Is this geuine?

[Ribbit]

Old case logo, no pattern number, looks new/un sharpened. This was show to me today by an old friend. He wanted my opinion. It old him what I thought which was not what he wanted to hear.
So...I figured I asked the experts.
I appreciate anyone's opinion.

[olderdogs1]

No, not genuine

Tom

[jlw257]

What Tom said

[peanut740]

X 3

[Ribbit]

Figured as much.
Thanks for the help!!

[gsmith7158]

Well that was quick and definite. You guys really know your Case knives, but how about telling the rest of us youngun's what it is that you see so we will know what to look for BEFORE we buy one.

[Sanders Knives]

The key to recognizing an across the room fake like this one is knowing what an original should look like. You can get this knowledge by looking at pictures in good reference books or examining legitimate knives from a reputable dealer at a knife show. Key words here are GOOD reference book and REPUTABLE dealer. Knowledge is king but not cheap. Knowing all the flaws in this fake is useless unless you know from experience what the knife is supposed to look like. If I tried to sell you a 1965 chevy and told you it was a 1957 how would you possibly know that I was lying if you had never seen a picture or an actual 1957. If the only thing you knew about a 1957 was that it should have an engine and 4 tires, then how would you know any difference.

My advice==study the pictures in the good books and look at original knives belonging to trusted dealers.

[stockman]

Well that was quick and definite. You guys really know your Case knives, but how about telling the rest of us youngun's what it is that you see so we will know what to look for BEFORE we buy one.

You could start on this Case forum right here looking at pictures. Many GOOD Case knives to view.

Harold

[peanut740]

The key to recognizing an across the room fake like this one is knowing what an original should look like. You can get this knowledge by looking at pictures in good reference books or examining legitimate knives from a reputable dealer at a knife show. Key words here are GOOD reference book and REPUTABLE dealer. Knowledge is king but not cheap. Knowing all the flaws in this fake is useless unless you know from experience what the knife is supposed to look like. If I tried to sell you a 1965 chevy and told you it was a 1957 how would you possibly know that I was lying if you had never seen a picture or an actual 1957. If the only thing you knew about a 1957 was that it should have an engine and 4 tires, then how would you know any difference.

My advice==study the pictures in the good books and look at original knives belonging to trusted dealers.

Steve just gave as plain advice as you could get on spotting fakes.

[MrBlister]

Fake as a senators' merit badge fer honesty

[gsmith7158]

Well, I appreciate the advice. I guess I need to go to school before I buy anything else. Don't have alot of time for knife shows and trips to dealers so I will study the pictures here on this forum. I have both editions of Steve's book so I will study those closely. Ihave already made a $154 mistake, don't want to do that again. Thanks again.

[Sanders Knives]

There is a book called--Case The First 100 Years which contains pictures of the Case Collection. The pictures are in color and are great.

[Sanders Knives]

Case The First 100 Years by James S. Giles

[peanut740]

In my opinion Steve 's books are especially good for learning Case collectors. The color pictures put it ahead of most other books for that reason.The best is getting out and seeing and handling knives.There's nothing better than hands on learning.
Another little bit of advice is patience.

[gsmith7158]

Case The First 100 Years by James S. Giles

Yes, I have that one as well. Its the case tested and earlier knives that are difficult for me. There seems to be several different variations in the tang stamps, very subtle.

[Sanders Knives]

The most important thing about the pictures is to focus on the bone--color and jigging.

[XX Case XX]

Anyone know where I can find that book on Case/100 Years? I just checked Amazon, eBay, and Barnes & Noble and I couldn't find it. Any help would be most appreciated.

___________
Mike

[Colonel26]

I agree with Steve. My wife used to work for US Bank. The way they were trained to spot counterfeit currency was by studying the real thing. There are way too many things counterfeiters do to study them all. But if you know what a real $5.00 bil looks like and feels like you can spot the fake.

The knife in question, I couldn't give book chapter and verse what all is wrong with it. But I do know that it just doesn't look right. The blades don't look right neither does the jigging.

Don't study the counterfeits. Study the real thing.

[gsmith7158]

Anyone know where I can find that book on Case/100 Years? I just checked Amazon, eBay, and Barnes & Noble and I couldn't find it. Any help would be most appreciated.

___________
Mike

Got mine on amazon. They had a three book deal. That one and Steve's two books.

[gsmith7158]

Anyone know where I can find that book on Case/100 Years? I just checked Amazon, eBay, and Barnes & Noble and I couldn't find it. Any help would be most appreciated.

___________
Mike

Got mine on amazon. They had a three book deal. That one and Steve's two books.

They must be out. I just looked and they have substituted Shirley Boser's book for The first hundred years.

[XX Case XX]

Anyone know where I can find that book on Case/100 Years? I just checked Amazon, eBay, and Barnes & Noble and I couldn't find it. Any help would be most appreciated.

___________
Mike

Got mine on amazon. They had a three book deal. That one and Steve's two books.

They must be out. I just looked and they have substituted Shirley Boser's book for The first hundred years.

Is that the same book?

[olderdogs1]

Good advice given, there is no substitute for knowing what the real thing is supposed to look like. The knife originally in question is fairly easy as it was never a Case knife to begin with. The counterfeit that is much harder to detect is the one that is assembled from all Case Parts. Fakers take newer frames and install older blades to make the knife appear much older and valuable. Knowing the handle materials, shields, frames etc. that were used in the different time periods can be a real challenge.
Gerald Witcher's book, Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery, is a great read along with the other books previously mentioned.

Tom

[XX Case XX]

Is this the Case/100 Years book you guys are referring to?

[FRJ]

I bought that book on Amazon just a moment ago.

[RalphAlsip]

Like many others have said the knife in question immediately struck me as "fishy". Upon first glance it is difficult to enumerate the reasons why it looks wrong, but the points made earlier about experience and having a "mental catalog" of what "normal" looks like is the best way.

The very first impressions on this picture were:
- Handle color not right (too caramel)
- Handle jigging not right (too big of jigs and too smooth)
- Shield looks funny
-Blade condition not right (either should be very shiny (i.e., cleaned) or with some grayish patina. No patina with a dull matte finish strike me as new steel).

Something that works well for me (other's mileage may vary) when I can't physically examine the knife by handling it is to use my computer to compare pictures of a knife in question to a "known" knife.

I did this for the original post knife. The top picture is the knife in question and the bottom picture is for a knife that I believe to be legitimate.

Once I had the side-by-side picture it became very clear to me why the shield looked funny.

Hope you find this useful.