Robeson Toe Nail question

[diamondjim]

I picked this one up yesterday and spent last night researching.
My question is that this knife is stamped 626409, after deciphering it this one is supposed to have Iron Liners and Bolsters?
This actually has Brass Liners and maybe Steel or Nickel Silver Bolsters.
Is this a stamping mistake or has the blade been replaced?
It seems to me that this should actually be stamped 622409.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[djknife13]

Both books I looked in by two different authors say brass liners could have either a two or a six for the third number. I would say it's good based on that. I'm sure our Robeson experts will give you a solid answer with-in a short period of time, and they really know their stuff. ___Dave

[btrwtr]

Not sure about the pattern number but I love the knife.

Wayne

[peanut740]

Your toenail appears to to an early one.Looks like it has iron bolsters and only one back spring.I've only seen the single back spring on ones with a bar shield, but have seen bar shield's with 2.Most Robeson toenails have double back springs.I don't know about the pattern #.But that is a NICE knife.

[peanut740]

Here's couple of photos of the one I have showing the knife and double springs.The pattern # on mine is 622409 all on one line.Sorry for the crappy photos.

[diamondjim]

Thanks for the replies, what is the difference between Steel and Iron for the code descriptions?
The bolsters are ferrous, they are attracted to a magnet but they also look very similar to Nickel Silver.
I'm very new to collecting knives and was determined to limit my collection to one Company (Press Button).
I learned years ago to keep it simple and stick to one, preferably hard to find so I don't carried away with the collecting fever and the associated expenses. This knife is really tempting.

Also the smaller blade has the full tang stamp, not like the arch/circle style I've seen on other knives.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Very nice toenail and as Peanut said, the single back spring is not often seen.

Nothing wrong with the pattern number. For reasons known only to Robeson at the time, both a 2 and a 6 in the third position indicated brass liners and nickel-silver bolsters.

As to the bolsters being attractive to a magnet, note there is a big carbon steel blade right behind them.

I'm away from home and on my phone, so I cannot blow up your photos, but I'll look at them later tonight.

Great knife.

Charlie Noyes

Addendum: I misspoke and have corrected my statement. The pattern number calls for brass liners / nickel-silver bolsters.

[RobesonsRme.com]

There appears to be a bit of pitting on the bolsters, but not nearly as significant as on the blades.

They may very well be iron.

Tom Kalcevic dates that stamp 1911 - 1921, at least that's what he deduced from his own personal research.

That date span takes in WWI, which might have created a shortage of nickel-silver and its necessary replacement with iron or steel.

None of that affects the value or collectability of the knife.

It's right as rain.

Charlie Noyes

[diamondjim]

Thanks Charlie for the information, I didn't suspect it was that old.
It is quite the handful of knife and the snap is down right scary, easily the most powerful I've ever had!