But anyway, i bought this knife off a guy at work for $35 not really knowing or caring what it was worth. All i really cared about is the history of this knife and the fact that its at least 105 years old, which is cool. I was just wondering if you guys on here might know the value of this knife, i know its not in the greatest shape, but there arent many things in this world that are 100+ years old that are all that pretty. Thanks a bunch.
Chad
Also, i just wanted to add, just in case you didnt catch the topic. this is a case bros. knife of little valley n.y. supposedly made between 1897-1903 with stamps on both blades indicating the origin. and if you cant tell from my amature pic, it has a flawless wooden handle.
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i tried REALLY hard to get that done for you guys, but i was severly unsucessful. my camera must not be up to par for the extreme closeups. the stamps are kind of worn, but they read "(in arched lettering) case bros. under that it reads LITTLE VALLEY N.Y."
ok, so thats pretty much the best i could do on the stamp, you can kind of make out the "Case" part and the "LITTLE VALLEY" part is pretty visible. if you guys have any suggestions as to how i could get a better pic of the tang i'll take any advice.
Your photos of the stamp are as good as I, or my camera, are capable of unless I use the closeup feature, a tripod, and focus on the stamp only.
I'll let others comment on the stamp itself, but Goins has the dates for this one at 1897-1905, and Levine at 1900-1912, so even the experts aren't always sure, or in agreement.
I will comment on something else that others here may be to polite to mention, or, condemn your knife for. The handles may be a little too flawless for the condition of the blades.
That aside, and as another newbie, I'll raise another question. Please try to answer Chad first guys, I don't want to hijack his thread !! Chad's knife has brass liners, and the front handle pin, and possibly the top one appear to be brass but the spring pins are steel. I'm under the impression that all the pins should always match the liners. I have two similar knives by another maker that I like to think of as work knives, both swell end jacks with wood handles. Both have steel liners, but one has steel handle pins and brass spring pins, and the other is the reverse. Neither appear to be otherwise doubtful or messed with.
Is it possible that the handles were pinned to the scales at a different time, or by a different worker ( like an apprentice ), and then assembled later, or by someone else ? Did these old cutlers always match the pins to the liners, or, on a low end knife and a shoestring budget, even give a crap ?
Fran
If it's meant for me to have it, it'll still be there.
My 22031-1/2 XX Case is almost an identical pattern. It too has brass liners,the front and top pins are brass, the spring pins steel. I often wondered if it had been messed with but this makes me think that this is the way it was first put together.
Looking for Winchester .270 Cartridge Series knives
Great knife, like Fran said, if the pins are mismatched that might throw up a red flag about the handles being changed. But also like Fran said! they probably didnt give a damn on how they put that bottom line together 100 years ago. My thoughts, by just looking at the picture , i'd say it original. as far as value, it could easily bring 3 times what you paid if the handles arent broken.
The matching pin situation is not hard and fast. On high end knives, they were carefully matched. When applying wood handles to a more utilitarian knife, it was easier to use soft brass to put the wood on, and of course the shield pins had to match the shield. It was considered more durable to pin the mechanisms, i.e. the pivots (springs and blades) with steel.
If no-one drove tacks with the knife, or tried to throw it into a tree, the wood would get a nice polish from living in a pocket, regardless of how often it was sharpened, but it should show a little wear.
It would be nice to see it in hand.
Utopia!! A chicken in every pot!! And a Barlow in every pocket!!!
it is quite common for people to sand handles down to remove scratches and dings while leaving the blades original, I have seen many done this way which leaves a flawless looking handle on rather worn blades
The knife looks fine to me. The wear on the shield is consistent with the blade wear.
I have seen enough CASE knives with mismatched pins that it generally does not bother me...at least that is true for knives made by WR Case & Sons, Case Tested and Case XX eras. A mix of brass and steel pins is quite common on older Case jack and cattle patterns.
no case expert but ill throw out something about shooting tangs, if you have seen my pics i can pic tangs pretty well. heres a trick guys and let me know if it works for you.turn you rflash off.completely. hold the knife in your hand.now bend it in differetn wasy under the light. {for me this really works well if yooou have a flip out lcd screen on your camera.} anyway bend the knife under the light until the light hits the lettering of the tang just right and what happens is the camera will auto focus on justthe lettrs of the tang. like in this shot.---- try it out-your bro.
not jacking thread ..just wanted to say one more thing ..if you try my trick..i can already see that we will see more of the tang. the flash literally hides the tang because of the way the flash hits the lettering. FLASH OFF=better tang shot!
try indirect lighting pete. i can't read that tang. too dark. or use a photo program to enhance. the tang marks on the case in question are nearly worn off.
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johnnie f 1949
on the cutting edge is sometimes not the place to be.
please support our troops - past and present
if not a member...join the NKCA! they're on our side.
