Eric Brown
02-13-2014, 1:29 PM
A brief overview: The patent office was opened in 1790. It burned to the ground in 1836 with only about 2000 patents out of about 10,00 saved. The patents saved were given numbers with an X at the end based on date as numbers were not issued before then. After the patent office was rebuilt all patents were given a number, starting with one. So here's the question: What is the earliest patent date stamped on the tool itself? I have some from the 1850 time period but none earlier. (I do have older tools but no patent numbers or dates on them). I suspect there should be some between 1836 and 1850. Anybody have pictures they could share? Thanks.