All About Pocket Knives

I have recently dug up an old pocket knife in my back yard. It was manufactured by James Frary, and has the model name "Our Boy" listed on the back. I know that it was made int he late 1800's (probably around 1884). I am looking to get a value, so that I can either keep it locked away, or if the value is low: replace the half rusted off blade. I will attach some pics so you can further identify it.

Off the top of my head: the "Frary" name was more famous in its connection with the cutlery company Landers, Frary, and Clark, at one time, one of the largest, if not the largest cutlery manufacturer is the U.S. The "Frary" brand was manufactured between the years of 1876 and 1884 while L.F. & C. manufactured knives until around 1950. If this is a "Frary" marked knife it would belong to the earlier timeframe. To determine that, it would be necessary to open the blade and examine the tang stamp. I'm not sure if the "Frary" on the outside of the knife would be determinative of the manufacturer.

The knife itself is called a "boy's knife", usually an inexpensive single bladed knife meant to be carried by a child (remember this was in the 1800's to early 1900's, now, carrying a knife to school is a near capitol offense). For that reason the quality of the knife would be less than that of a knife meant to be carried by an adult.

Given the condition of your knife, the collector value is minimal, but I'm still not sure that I would make any modifications to this example. I think you can probably get a much more serviceable user for less than you will spend repairing this knife.