identifying a knife.....

[barkz]

Hello everyone. I wondered if anyone could help with identifying what this knife would have been used for. I cannot find another one like it. knife has hallmarks one that looks like a star and the other is 950, which I believe is platinum but yet to have it tested. the blade has been covered in some kind of wax to preserve it. I would appreciate it if anyone could tell me the origin of this knife, what it would have been used for and a date. I would appreciate any information. Thank you.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Almost dead certain it's not platinum. That would make not much sense.

950 most likely refers to its siiver content, which I believe would be Sterling, if the mark was not put there in an effort to deceive. Similar knives made in India or Pakistan often have fake hallmarks.

Your knife handle and sheath may well be Sterling, but that mark does not guarantee it.

Knife looks Eastern European or Asian in its style.

The wax on the blade could probably be removed with fingernail polish remover, but it looks a bit like gun bluing to me.

That's about all I have. Not really my area of interest or study.

Charlie

[knife7knut]

Although it is an impressive looking knife at first glance the first red flag I see is the infamous red background. Now this is not to say that every knife photographed against a red background is fake(or mis-represented or whatever)it does raise concerns in my mind anyway.
I don't see either the "hallmarks" or the "950"; maybe I missed them. I would like to see a closeup of the hallmarks. As .900 is coin silver and .925 is sterling I am not sure what .950 would be.I'm not sure that you could purify silver that much;especially in a knife that is supposed to be old.
And now we get to the wire work on the knife. I have seen this before on a knife I had purchased that was represented as an early Russian khindjal. It turned out to be in fact a modern made copy(albeit a pretty decent one)of one. Supposedly these were made in Russia or one of the former Soviet countries.
And that is what my opinion(FWIW)is: either a modern day copy of an old knife or a fantasy. Here are a couple of pictures of the khindjal to show the similarities in work.

[Gunsil]

Just to get something straight here. American coin silver is 900 fine. Most European and eastern coin silver will be considerably less, closer to 800-850 fine. The French do or have used 950 fine silver. I agree the knife looks mid to far eastern, and it doesn't look like a real quality made knife, the fit of the blade to the handle is pretty poor. The filigree work looks typical of jewelry made in India or that area of the world as does the design on the blade which also does look gun blued. Maybe a higher end tourist piece.

[stagman]

Current US coins do not have "any" silver in them
They are 75% copper and 25% nickle !!!

Ray, with the 1000's of european knives you have,
I would not doubt anything you have to say,
its hard for anyone to post a old knife like that that you do not
have 1 or 6 of em lying around

stag
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/stagman

[mrwatch]

As per U. S. standards American sterling silver is .925 coin is .900 Platinum is so expensive it would make no sense to use it on a average knife nor have I seen a collector grade custom knife with it.