Tips For Collecting Vintage Keys

If you currently are, or want to begin, collecting vintage keys there are a few tips that can help you along your journey.  This is a very popular hobby, and luckily there are still hundreds of thousands of keys out there waiting for someone like you to come and add them to your collection.  Collecting keys tends to fall in the same categories as vintage door handles, locks, and furniture so if you want to expand your horizons all of those things are out there as well.

There are tons of places to buy vintage keys from, but it tends to boil down to antique shops and eBay, so we'll offer tips for making the most from both of these places.

At the antique stores you are going to strike out more than you're successful.  When you are inside the store and don't see any vintage keys, be sure to ask whoever is working there if they have any before you give up.  Many times they keep vintage skeleton keys behind the counter because thieves like to pocket them.  You're also going to find insanely different prices from one store to the next, so be ready for some sticker shock!  When you find them at great prices, snap up as many as you can.

Shopping online is as easy as it gets.  eBay has thousands of listing for vintage and skeleton keys so you can be picky and get only what you want, rather than settling for whatever you can find.  The prices tend to be much more consistent on eBay when compared to antique stores, but you will have to pay for shipping.

Collecting vintage keys is a rewarding hobby, and with some patience and smart shopping you can build a large collection without spending a ton of money. Just be careful, this type of collecting tends to become addicting, so you might get carried away!