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I can't think of any padlock that fits this catagory better "This Old (or unusual) Lock". I recently purchased this combo lock from a friend who inherited it from his father, who got it when he purchased a locksmith/gunsmith/bicycle shop from an old German fellow who started the business in 1898. I call it a Rosicrucian padlock because the lettering on it is a Rosicrucian/Freemason cipher. I wish I had a better camara that would get better close up pictures of the script, but I think you can get the drift from my pictures. I don't know of another like this lock in existence, and I kind of wonder if it"s not a lock that was used by the Freemasons back in the late 1800"s. If you Google Roscrucian cipher or Freemason cipher or Pigpen cipher, you can get a lot of information and history on this script, It's pretty interesting reading, but to much to put on here, so I'll let you all do your own Googleing. Hope you all like it, Mark

That is a stunning lock. Really beautiful.

Thank you, I"ve posted this on a couple of sites and I summited an article on it to the "Journal of Lock Collectors". Hopefully someone will chime in and provide more information on it. I should add I spent hrs on the web Googling this and reading tons of stuff on the Rosicrucian/Freemason/Pigpen ciphers. It's really interesting reading. Mark

I am not an expert but I thought in that era the Freemasons were in the "New World". Have you tried looking into Templar cyphers? They were the beginnings of it all.

Actually the Freemasons can be traced back to aprox 1390 in Europe. Christian Rosenkreuz was born in the 1600"s in Germany and formed the Rosicrucian brotherhood that was integrated into the Freemasons sometime later. History shows the Freemasons used this cipher alot as well as George Washington during the Revolutionary War as well as the south during the Civil War. The Knight Templar also used a cipher, but it was based on a 8 pointed cross and as such used triangles in their script. I wish I knew more or could find more info on the Freemasons, But being a 4th deg Knights of Columbus in the Catholic Church, I'm not really privy to the information

As I understand it (being an outsider), Freemasonry is not a religion. There are people from all religions in it.

That lock is an incredible find. I recognized the Masonic cipher immediately. When I was a kid, I was intrigued by ciphers, codes, and communication. First I learned Morse code, (which is more accurately a cipher), then the Masonic cipher. Thank you so much for sharing that lock with us.

Gordon

That is a beautiful lock , and the tales it could tell if it could tell them , hmmm !

The cypher is simply consecutive letters of the alphabet as it goes around a disk. There are a few variations of the Pigpen cypher, here is one:

I'm a Freemason. It is not a religion. It is a fraternal organization that allows men of all races, religions, and national origins as its members.

I am not familiar with those cipher codes but that lock is pretty cool!

If I have to become a Freemason to get that lock I'll too!! LOL

Incredibly cool lock, congrats oldbiscuit!

Escher, there several variations of the cipher, and to make it more complicated, one could put the letters randomly in any square. As long as the person recieving the message had the same code it could be decoded. You might notice on my lock that there are no "V's" only figures that would form a tic tac toe grid, which puts 3 letters in each segment except for one which would have two. http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.c ... ypher.html

Jeff, I know it's not a religion, however the Catholic church won't allow it's members to belong to any secret societys. I have a lot of friends that are Masons and I value and respect their work in the community. As to whether or not the Freemasons still use this type of cipher, I have no clue, maybe in its ceremonials?

The easy way to remember the Masonic cipher is to make two tic-tac-toe games, and put a dot inside each section of the second drawing, closest to the center section. Then so the same with two 'X'. Then add the letters of the alphabet, top row, left to right, top row to bottom row. After the first 'tic-tac-toe' is filled in, go to the second. Proceed with the 'X's.



Gordon

oldbiscuit, all I can tell you is that I have personally never seen it used. Every lodge and state is different.

As I pointed out in my post, that was only one of many variations. Some do not use the X. However, as I said, the symbols on the lock appear to be consecutive letters of the alphabet. The "secret" part is in the code word used to set the lock to open. Ignoring the cypher for a moment, the concept of a wheel was used by Jefferson in his cypher wheel.
P.S. Your link did not work for me, but I am very familiar with codes and cyphers and have worked on many unsolved cyphers over the years.