sargent & co No 3 double long spring

found a trap today. I have never heard of a sargent & co No 3. anyone have some information on this trap and app. how old. The pan is readable with some rust. the trap is in workable shape with a little cleanup. the chain swivel seams to be original but do not believe the chain is.

Sargent # 3 traps were made from 1887 to 1902.

Several different pan styles.

So your trap is over 100 years old - nice find.

Do NOT clean it up with vinegar or other chemicals. Cleaning that way will remove the patina and lower the value.

Wash it with warm water. Dry thoroughly. And that is all you need to do.

Post some pictures if you can. That will enable some one to give you an idea of value.

pictures of sergent trap

I don't think the chain is original. This is the way I found it. What do you think ? He has more. Should I buy them for collecting purposes. Thanks for the help. how much is to much to pay?

It looks like the chain is wired on, which will lower the value.

The close up of the pan is very blurry and difficult to determine condition.

That trap was made in the 1880s, so even with the wired on chain it has collector value.

You could either buy it to hang on the wall or buy it to trade for traps you can use on the line.

In my opinion, if you could buy it for less than $50.00, you would be getting a good deal. $20,00 or less would be a steal.

How many more does he have?

I will try and get a better close up of the pan. the 2nd picture down is the best focus I could get. any better way to highlight the lettering on the pan without lowering the value? you can make out all letters around the pan and NO 3 in the middle. there is a smaller circle at the bottom of the pan that seams to have buildup in it and I cannot make out if it has anything in it. should I etch it out?

Based on the 2nd picture, I think that is going to be a nice readable pan if the close up was in focus. And that is a camera issue I know nothing about.

The lettering in the small circle is the patent date. It says

PAT
Mar 11
84

The 84 being 1884.

You can give the pan a little shot of WD40. Then take an old toothbrush and scrub a little bit to see if that helps. That won't affect the value, in my opinion. But even without doing that, I'm thinking the pan will be close to 90%

Nice find by the way.

Thank on the info. I did buy the trap and it was a steal of a deal according to what you are telling me. The gentleman said he had more and I will buy the rest this coming weekend. will try and clean the pan the way you said and get a more focused pic......thanks again

Gosh, wish I lived closer. I would love to go with you and see what else that guy has for old traps.

Looking forward to an update after this weekend.

Sargent & Co. traps were first sold in 1884 and were made until 1915 when they sold the trap business to the Triumph Trap Co., before 1884 Sargent sold Newhouse and Hotchkiss brand traps in their tool catalogs, in 1888 they brought out their 20 series traps that were dogless and were made with cast bolted jaws and cast pans just like their original Oneida pattern traps as they called them, with the 20 series being dogless. Sargent made 7 different model long spring series traps in their 30 years of trap production, not counting the Crescent brand traps they also made for a west coast hardware company, which were made on the Oneida pattern series and also a few of the square pan series Crescent traps were made.
Sargent has the nicest pan lettering and pattern of any of the mass produced traps made, IMO.
Just be careful and remember when you go to look at the rest of the traps,
TRAP COLLECTING IS NOT A HOBBY, IT'S A DISEASE.