Finding an old safe with unknown contents is a fascinating prospect. It could be full of untold riches. It could be full of spiders. The possibilities are endless, and there won’t be any concrete answers until someone cracks that safe open.
Let’s check out some real world examples of people opening up old safes.
1. “Guy didn’t pay his bill so my boss said I could open it.”
We’ll kick things off with this safe, which looks to be from the ’70s or ’80s. OP had no problem opening it up and was excited to see what treasures it might hold.
The results were…underwhelming.
He noted “usually these are filled with garbage and old receipts” and, honestly, he wasn’t too far off. There were some empty coin rolls, old padlocks, and some old bottles. These bottles are the only thing that might hold some value.
2. Tough to get in.
This safe offered a tantalizing possibility, as it was located in an old drug house and blocked off a small room. What riches might be inside? How big could the room be? Would it even be possible to get in?
They got in!
It’s a heavily reinforced safe door protecting what appears to be a heavily reinforced room. From this angle, though, it looks like there might not be much inside. Let’s peek around the corner and get a better look.
Nada.
Most safes have, at the very least, some random scraps of paper or something inside. But if there was ever anything interesting in here, it was taken out a long time ago. I guess it would be a good home for mice.
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3. Here’s an old one.
Here’s a look at a safe that appears to be at least a hundred years old. It had already been opened by the time this photo was taken, which ruins the suspense somewhat. Still, it’s big enough to hold some secrets.
I’m sensing a theme here.
Apart from a modest amount of rust, the safe has held up pretty well all these years. Unfortunately, there’s nothing substantial inside, unless you’re the kind of person who collects rusty metal antique boxes.
4. Love the carpeted shelves.
Here’s one where we don’t have a ‘before’ photo. The contents in here probably aren’t worth much, but at least they’re interesting. There are bullets, an old sports card, and a whole bunch of assorted garbage sitting on those carpeted shelves.
5. Dig the fern-themed wallpaper.
Judging by the wallpaper on one side of this safe, I’m guessing it was tucked inside a wall at some point. Well, now it’s out and just about ready to reveal all of its secrets.
More metal boxes.
Once again, we’ve found another old safe that’s full of nothing but old metal boxes. At least the one with the red interior up top there looks like it’s in pretty good shape. It even has a lock.
6. Here’s a heavy duty old safe.
This one has an ornate logo from a company that almost certainly hasn’t existed in decades. Regardless of the contents, the safe itself might hold some value as an antique. But we’re not here for that. We want to know what’s inside.
Nothing very interesting.
This one has maybe the most interesting interior. I love the small drawers and hooks (for keys?) at the back. However, as far as actual contents go, this one is another lost cause. There’s nothing interesting inside.
7. Here’s a little story.
I actually didn’t know that this Twitter user recently bought an old stone farmhouse in Pennsylvania from the 1850s or so, but fortunately, I’m now caught up on that part of the story. Needless to say, this involves a safe.
The safe was well hidden.
When you find a mysterious box hidden away in a property that’s more than a century and a half old, it’s hard not to imagine the wild possibilities. I was on the edge of my seat reading this thread.
The contents were awesome.
They didn’t date back to the 1850s, but still, it isn’t every day you find a relic from World War II that hasn’t seen the light of day in more than seven decades. There’s more, too.
The WWII theme continued.
This clearly contains some spoils of war, likely from someone who fought in the war. You’re looking at a zoomed-in view of a captured nazi flag, apparently signed by the members of an Allied platoon.
8. A beneath-the-floorboards model.
A Redditor found this safe, which looks super old, under the floorboards of their recently purchased home. Needless to say, they could find a key that might fit it, but they did eventually manage to get it opened up.
It was a proper treasure trove.
Inside, OP found a whole bunch of jewellery. It’s tough to know how much any of it’s worth without a proper appraisal, but all of it appears to be authentically antique, which usually drives the value up a bit.
Here’s the full view.
There’s a good assortment of rings, along with some bracelets and necklaces. I’ll bet this stuff would look stunning if it was given a good polish. I also wonder who the people in the lockets were.
What did we learn today?
Well, the idea of opening up an old safe is tantalizing, but as we’ve found, the reality is often underwhelming. Still, there’s at least a chance of finding a few treasures.
Let us know about the best treasure you’ve ever found in the comments below!
