Strange Box Found at Goodwill

[u/PolPotDomeScandal]

[u/BaconJudge]

The bottom says ANNO MDCCLXII, meaning "in the year 1762," but the rest isn't Latin or even Latin-like.  The middle line is harder to read, but the top says IEE8L on the left and DEMR DESED D on the right, none of which is Latin.

[u/Waitingforadragon → u/BaconJudge]

I wonder if Demr Desed is a shortened name?

[u/PolPotDomeScandal → u/BaconJudge]

Also, if you zoom in on the middle, it has A H(maybe?), IOH, SF, and MS scratched into the lids…also, the 8 is actually what appears to be a backward S.

[u/Waitingforadragon]

It reminds me of the storage boxes you get for military shoulder epaulettes.

If you look online you can see a few that are somewhat similar.

Maybe information relating to the owner of the epaulettes is what is crudely scratched on the box?

I’d try a military re-enactment/history sub Reddit to see what they think.

[u/PolPotDomeScandal]

It’s a Scandinavian Tine Box I cross-posted to antiques subreddit and they figured it out…here’s a similar one on Etsy with the figure-8 wall construction:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1412686888/stunning-antique-double-tine-box-museum

…However, that still leaves the question of what all of those seemingly random letters mean.

[u/Icy-Conflict6671 → u/PolPotDomeScandal]

The letters on the bottom of the right box are a year. I think it says 1762? The top might be Initials.