what is the rarest case knife you have??

The W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company has a very rich history that began in 1889 when William Russell (“W.R.”), Jean, John, and Andrew Case began fashioning their knives and selling them along a wagon trail in upstate New York. The company has produced countless treasures and it continues to do so as one of the most collected brands in the world.
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by Mumbleypeg »

zp4ja wrote:
Hey Greg,
Hard to determine the rarest of all. Hard to verify based on CASE record keeping on the real old stuff. You almost have to go by how many observed. As far as last ~50 years, would have to say a 10 dot Stag Cheetah with a saber blade or a ivory handled Cheetah same year.
Maybe a 6001 Trip fold for a earlier knife. As far as XX era, have to say a 6394-1/2 Green Bone. Could be biased observation since I own the last two I mentioned and have seen less than a one hand count of tri-folds and one XX 94. Maybe a Zipper. Quite a few real rare ones, hard to narrow.
Jerry
I agree with your selections Jerry. There are some recent "one-of-a-kind" creations made for the sole purpose of being exactly that, but I rule those out because frankly they don't interest me. Then there's the more common patterns having rare handle materials, like the Tested 6488 in Winterbottom bone for example. Most certainly a rare knife, but not a rare pattern.

Limiting the discussion to patterns that were made for general distribution and use, the Zipper switchblades have to be in the conversation. And we have discussed the rarity of the 6001 tri-fold previously in this same thread so they need to be included. I'll add the Tested 6365 and 6465 folding hunters and the Tested 5394x gunboat.

I'm sure there are others that deserve consideration. Makes for some interesting speculation but we'll never know for sure.

Ken
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by gsmith7158 »

Ken I am not familiar with the 6365 and 6465. What massive knives those must be! Where can I find a picture are they in Sargent's?
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by Mumbleypeg »

gsmith7158 wrote:Ken I am not familiar with the 6365 and 6465. What massive knives those must be! Where can I find a picture are they in Sargent's?
Sargent's 7th has pics of both (you made me go look :lol: ). Also there's a couple for sale on eBay currently - maybe they're not as rare as I thought! ::facepalm:: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Case-Te ... Swal5YF~PT. The 6365 is the same as the 6465 but without the can opener.

Ken
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by gsmith7158 »

Mumbleypeg wrote:
gsmith7158 wrote:Ken I am not familiar with the 6365 and 6465. What massive knives those must be! Where can I find a picture are they in Sargent's?
Sargent's 7th has pics of both (you made me go look :lol: ). Also there's a couple for sale on eBay currently - maybe they're not as rare as I thought! ::facepalm:: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Case-Te ... Swal5YF~PT. The 6365 is tgevsame as thec6465 but without the can opener.

Ken
$1900 is pretty rare in my book. I have never seen that one before. You learn something new everyday here at AAPK.
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by Mumbleypeg »

I did a quick search of AAPK for 6365 and found nothing. A search for 6465 turned up a couple of threads. This one http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 65#p367114 and another with this nice picture of one that Kaleb (muskrat man) did some repairs on.

Ken
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by RalphAlsip »

Here is a 65 and 94 contribution since they are being discussed. I wish I had an old 72 Zipper to contribute.

This is a link to an AAPK post with a Case Tested XX 6165 SAB in green Winterbottom bone. The Tested XX 6165 is a common pattern; the Winterbottom makes it rare. http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 15#p539313

The 94 pattern is one that I try to collect and here are some of the pattern variations that have proven difficult for me to find: Anything made before 1920, Stag handled examples, 2 blade 94X Gunboat (5294X and 6294X), 5394 1/2. 5294J, 6294 1/2 (Jack blade configuration with clip instead of spear main blade). Others specific patterns not listed such as 6394, 6394 1/2, and 5394X are not easy to find, but I have at least seen some pop up over the past few years.

Here is a Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat. It's a shame about the pin crack. Thanks for looking.
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Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
Case Tested XX 5394X Gunboat
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by stockman »

Jerry that is a nice knife!!!

Harold
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by stockman »

A little 3 1/4" 06267, I think they are somewhat hard to find. This one is very average condition. Patch at center pin
on mark side and the knife has been cleaned.

Harold
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by jlw257 »

Harold, great knife ::tu:: ::tu::

Jerry, pin cracks used to bother me, but not anymore. Condition of the whole knife is more important to me now. You have a great example of a large Gunboat ::tu:: ::tu::

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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by olderdogs1 »

Rare knife Harold, you don't see many of them.

Jerry, That Gunboat is fantastic, very Rare.

Thanks for posting guys. ::tu::

Tom
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by jlholdings »

Here is my 5394. It is a 10 dot prototype from 1980. Even though it is a newer Case, it is a very uncommon knife to encounter. I like the regular production knives that are more uncommon. I do not mean Case Select or Case Classics though. Any idea as to production numbers on this one?
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Case XX 1980 Gunboat Stag 5394 Proto front blades compressed1.jpg
Case XX 1980 Gunboat Stag 5394 Proto back tang compressed5.jpg
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by peanut740 »

You might PM Steve - knifeaholic.He may be able to answer your question.
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by RalphAlsip »

jlh, your gunboat is nice! There is one for sale on eBay now. For what it might be worth, the seller claims that approximately 220 were produced. This might be good information and it might be bad information.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112124346292?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by jlholdings »

Thanks Ralph! I will check it out. I thought it must be pretty low production as they are pretty hard to find.
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by CheckSix »

This one here is a new pickup for me and prolly in the Little League range of things for this thread but I'm told it is a fairly scarce pattern in 1970...

5347 10 Dot
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Nice one Dave! One of my favorite patterns ( although I like the 047 even better) and a 10-dot stag version in that condition is not a commonly seen item. ::tu:: I'd be proud of it too if it was mine.

Ken
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by dodgin2 »

These are probably my rarest ones. C61050L SAB Tested era & I think a P100 with odd stamp and pat. apl. for. Ben
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by RalphAlsip »

dodgin, very nice old Case knives. I especially like the C61050L. ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by zp4ja »

dodgin2 wrote:These are probably my rarest ones. C61050L SAB Tested era & I think a P100 with odd stamp and pat. apl. for. Ben
Some great knives Ben! That big coke is certainly no slouch but that push button knife is in fact a P100 with a pretty rare stamp. Never seen a P100 before but they are listed in the books. Looks like "Imitation Onyx" as far as handle type best I can tell from the pics. I also have a TESTED PB91050 in that handle material.

Witchers book says that stamp "generally used on a M100 knife". Never seen that stamp on another pattern myself. Can be confused with a XX era 1940' to 1964' stamp easily. At least it was before I looked closely with a loupe.

I have an M100 that is near mint plus. Not bad for a 97 to 100 year knife if we trust the stamp dating. Book value says $150 for my knife. Would never let a hundred year old near mint plus knife go for that if I were to sell it personally.

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=38085&hilit=M100

Great knives Ben!

Jerry

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that stamp is dated 1905' to 1920' by Witcher.
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by zp4ja »

CheckSix wrote:This one here is a new pickup for me and prolly in the Little League range of things for this thread but I'm told it is a fairly scarce pattern in 1970...

5347 10 Dot
Nice stag and knife my friend. Remember, the spey is for flesh only so be careful not to cut yourself with that blade.

Carry in good health my friend. Jerry
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by gsmith7158 »

CheckSix wrote:This one here is a new pickup for me and prolly in the Little League range of things for this thread but I'm told it is a fairly scarce pattern in 1970...

5347 10 Dot
Dave the stag supply in 1970 was dwindling because of the Indian embargo on Sambar stag so anything you get in 1970 and especially 1971 is going to be more scarce than other years. I had a 53087 and foolishly sold it on ebay. Winning bidder, Knifeaholic ::dang::
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by zp4ja »

Great Gunboat and 67 Jerry and Harold! Sorry for delayed post as I got behind on this thread.

Really great oldie examples there!

Jerry
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by dodgin2 »

Thanks Jerry for the info on the P100 I never knew it was that old. Ben
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by zp4ja »

dodgin2 wrote:Thanks Jerry for the info on the P100 I never knew it was that old. Ben
No problem Ben. Seriously undervalued based on book price in my opinion with that very scarce stamp. Just my opinion.

The book says they made one in Green Bone also. Never seen one.

Jerry
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Re: what is the rarest case knife you have??

Post by XxTestedxX »

Lets see some more rare knives!

I have a few rare trappers coming.

v/r
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