (checked 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- Gumtree UK search results, private asking prices (checked 26 October 2026; listings change daily): “antique safes”, “chubb safe” and “floor safes”. ↩︎
- Antiques Atlas dealer listings marked sold (checked 26 October 2026; the price shown is the dealer’s last listed price): Milners polished steel safe, c.1900, £845; Milners steel safe box, c.1900, £395; Milners fire-resistant safe, c.1870–80, £325; Cartwright & Sons, c.1890, £625; very small Thomas Withers, late Victorian, £675; Ratner fire-resistant safe, 1900s, £385; Hobbs & Co, c.1900, £550. Category page: Antique safes. ↩︎
- Lincoln Restorations on Sellingantiques, “Antique Victorian Tanns Defiance London Fully Restored Luxury Safe on Stand C1880”, asking £2,995 (checked 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- antique-locks.com forum, “Tann Defiance age??”, replies of 15 February 2011 and 30 July 2012. ↩︎
- Cache Antiques, Sydney, “Antique Cast Iron Bank of Victoria Strong Box w Original Key”, 19 cm long, Chubb lock, c.1870–1877, A$1,875, sold out (checked 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- Harp Gallery (dealer, Kaukauna, Wisconsin), sold listings (checked 26 October 2026): Hall’s safe, patent 1906, original paint, 315 lb, sold $1,650; Herring-Hall-Marvin safe, 1890s, original paint sealed, 260 lb, sold $1,575. ↩︎
- Kovels, “Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles June 2013 Newsletter Available” (28 May 2013). ↩︎
- Morphy Auctions, Premier Advertising sale, Denver, Pennsylvania, 29–30 March 2013, prices including buyer’s premium: lot 183, Marvin Safe Co. parlour safe, c.1870, $9,440; lot 150, Marvin mini-cannonball safe, c.1865, $8,260; lot 128, Silas C. Herring safe, c.1852, $1,121; the printed list of prices realised gives slightly higher figures for some lots (PDF). ↩︎
- r/Safes threads (via the Arctic Shift Reddit archive): “Old safe – worth anything?” (18 August 2024); “Value on antique safe” (2 March 2026); “York old antique safe, weighs 300 pounds” (14 April 2025); “Is this old steel safe worth anything?” (2 April 2025); “Got this for $100 but cost me $80 to move it” (14 July 2023). Owners’ and commenters’ opinions, not sale records. ↩︎
- Morphy Auctions, Las Vegas, 16–17 October 2026, lot 1331, salesman sample “Cannonball” Mosler Safe Co. in box, about 17 inches high, estimate $15,000–25,000, final price $56,580 including buyer’s premium. ↩︎
- BDB Safe and Vault, Coventry, reconditioned safes (checked 26 October 2026): Chatwood Milner Minor, £375 ex VAT; Chatwood Milner Duplex Anti Blowpipe, £525 ex VAT; Chubb Lichfield, £240 ex VAT; Tann Consort 11, £230 ex VAT. ↩︎
- Health and Safety Authority (Ireland), “Asbestos risks in safes and fire resistant cabinets” (information note, updated September 2023). ↩︎
- George Hayter Chubb, Protection from Fire and Thieves (London, 1875), ch. V, “Second-hand safes, etc.”, via Project Gutenberg. ↩︎
- letsrecycle.com, “Ferrous scrap metal prices 2026”, September 2026 column (October not yet published when checked on 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- H&S Metals, Portsmouth, “Scrap metal prices”, updated 22 October 2026. ↩︎
- Rockaway Recycling, New Jersey, “Light iron” and “Cast iron” price tables, last modified 23 October 2026 (500 lb minimum on steel and iron). ↩︎
- Sky Scrap Metal, Melbourne, “How much is scrap steel worth per kg in Melbourne?” (29 July 2026; indicative ranges, not buying prices). ↩︎
- Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, section 12 (offence of buying scrap metal for cash), legislation.gov.uk. ↩︎
- Master Locksmiths Association, “Safe removals, relocation & disposals” (checked 26 October 2026). ↩︎
- CLK Supplies, “Locksmith Price Survey Breakdown: What You Should Know for 2024” (21 October 2024), summarising the Locksmith Ledger 2024 National Locksmith Price Survey. ↩︎
