Keys...Old vs. New

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

I found quite a few keys last year metal detecting. What materials were they made of in the past? I've been told 99% of them were brass. And, what about newer ones ones? I've scratched a couple of silver colored ones only to show a brassy-like color under it. Both of these were non-magnetic.

And, what's the easiest way to tell if an object is brass?


Any help...thanks!

[Robarons]

A couple years ago there was an ad for keys on Craiglist. It advertised that there was over 40 pounds in keys for $15. When I met the guy it was a retired locksmith and he knew that I was going to' salvage' them, the place we met was fairly fair from any scrap yards and the guy likely thought that copper was still .75 a pound.

I got home and there was indeed over 40 pounds of keys, 100's if not over 1000 keys in a couple boxes. The were all car keys. Nothing older than 1980's, normal keys that do not have those plastic tops like the ones on new cars have. I pulled a couple AMC, Volkswagon, etc cool keys and took the rest of the lot to a scrap yard and got yellow brass prices, they didnt even check them. They were shocked to see someone bring in that many.

All the keys were brass except for a couple stray aluminum ones which were cheap and damaged. Brass is the only logical choice for keys. Iron and stainless steel are magnetic so they are out of the question (keys are not magnetic), aluminum is cheap and will break, its not copper, and its not some kind of zinc/pot metal (once again cheap). All keys will be brass. Remember you can get keys made at walmart and most hardware stores so it has to be a soft yet durable metal!

I hope this helps.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

So is it safe to say that all keys are either brass or aluminum? And the aluminum ones will break and the brass ones will bend quite a bit?

Ok, what about the newer car keys with the plastic or key-fob on them?

I'm working on my brass finds from hunting in the ground last fall. I found 20 to 25 keys. From very old looking to some newer car keys. Lots of silver colored ones. A couple brightly colored ones, too!

I should save all keys? Do I need to scrape off the other colors to show the brass color when taking to the scrapyard?

Thanks again!

[Robarons]

I would assume that they are all brass. The keys that were aluminum were NOT car or home keys. They looked like souvenirs that you would get from arcades in such, the name of the place and your name, etc. These were neon red and blue so you could easily see the aluminim. If you tried using these any where, (home,car, lock, etc.) they would break in half immediately.

For the most part do a quick magnetic test. if they do not stick their good. Color doesnt matter, the bright gaudy ones are just as much brass as the oldies. The newer ones with the plastic cap are not going to be problem either. When you dealing with 20-25 keys thats barely a 1/4- 1/2 pound of brass which is only worth .75-1.00. Scrapyards deal with tons of brass every week.

I myself kept the aluminum and plastic capped in keys in the pile. They didnt care. The only thing I could imagine that would burn their biscuits is if you tried to return 1 pound or more of iron/magnetic keys if they made them, but the lack of them even checking doubts that they exist. No need to scape or prove that their brass, a scrapyard worth their salt shouldn't give you any problems.

[Dr. Cadmium]

There's a large variety of decorative and antique keys out there that can also be made of iron, pot metal and even bronze in addition to brass. But those keys don't look anything like modern house and car keys, and they're worth more as collectibles anyway.

I've seen cheap aluminum, pot metal and steel keys used for kids' toys and inexpensive padlocks. These also usually don't look anything like modern car or house keys.

Any modern key that looks like it was cut on a key cutting machine (most house and car keys) is almost always brass.

Sometimes car dealerships send out a dummy car key with promotional material - "Dear John Doe, Here's the key to your new car, now come on down to our dealership and drop $30K." I think these keys are usually steel.