All About Pocket Knives

I purchased this small pocket knife made by Sheffield Manufacturing Co. about ten years ago at Home Depot for ten bucks.
I bought it for using as a whittler as I like to due some carving every once and a while.
I never really took a good look at the knife and carry it in my pocket all the time as a backup to the one I chose to carry in my belt sheath every day.
After doing a little tightening of the main blade due to use I noticed the knife has a misprint on the markings where it reads “Stainless Sheffield“.
All though not a very old knife and not an expensive one.
Does anyone know if this type of mistake on any knife brings rarity or more value as a collectable?
Just interested in knowing and I'm sure others on this forum would also.

J W

It does on other things, for example i also collect hotwheels cars now and then, and i picked up a car a few years ago that had the front wheels on the front and the front on the back, it sold on ebay for £40 although was loose and not packaged and a normal version cost around £2-3 so surly the same here

In my opinion, being a issue translating into English from Chinese, I'd say no...as it only bespeaks of an overall lack of quality control. Seems funny that the stamping can't even match the lettering of Sheffield etched on the blade.

Errors or mistakes generally will only add to value if a rare or valuable article is involved in the first place. The most important thing to remember is that a mistake is just that...a mistake or error. Production errors are generally considered to be flaws and only increase in value if there's a large demand and small supply. The best example would probably be coins.

Think 1955 Wheat penny
Value in gem uncirculated (red)- $18

1955 doubled die error
Value in gem uncirculated (red)- $40,000

Huge demand with a very small supply. With over 330 million minted, it's estimated that less than 20,000 were doubled.

I agree with the previous response in that this simply looks to be a translation error and I would guess that a fairly large quantity ended up that way.

Thanks for the info...
I sent out an email to the Sheffield MFG Co. for info on the knife and the misprint.
I don’t think I'll get a reply but it's worth a try.
The knife is Item # 12108: Sheffield Pike Folding Pocket Knife.

J W

I've posted this before but in this case I think it is worth reposting.

My brother-in-law gave me a knife for Christmas one year that was a Franklin Mint Classic Car series.The scales had a picture of a 1957 Chevy convertible on them and the bolsters were in the shape of the bumper ends.The etch on the blade was supposed to say 1957 Chevrolet but instead said 1953 Corvette.The Corvette knives were still nearly a year away from introduction.

I contacted the Franklin Mint to inform them that there were possibly more like this and got a reply from the president of the company awhile later thanking me for the info.They had checked their stock and apparently that was the only one.He offered to exchange it for a correct one but I said I preferred to keep it.
A couple weeks later I got a correct one in the mail and a letter thanking me for bringing it to their attention.

So my knife is a one-of-a-kind piece.Is it rare? Sure.Is it valuable?I don't think so;it is still a Chinese knife.Do I like it? Of course!
Here is a picture of the two together

Here's one that I did pay (actually trade) a tad more that book value for, but the 1977 Blue Scroll Series Stag from Case are fairly sought out anyway. Finding one without a tang stamp is a factory error that I believe is worth more simpy because of the collectability of the line it came from. Only time will tell.

Elvis wrote:Here's one that I did pay (actually trade) a tad more that book value for, but the 1977 Blue Scroll Series Stag from Case are fairly sought out anyway. Finding one without a tang stamp is a factory error that I believe is worth more simpy because of the collectability of the line it came from. Only time will tell.

Being a CASE which is highly collectable in itself I'm sure the mistake adds to it's value.
A knife getting by there high standards has got to be rare and worth something.

J W

I would agree with everything being said here, but would add that it also depends on who is collecting the oddities. Me, I'm a nut for things like this. There was a 2006 GEC #73 on ebay a couple of years back with as upside down shield. I was going to own that knife even if it cost me $150. I won it for about $10 over the retail at the time. But that's just me. Some folks don't like errors in their knives and will not buy them. I'm just the opposite, I like 'em.

knife7knut wrote:I've posted this before but in this case I think it is worth reposting.

My brother-in-law gave me a knife for Christmas one year that was a Franklin Mint Classic Car series.The scales had a picture of a 1957 Chevy convertible on them and the bolsters were in the shape of the bumper ends.The etch on the blade was supposed to say 1957 Chevrolet but instead said 1953 Corvette.The Corvette knives were still nearly a year away from introduction.

I contacted the Franklin Mint to inform them that there were possibly more like this and got a reply from the president of the company awhile later thanking me for the info.They had checked their stock and apparently that was the only one.He offered to exchange it for a correct one but I said I preferred to keep it.
A couple weeks later I got a correct one in the mail and a letter thanking me for bringing it to their attention.

So my knife is a one-of-a-kind piece.Is it rare? Sure.Is it valuable?I don't think so;it is still a Chinese knife.Do I like it? Of course!
Here is a picture of the two together

AND they're left handed!!