Fair Price for Camillus?

[Doc B]

A guy has this for sale, locally. Judging by the pictures of the few knives he is putting up for sale...it looks like he picks knives in pretty good shape. What would be a good ballpark / fair price, to us both? He doesn't have a price listed...but just would like an idea...cause sometimes my eyeballs are bigger than my pocketbook should be

[gsmith7158]

That knife is worth $150-$200. First generation 72 pattern in near mint condition. I'll take it if you don't want it.

[Doc B]

Thanks for your info...will see what he's wanting.

[kootenay joe]

That knife could be sold here in one second after the first Camillus collector saw it.
kj

[edge213]

That knife is a beauty!

[gsmith7158]

Doc B show us some pictures of the other knives he has. If they are all like that one you will be in line for some serious finders fees.

[jerryd6818]

Value is directly related to the depths of the buyer's pockets. I would offer $75 - $125 for that knife. It is a beauty.

[Doc B]

Here was his reply...guess I'm out

The 3 blade, sabre grind - on both sides - cilp main blade, pen blade and coping blade at the opposite end. The long pull has teeth (not so uncommon) designed for match striking as the old timers back in the day used their knives for almost everything. The coping blade is designed for whittling, carving as well as for carpentry use. You have an eye for the rarest and most expensive. That's a Camillus 72 Whittlers & Carpenter's knife. This model with this blade configuration was only made one year - 1946. There's no other like it in this new condition any where. Knife collectors throughout the net don't have one and can't find one. I've been offered a 15 various knives package in trade, a total worth of $1200 to $1500 for this one knife. You can go to bladeforums.com, allaboutpocketknives.com, etc., and ask. The latter has a huge following for the 72 knife model, several collectors with hundreds of different 72s from different years, handle materials, etc., but none like this one in this condition. It's the rarest most sought after 72 hands down

[gsmith7158]

He should have taken that $1200 to $1500 package. I think he'll be holding on to that one for a while.

[Doc B]

That's what I was thinking.

[peanut740]

That guy is full of something.

[msteele6]

$125 -150.

JMO

[kootenay joe]

Quote knife owner: " There's no other like it in this new condition any where".
How true is this statement ?
kj

[Colonel26]

He’s definitely full of something or other. I agree with the others about price, and I know we’d all like to have it, but this guy!

Not only would I not buy it, I’d never buy anything from him ever! But that’s just me. I don’t suffer fools very well.

[KnifeSlinger#81]

Quote knife owner: " There's no other like it in this new condition any where".
How true is this statement ?
kj

It's not true. Even if it was, you still can't make that claim with authenticity.

[Shearer]

Sorry I don't have a better picture.The top one is original,the bottom one was polished.
In that case I must have the second best one.

Grant

[gsmith7158]

Well Grant has two and I know of at least 3 others so that's 6 just in my small world. That fellow needs to re-evaluate his position.

[kootenay joe]

Quote: "you still can't make that claim with authenticity."
True. but if toned down to include "I believe" at the beginning then it could be acceptable if the person is a dedicated # 72 collector who has been going to knife shows for years and participating in online knife forums.
Does anyone here have a truly mint first year Camillus # 72 comparable to OP knife ?
kj

[stockman]

I sold a really good one back awhile ago to a AAPK member. Probably not perfect but uncleaned, I purchased it from a old man that owned a hardware store, it was old stock. Maybe he will post his knife. It was the best I had ever seen.

Harold

[woodwalker]

I have one that I wouldn't take nothing for because it was a gift from Greg. Love it and it won't go nowhere ever.

[btrwtr]

The story might be worth over a grand but most collectors be would hard pressed to get to three figures on the knife.

[tongueriver]

I sold one to someone here several years ago or traded it maybe for somewhere around $40 or $75??? The OP knife is very nice but it appears to have a little stink on it, if you know what I mean.

[LongBlade]

Is that OP knife truly mint or “cleaned”?? I lean towards cleaned but hard to tell from photos...

Here’s a first generation 72 I found on a hunt long ago - pretty full blades, nice bone and a natural patina on blades... personally I prefer the patina over cleaned if indeed it was cleaned.. this was one of those knives I grabbed on a local hunt and don’t really collect but it came home with me - truth is when I found it I didn’t know much about the pattern until I posted it on the Camillus 72 thread.. anyway every time I think I may sell it my subconscious won’t let me ... maybe one of these days and the price won’t be close to OP knife ..

[gsmith7158]

Lee you scoundrel you. You've been holding out on us!

[kootenay joe]

Quote: " most collectors be would hard pressed to get to three figures on the knife."
I think the actual market value for a 1946-47 Camillus # 72 in 'mint' condition is about $150-$200. It is a 72 yr old USA bone handled knife. In minty condition $200 is low compared with many other bone handled USA knives of same condition & similar age.
I would pay $175 for OP knife. It might be top dollar but i would be happy with the deal.
kj