Cast Iron Gardeners Keys by Gardman

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One thing that makes car keys collectible is there are many people who collect different types of car memorabilia. People tend to be very loyal to their favorite kinds of cars, whether they are a “Ford Person” or a “Chevy Person”.

Many of the newer cars starting in 2017 do not even require a key to turn on, which some of us who learned to drive on older cars may never quite get used to. (I’m starting to, slowly! lol) Left: five T-shaped keys, all except one of copper alloy. Left, top to bottom: NCL-29FAA7, HAMP-66BB77 (silver), LIN-8AF3B7. Centre, top to bottom: YORYM-84E0BD and BH-0852F6. Right: three copper-alloy L-shaped keys. Above: NCL-DEC6A2 and KENT-94C5F1. Below: LEIC-5D3322. Estimated delivery times are provided to us by the respective delivery companies. We pass this information onto you, the customer.Although almost all of the casket keys on the PAS database are of copper alloy, we know from excavated material that they were often made from iron as well, and are very similar in both materials. The bit is always quite simple, often symmetrical, sometimes uncut. They are normally made from cast copper-alloy, but can occasionally be made from folded sheet. A selection of medieval ‘casket’ keys. Left, three keys with projecting stem-tips. Top to bottom: YORYM-BA5220, SUR-213DCA, YORYM-F9FB06. Centre, three keys with hollow tips to the stem. Top to bottom: SWYOR-1E38C8 (with lozenge bow), LIN-45359F, BUC-7FCC12. Right, cast and sheet-metal keys. Top to bottom: NLM-8E3BA4 (cast, with filemarks), DENO-273694 (of folded sheet metal). Crummy (1983, 84) suggests that type 5b (with ‘flat wards’) may be early Roman, whereas type 5a may be 3rd or 4th century in date.

The best source for Roman keys covers only the iron examples ( Manning 1985) but also mentions a few copper-alloy examples in passing. Some of these keys appear to be regionally distinctive. Rogerson and Ashley (2012) have suggested that one type (image above, centre top) may have been produced in the Aylsham area of Norfolk; and another (image above, centre below), with lozenge bow and four circular perforations, seems to be common in the midlands, centred around Lichfield. A detailed study of the different designs of type VI keys, and their distributions, is long overdue. These usually consist of the handle or bow only, because the stem and bit were made from iron. Exceptionally, BH-57A610 is made entirely from copper alloy, and has a hollow stem and massive bit which together look horribly like a medieval rotary key of London type VI (see below); caution should therefore be exercised when dealing with fragments. SOMDOR-9B8C55 is similar, but with an iron stem and bit surviving. Two large Roman keys with openwork trilobate handles. Above, SOMDOR-9B8C55; below, BH-57A610. Both are c. 130mm long.

Why choose Kingston IronKey™?

Many of these solid rectangular handles, like the openwork handles, will have had iron stems and bits. These occasionally survive (as on LANCUM-6B5B80) but it is more common to find the copper-alloy handle on its own.

These handles can also be found on smaller keys, and in a variety of patterns, not all of which have the three lobes (see below for examples). There are also some quatrefoil or quadrilobate key fragments recorded on the PAS database as Roman, but as all complete examples are medieval, a Roman date is less likely to be correct. If you are unsure whether to go for a Roman or medieval date, look closely at the collar (if it survives) as Roman collars tend to have multiple transverse grooves and narrow ridges, and medieval collars tend to have a larger central rounded component. Roman keys which retain at least part of a copper-alloy openwork handle and an iron stem. Left above, WMID-4CCDD1 (with double bit). Left below, HAMP-B535F4. Right, HAMP-78F8D1. Note the distinctive collars.Used in The Enchanted Key miniquest to find a number of buried chests with a hot/cold style game. These chests give a number of items as well as the Mjolnirs. Obtained from speaking to Essyllt during Mourning's End Part II. After Song of the Elves, another can be found on the desk in the south-east room of the basement. GAT-954187 is like a type VI, but has a projecting stem. Not deeply split, so probably not really a type 5. Winchester type 3 and type 4 keys (London type II and III)