All About Pocket Knives

Hey folks, I'm new to this forum and to collecting case knives. I was curious about what appears to be a stamp along the top of the blade as well as the tang on this knife. whaddya think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Case-XX-Moby-Di ... 2ec014da3e

Here's the picture with the strange (to me) stamp

And here's the full knife

They made 10,000 of these knives and that one appears to be # 6911 .

Bob

Ah. I see. They stamp the knives there when they make a limited number. Thank you for the response.

Usually the serial number(shows production total) is on the bolster.Since this knife has engraving,it had to be placed elsewhere.This is not a hard fast rule,as you will find ,there are not many hard fast rules.Experience and reading all you can helps.There is no substitute for just seeing and handling knives.

Thanks again. I purchased knifeaholic's collecting case knives: identification and pricing guide. However, I'll definitely be trying as much as I can to get my hands on many case knives to get the "feel" of what a real one is. I have a small collection of zippos and I can tell almost instantly when I see a fake one and if not, then when I flick it open I can certainly feel if it isn't right. I assume it's the same for knives.

Louie to AAPK. Beautiful scrimshaw hunter ya got there. I love the bolster engravings and the nautical theme of the scale. Certainly one for the collection/accumulation shelf. Steve has a great book there and sells beautiful knives as well. Re-worked knives and or counterfiet knives can be a little more deceptive than by the weight or feel of the knife in your hand. IMHO I would spend some time catching up on several threads related to this subject matter on some of AAPK forums. Sometimes depending on the expert doing the re-work it may be near impossible to know what ya might be buying,the honest craftsman with integrity will have an etching or someting to identify the re-work and or attach a disclaimer when the knife is being sold.From the looks ya got a good start at your collection.

P.S. I have found that you can rest assured "The real McCoy" will be selling in AAPK stores and at great prices/great selections.

Rocky

Hey Louie, Welcome to AAPK. Stick around as there alot of great people here and knowledgable about knives. How many dots below the "USA" on the front side of your knife?

robinetn wrote:They made 10,000 of these knives and that one appears to be # 6911 .

Bob

Hi Bob,
Best I can tell, they made the Moby Dick in 77' and 78'. Not sure about Louie's knife as far as year but I have a 77'.
Mine has SN# A1110. Do you know what the "A" in the serial number means? Also, Traders Guide #9 say rare for the 77" and not the 78'. Price for both years is the same. More limited run in 77'? Same?
Any input will be appreciated. Jerry

Thanks all. Good info. Very much appreciated. That's actually not my knife I was just curious about it on ebay. I actually have yet to acquire a case knife.

zp4ja wrote:Hey Louie, Welcome to AAPK. Stick around as there alot of great people here and knowledgable about knives. How many dots below the "USA" on the front side of your knife?

robinetn wrote:They made 10,000 of these knives and that one appears to be # 6911 .

Bob

Hi Bob,
Best I can tell, they made the Moby Dick in 77' and 78'. Not sure about Louie's knife as far as year but I have a 77'.
Mine has SN# A1110. Do you know what the "A" in the serial number means? Also, Traders Guide #9 say rare for the 77" and not the 78'. Price for both years is the same. More limited run in 77'? Same?
Any input will be appreciated. Jerry

Hi Jerry ,
I'm not sure that I can explain the why for on the variance of the 2 different years , but I do know that they did have a series on the "Moby Dick" that the serial # was preceded by each letter in "C-A-S-E" . Eg. #C1000 , #A1000 , #S1000 , etc.... (This could have been only on the knives produced in 1977 , therefore causing them to be more rare or valuable) . Maybe someone more knowledgeable on this subject will "chime in" and enlighten us .
Bob

Made 10,000 total---2500 each with C-A-S-E prefixes.

Thanks Bob! Very helpful.

I compared the picture on the knife handle and they are different. I just assumed the were the same. Note the location of the small boat, cloud shape, etc, between the 2 knives. Your information prompted a closer look. Very interesting. I assume based on that, the knives would be like a picture book on the different scenes of slaying Moby. Just my guess. Would love to see the set.

Thanks much Bob. Regards, Jerry

To the best of my knowledge each knife is individually scrimshawed by the craftsman/artist hence the variations from one knife to the other. Look closer and you will see the artist initials,(W D) below the whales head/mouth. The "theme" stays for the most part the same from one knife to the next in that series. This series was Case XX Moby Dick and indeed had 4 sets each of 2,500 knives beginning with a letter C-A-S or E. Thus IMHO making it a little more rare than the second series.The second series was Case XX Nantucket Sleigh Ride which numbered from 0001-7,500, both knives came in a shadow box style presentation case and certification papers on the knife, Mint with presentation case and papers, selling on an avg. between $125.00-$310.00 on flea bay.

Rocky

Thanks much for the input Rocky!

Live well and Regards, Jerry