Battle of the Bulge Commemorative Knife

[gmaxe]

I was recently given a small pocket knife commemorating the Battle of the Bulge.

The brand is "Battle Axe" and it is made by Shouse & Hardin of Germany.

The knife is 3.5 inches long when closed with two blade. The long blade is 3 inches long with the engraving "Battle of the Bulge" Dec 16, 1943. The short blade is 1.3 inches long.

The knife has a mother of pearl (fuax or real I don't know) handles. Unfortunately there is a hairline crack completely across one of the handles.

The knife has never been sharpened and with the exception of some small pits in the blade finish is like new.

I would be interested in a little history on this knife and what it may be worth to a collector.

Thanks.

[jonet143]

it was part of a set including battle of the bulge, normandy, north africa, and sicily. the set was worth about $200 in 1979. 300 of these sets were produced. from j. bruce voyles book, commemorative knives 1960-1990.

[gmaxe]

Thank you for the information.

[Gr8Scout]

I like the old Battle axe German made knives. From the 1980s, when knife collecting was growing, and there weren't enough 'collectible' knives to go around, it seemed, so people started making knives thats only purpose seemed to be as collectibles.

[Tek-Chief]

As part of a set I inherited from my mom that belonged to my stepfather, I found two complete sets and a third set missing one. He was starting out as a collector in that era. I’m going to be unloading them soon (along with the rest of the collection) because there isn’t anything of his that I want. Maybe I’ll buy a nice bottle of bourbon or scotch and toast his demise with the money.