The safe (which is most rare and unusual) is a steel ball made to rotate on an axis inside a larger steel shell and is fitted with three drawers (in which valuables were placed), a timer lock that must be cranked to set the time and two combination locks and two key locks. Co., sits on a short steel pedestal and is painted black with fancy ornamentation and the date 1872 in ornate gold lettering. The four-ton round safe, made by the Corliss Mfg. Some years back, a reader of this column, Felix Gremmo, took my advice and contacted the Smithsonian Institution in Washington about a 5-foot-high and 4-foot-wide black ''cannonball'' safe he bought at a warehouse in 1974 for $45 and for which, nine years later, the Smithsonian paid him $2,500. The value of an old safe depends on its type and rarity. 80011, requesting a safe appraiser`s name and address near you. Or write to the National Antique Safe Association, Box 110099, 16507 E. 60475 (phone 755-5273), enclosing a photo of the safe along with its height, width, depth, inside and outside measurements and any wording it has. To have an old safe appraised in the south suburbs, write to Harvey Sass, Elmer & Son Locksmiths, 3001 Chicago Rd., Steger, Ill. Keith Mulford collects cutaway locks (salesmen`s samples with a section cut away to show how the internal mechanism worked), unique padlocks and old safes measuring less than 30 inches high. You can reach him at Fink Safe & Lock Co., 2307 N. Bob McCown buys old safes and vaults, as well as time clock combination locks for safes and vaults.

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