All About Pocket Knives

I just purchased this Case Tested Toothpick at a recent auction. The knife itself seems to be in almost mint condition but I have never seen handles with this variation of colors before. I looked in several of my reference books and came across a few tested knives with some reddish colors in the green bone knives but nothing close to this. Also the tang stamp is not exactly straight, the "TE" is out of line with the rest. Is this genuine or counterfeit? I am far from an expert and honestly have no idea. From my research it "appears" to be a tested frame and jigging but ?? [attachment=4]CASE TESTED TOOTHPICK 002.JPG[/attachment]Any and all opinions are always greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance![attachment=3]CASE TESTED TOOTHPICK 003.JPG[/attachment][attachment=2]CASE TESTED TOOTHPICK 004.JPG[/attachment][attachment=1]CASE TESTED TOOTHPICK 006.JPG[/attachment]

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Counterfeit.

You don't need to look any farther than the jigging on the bone handles. See how the jigging lines up in straight rows across the knife? This jigging pattern is typical of counterfeit Case knives and absolutely diagnostic.

That stamp doesn't look good either.

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Agreed. I've seen that jigging on tons of fakes and the "maker" (now deceased) used to live in this area. They aren't a bad knife for something to use as they are well made, but they never saw the inside of the Case Factory.

Great photos that when enlarged show the detail of a poorly done fake tang stamp and shield.
Sorry about your purchase, but congratulation on your photo skills.

Paul

You may want to consider carrying the knife. As I mentioned, they are pretty well made. That old guy should have worked at Case, but found it far more interesting to crank out the fakes. I don't think the maker himself made much money on them as I've seen them around the Eastern side of Cincinnati (where I live) pretty cheap (He is supposed to have lived in a small town 30 or 40 miles East of here). I've heard stories from guys that knew him and it's thought he had "ties" to folks at some flea markets and were they were moved that way. BTW, he used stainless for his blades and backsprings. Sorry I can't provide more detailed information for you. Just know that while it isn't a Case, around here it's a bit of local cutlery history and not a bad knife at all.

The shield is a little off center but has nice jigging!

I would suggest watching future auctions by this same auctioneer. See if any more Case knives with similar jigging show up on the guy's sales. If they do, you can bet that he's 'salting' the auction for his own benefit. I don't know about your parts, but around here there are some auctioneers that think they can pull anything and get away with it. Just saying they are "less than ethical" would be a compliment to them.

Eric

Thanks to all for the information provided, I certainly appreciate it. I actually obtained this knife via an online estate auction. There were dozens and dozens of pocket knives being auctioned off. This particular knife was lot#1 and honestly I knew something didnt look right in the pictures but the little devil on my opposite shoulder whispered in my ear and said "WOW! A Case Tested Toothpick and nobody else has bid on it" so without looking closely I hit the bid button. I blame myself because I am far from a knife expert but I have learned enough to know that if it seems too good to be true then it probobly isnt true. I dont blame the auctioneer because most are not pocket knife experts (or maybe they are?). I saw many other knives on this auction that were definitely authentic and actually purchased 5 more knives that were all very nice so I didnt lose out totally and should be able to recover the costs of this knife and add it to my collection as a conversation piece. Anymore comments, suggestions etc are most definitely appreciated.

Thanks again
Chris