Help identifying can opener

G'day all,

I found this can opener about 10km west of Cue whilst detecting and I reckon its probably worth more than the 0.21 gram nugget that I found after 10 days there :argh:

I have found many images of Bully Beef can openers on the internet which seem to be a simialr style. But I was only able to find one image with a Ducks head, and it was on an auction site in the UK that you needed to log onto.

It was suggested that I try the Kalgoorlie/Boulder historical society, which I did, and they were unable to help me.





Any ideas on where to look would be appreciated.

thanks
David

Good luck with the search.

Great find, have fun identifying it.

:Y: nice find, the answer is in the research which you're obviously doing. Never even knew of can openers to be ornamental, interesting erfect:

Just had a quick squizz which turned up alot of Bulls head can openers from 19th century, relative to cans of Bully Beef. Nothing comes up for a Duck head though, nice piece of history there just need to keep searching :beer:

Similar

maybe Chinese ?

I was thinking Chinese too. Definitely no expert though. Great find!!!!

Camping away tool from Canis Majoris
Around 4892 light years away.(maybe)

Hi David,
My mums pretty savvy with antiques as a long time hobby and dealer, definitely a can opener and a rare one, most ones are bulls heads with the horn and opener part being replaceable via screw holding it in place. Yours appears to be earlier though, as far as she could look she couldnt find any duck head versions like yours and there are collectors clubs for antique can openers, https://blog.adkinshistory.com/cans-and-can-openers/
Start your research here.
Let us know how you get on bud, Lovely find.. but dont give up on the gold either.

Husky

Found Mallee Duck bottle openers, no can openers.
Do you know you can cover this sort of find with molasses and leave it for a week or three and it will restore it wonderfully?
Hope you can positively identify the manufacturer.

I had thought possibly Chisense too for some reason.

Thanks for the link Husky, I will send them a photo and see if they can help.

Thanks Nightjar, I have cleaned it up with a wire brush and tretaed it with rust converter before I found out how rare it was. I will give molasses a go.

I will let you know what I find out,but it may take a while.

cheers
David

numpty said:

maybe Chinese ?

Click to expand...

i think the French like a duck too?.

great find anyway :Y:

As per RM you can also use white vinegar to remove rust, works well.
Mackka

probably worth a few bucks too going by the price of the bull heads, i would keep it though, how often "CAN" you dig one of them up, rare :Y: .

A very awesome find.

:clap:

Pecky said:

G'day all,

I found this can opener about 10km west of Cue whilst detecting and I reckon its probably worth more than the 0.21 gram nugget that I found after 10 days there :argh:

I have found many images of Bully Beef can openers on the internet which seem to be a simialr style. But I was only able to find one image with a Ducks head, and it was on an auction site in the UK that you needed to log onto.

It was suggested that I try the Kalgoorlie/Boulder historical society, which I did, and they were unable to help me.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...s/20520/1638953589_img_20211021_174625346.jpg

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...s/20520/1638952735_img_20211021_190341812.jpg

Any ideas on where to look would be appreciated.

thanks
David

Click to expand...

I think you've opened up a CAN of worms there Pecky. Great find. Cheers Dave :beer:

Pecky said:

I had thought possibly Chisense too for some reason.

Thanks for the link Husky, I will send them a photo and see if they can help.

Thanks Nightjar, I have cleaned it up with a wire brush and tretaed it with rust converter before I found out how rare it was. I will give molasses a go.

I will let you know what I find out,but it may take a while.

cheers
David

Click to expand...

Any pics of it restored? Would love to see it..

Pecky said:

G'day all,

I found this can opener about 10km west of Cue whilst detecting and I reckon its probably worth more than the 0.21 gram nugget that I found after 10 days there :argh:

I have found many images of Bully Beef can openers on the internet which seem to be a simialr style. But I was only able to find one image with a Ducks head, and it was on an auction site in the UK that you needed to log onto.

It was suggested that I try the Kalgoorlie/Boulder historical society, which I did, and they were unable to help me.

Any ideas on where to look would be appreciated.

thanks
David

Click to expand...

GREAT find, rare. there are 3 other duck head openers, one with a diamond hall mark (pre 1882). but you are in a rare world. there are Bear heads, Ram heads, fish heads, sea monsters, cockerels, seals, a dozen fish and a dozen bulls heads, and a dozen sizes. All rare. but be ware. now everything worth over 20 bused is cast by India, destroying the market. Yours is worth 300, some go up to 900. DONT clean or wire brush. just wash off rust without removing metal, or its worthless. I believe yours to be English made. Blades were made separate to bodies as blades were good steel, usually with all the famous knife brands on them. you would order your blades from Sheffield to suit your wood or cast handles. Cheers Wayne Gade.

David, before you destroy the opener anymore with a wire brush (sacrilidge) I would be keen to buy it. how much do you want, cheers, Wayne

Gades said:

David, before you destroy the opener anymore with a wire brush (sacrilidge) I would be keen to buy it. how much do you want, cheers, Wayne

Click to expand...

Hey Wayne, Might be best to send David a PM mate as this thread was from Late 2021, and a quick look shows that David hasn't visited PA since November 2022.
Good luck though!

-GJ