What do you guys think of this tang stamp?

[Dragunski]

Hi - I am not an expert, but I have been collecting a few knives for many years. Since there are some experienced collectors here, I have decided to ask your advice

This stamp looks a little weird to me.



When you blow it up, you see lots of dots inside the shiny letters. What do you think?

[ken6]

Western States Cutlery Co established in Boulder, Colorado 1920. Changed name in 1956 to Western Cutlery Co. Stamping changed to "Western USA".

[peanut740]

Considering the pitting and the buffing on/of the tang I would be suspect.

[muskrat man]

stamp looks fine just been buffed over. those dots are probably pits

[Dragunski]

Thanks for the replies. But I was hoping for more of a consensus of opinion. I can see a lot of views, but not many are willing to venture an opinion. I am well aware that this knife has been cleaned, it has no original finishes anywhere. But I was a little suspicious of the dots and how shiny the inside of the letters was. I know if the ends of the letters have circles, or the junctions of lines, that it's a bad sign. But that's not really what I see here.

The "N" at the bottom seems to have regular intervals between the dots. Anyway, thanks for looking. I never took a closeup pic before and blew it up. All of a sudden, I'm seeing things I never noticed before.

[Miller Bro's]

Let`s see what the entire knife looks like

[Dragunski]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290846346354?ss ... 1555.l2649

[wazu013]

Here's a pic of it.

[tjmurphy]

At a $1200 opening bid, I don't think it would matter much to me if it was real or not. Seller is WAY TOO PROUD of that knife

[royal0014]

It's just pitted steel, then some nut buffed the s*** out of it.
Holy cow!

[Cutty]

What's the deal with that blunt tipped spey-ish blade in front of the clip?? Kind of a new one for me and enough to make me question the knife along with the excessive buffing and outrageous price. BUT, what do I know

[PA Knives]

Gentlemen,

I will chime in but don't get the tar and feathers out. I am almost certain that stamp in fabricated. There is a machine that does this exact work and I had a knife KANE PA that the lettering was identical. When I looked closely with a glass the dots and lines appeared somewhat uniformly in the lettering. I sent the pics to my friend Bernard Levine and he immediately agreed with me that it was done by engraving machine not a drop hammer.

I will reserve the right to be wrong if I could examine it closely, but from the pics. I wouldn't touch it.

JMHO