Western fixed blade

[Iceman622]

I know they are fixed blades but can anybody tell me what model knives these are? I know they are Western and were made between 1935 and 1950. Other than that I can find no info.
Thanks, Bill

[orvet]

If you could give us an accurate measurements of the overall length, that would be helpful in determining the model number.

[Iceman622]

The one on the left is 9 1/4" with a 5" blade.
The right is about 8 1/2 or 3/4" with a 4 1/2" blade.
Thanks.

[zzyzzogeton]

The one on the left with the red fiber disks amongst the leather disks is an L39. That disk pattern is similar to that of the 1941 model. Those are rather rare birds - only made the one year and then shelved for the duration of WW2. The post-WW2 versions had nearly all leather disks, like the knife on the right. The disk pattern had similar arrangements from 1936 on for a few other models, but not for the L39. 1941 is the first year the L39 was offered.

The knife on the right is a post-WW2 to 1952ish L66. You know it is post-WW2 with the "Made in USA" in the stamp and a "PAT'd" reference means pre-1952ish.

[Iceman622]

That is more than I found in hours of searching. Thank you. Any idea what they might be worth?

[zzyzzogeton]

Price is in the wallet of the buyer. As with all sales, the final sales price will vary with location of sale (ebay, aapk, craigs list, etc), condition and timing.

In general, the "obviously used" L66s usually go for $12 to $40, depending on general appearance, sheath originality/condition. Older ones like yours MAY bring a little more if you happen to catch someone looking for a "post-WW2 to End of Patent" period knife to fill a hole in his/her collection.

Used L39s are usually $20 to $50, again DOC. Newer "bright and shiny" knives CAN bring more as some collectors are like jay birds, attracted to only shiny geejaws. Folks slap $80 to $100 on them and sit around waiting for the unsuspecting noobie to splurge.

Your L39, being a rarer bird, might bring $50 to $80 if you found someone looking for a knife from that brief 1941 pre-war period, but then those someones looking for those era knives specifically are almost as rare as the knives themselves.

Now, on ebay who knows what something will bring. It might bring $30 and it might bring $230 because you had two or more folks with more money than sense all get hot and bothered at the same time.

The easiest thing is to stick them out on ebay at a decently low starting price and see where the market goes that week. There're a couple of sellers on ebay that start all their knives low, like $1 or $5, and let them ride it out to whatever they bring. That's one reason why the spread on used knife sales can be rather wide. Sometimes they go cheap and sometimes they sell in a bidder's war.

[tongueriver]

ZZ, you always deliver with accurate and valuable information. Thank you!

[Iceman622]

Thank you sir for taking the time to answer my questions. I truly do appreciate it.