All About Pocket Knives

I picked this up for a few pounds at a flea market recently. It's a Lucky Farthing knife, with a George V, 1932 farthing. A British farthing is a quarter of a penny in old money, written (¼d). Pre 1971 there were 240 pennies to the pound, so a farthing was 1/960 of a pound sterling. Very logical!
The coin is bronze, and the knife, Sheffield steel. Love the Richards brand lamp-post tang. Are there are coin knife equivalents out there in other counties, I wonder?
Iain

I have a near identical one except for the date on the coin;mine is dated 1948.

Nice one! When I first got it, I didn't think it was very practical as a knife because of the way the blade doesn't fold away fully, but actually it snaps in tight against the coin and is a handy little knife.

knife7knut wrote:I have a near identical one except for the date on the coin;mine is dated 1948.

I think you have at least one of every knife known to Man...

___________
Mike

Iain1211 wrote:I picked this up for a few pounds at a flea market recently. It's a Lucky Farthing knife, with a George V, 1932 farthing. A British farthing is a quarter of a penny in old money, written (¼d). Pre 1971 there were 240 pennies to the pound, so a farthing was 1/960 of a pound sterling. Very logical!
The coin is bronze, and the knife, Sheffield steel. Love the Richards brand lamp-post tang. Are there are coin knife equivalents out there in other counties, I wonder?
Iain

Not a coin Lain, but 1g of 999.9 gold within my ole Swiss Army Knife.
One Gram of golds melt value at today's (12/06/17) latest gold price index is $40.66 usd = £30.66.
Or = 1,4716.8 Pre1971 Hay Pennies? (Makes it sound as if I have more by using this equivalency valuation).
Feel free to correct me if my valuation equivalencies are incorrect.
This is the only Gold I own. I am a very wealthy man.

Wow that's some seriously impressive bling there! very nice.

RICHARDS LUCKY FARTHING KEY RING KNIFE


Here is another Richards key ring knife. In contrast to the one in the earlier post, it is the coin that has been gold plated, rather than the body. The body is stainless steel with engine turned decoration. The blade has the usual Richards, Sheffield, England on the tang, together with their lamp standard trademark. One rivet attaches the spring, one end of it resting on the central rivet, the other on the blade.

The coin is a British farthing, 1/4 of the value of an old penny, 960 to the pound Sterling. It has around a third of the gold plating remaining and has very crisp embossing, so in all probability was never in circulation. The chances are Richards went to their bank for some freshly minted ones, for their appearance and ease of plating. The coin is dated 1952, the year George VI died. The new Queen's head appeared on farthings in 1953. The last was struck in 1956 and it was demonetarised on 1st January 1961. Its wren, the smallest British bird, on the back is very charming and from a 1936 design.

Without the frame holding the coin the knife would not have much of a handle so it serves a practical purpose besides decoration. It also gives the knife a key shape.




17 February 2022

Is mine worth much? 1924 penny farthing.

Anni g wrote: ↑Mon Nov 25, 2024 8:32 pm Is mine worth much? 1924 penny farthing.

Do a search on eBay for “farthing knife”. There are a bunch of them for sale on eBay at prices varying from around $10 to $40. Like other knives, value depends on condition. Here are some recently sold listings https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Fa ... &LH_Sold=1. Compare yours with those, adjust accordingly for condition - that will give you a ballpark estimate.

Welcome to AAPK.

Ken