A Bowie for $25??????

[knife7knut]

While going through my pictures I came across these photos of a knife that I had bid on when I first started on e-Bay. At that time I had decided that I would bid no more than $20 on any one item I saw and was interested in. This one changed my bidding procedure forever.
I found it listed as a letter opener and could see immediately that it was far from being one. The pictures were a little blurry but there was no doubt it was an early Bowie knife by a known maker. I placed my bid and waited patiently for the auction to end. I was very disappointed to find that I had been outbid!
Just for the heck of it I sent the winner a note congratulating him on his win. Surprisingly I got a reply in which he said that he would not be able to get it until he returned home to England(he was in China on business)in about a year.
Sure enough about a year later I get an e-mail from him with the enclosed pictures and stating that he was a bit unhappy that it wasn't in better shape! I offered to double his money on it but he refused.
I therefore made it a policy never to set an unreasonable limit on something I wanted. So here are the pictures he sent. I finally figured a way to reduce their size to where I could easily post them. So my question is: Would you have paid $25 for that knife and been satisfied? I surely would have.

[philco]

Honest answer: I would not have bid because I would have had no idea what it was.

[Beechtree]

That is a great lesson to learn from K7K. It looks like that has genuine tortoise shell handles. I am glad that the purchaser sent you the photo, that was quite thoughtful, as was your reaching out to him.

[kootenay joe]

Quote Phil: "I would not have bid because I would have had no idea what it was"

My reaction in such situations is the opposite. As long as the price is reasonably low, i would bid, hoping to win so that i could examine the knife in person and likely post it here to see what i could learn.
In general, the less i know about a newly acquired knife, the greater the opportunity for learning.
kj

[RobesonsRme.com]

Even if it were a German knife, the price was way too low. You could have more than quadrupled your investment, as evidenced by the buyer's refusal to double his money even though he was disappointed in its condition.

Charlie

[knife7knut]

My first e-bay transaction was prompted by a friend of mine who saw it listed and said I should bid on it. It was a Shapleigh Hardware salesman's case and the opening bid was $49.95. After the disaster of losing the Davey bowie I immediately put a bid in of $50 and watched the auction very closely. Surprisingly no one else bid on it and I won it for the $50 plus shipping which turned out to be $21(it was quite large).
When I finally received it I found that it was in excellent shape for it's age(the decals on the side are dated 1943)and one of the most unique cases I have ever seen.It has SIXTEEN shelves that fold out.The case itself is pasteboard and the decals are somewhat deteriorated.I had considered restoring the decals(something like restoring an old clock face)but decided to leave it as is;just giving it a coat of clear varnish to stop further erosion. The bottom has several holes in it indicating that it must have been bolted down on something;probably to stabilize it.
I had contacted Jerry Heuring who wrote a definitive book on Keen Kutter products and sent along some pictures of the box. He wrote back saying he had never seen anything like it before.
Anyway here are a couple of pictures of it open and closed.

[montemojo]

Thzts awsome K7K, now you nedd to fill it up.

Monte

[knife7knut]

Thzts awsome K7K, now you nedd to fill it up.

Monte

Unfortunately if I filled it up with knives it would probably break all the hinges from the sheer weight of them.I have plenty of storage capacity now between my type cabinet and a half dozen wooden machinists' tool boxes plus assorted suitcases.

[montemojo]

I understand it is an antique and a very rare one at that. With a collection like that I dont think you would have a problem filling it. Maybe I will aquire a collection such as yours. I'm trying though, I think you got a head start on me. Thanks for showing.

Monte