Antique 1897 Vanderman Railroad Gold Bullion Strong Box

This is a really cool cowboy era gold box.  It weighs about 130 pounds.  We can ship it frieght( to  a buisness would be cheapest)  it would be around 100.   It has surface rust and wear but it is a super piece

 I got this description off the internet:

Cripple Creek. Colorado Midland Railroad Bullion Strong Box, 1897. This is a fantastic gold bullion strong box used during the Cripple Creek Rush. This strong box was made by the Vanderman Mfg. Co., Willimantic, Conn, patented July 13,1897  It measures 18" wide, 32" long and 18" tall. It is made of 1/8" steel formed into rectangular shape. On the top are three wood staves riveted to the steel as "bumpers." There is also one continuous "bumper" horizontally around the center of the box and another along the top and bottom rims. These staves are 1 x 2". The lid is attached by riveted hinges sealed in part under the top bumper stave. The corners all have custom fit steel reinforcing at every outside edge point. The Vanderman brass plaque is at lower center on the front panel. The locking mechanism is a hasp riveted to the lid and body that held a large diameter hasp lock, probably a typical railroad lock. Additional locking mechanisms are in each of the two upper corners of the lid and body. A locking bolt system appears to have been utilized here, again probably using a padlock of some type, perhaps two more railroad style locks. The bolt-pins are not longer present. The body of the box is constructed of one single, large, folded formed piece of steel which occupies the entire front, bottom and side panels. The two end panels are attached by connected and overlapping folds that are riveted on 2" centers.
The box appears to have been painted dull or dark red-brown at one point, and it appears tar was used to seal the edges and stave contacts. There is no other writing visible on the box, which I would expect on an original strong box.
There are six handles - two single (fit one hand each) handles on both the front and back panels, and one large handle (fits two hands) on each end. In this manner, eight people can carry the box, which if full of typical bullion shipments, carried gold bars packed individual boxes packed in sawdust. Each handle has a stop mechanism that does not allow the handle to go beyond a 90 degree position, thus, no hands could be crushed if full. I estimate the box might contain as many as eight large gold bars of about 100 pounds each if full, or a shipment of about $200,000 at most at the time based on a gold price of $20.67 per ounce.
This is an important piece of Americana, and an irreplaceable remnant of Cripple Creek's heyday in which huge gold bullion shipments were routinely made by rail.

  http://www.holabirdamericana.com/americana2002/archive