All About Pocket Knives

Hi all,

In my father's tool collection I found a knife with "JAKOB HERDER" on it. Searching on the internet I could not find a lot of information.
Any idea of the history / collectability / rarity etc?

Thanks in advance!

Roel

Levine's Guide lists 4 Herders in Solingen, Germany (an F,H,and 2 R's) but no Jakob. Also a L. Herder in Philadelphia, 1847. (may still be in business).
The German firms range from 1806 to the present. If your knife is German and bears no country of origin stamp, it's "pre-tariff", 1891 or before.
The pattern is a "clasp" like a modern day Case "Sodbuster." It's a nice one, but I wouldn't think it's highly valuable. Good luck J.O'.

Warm welcome to AAPK...Hope you find out more about your knife. jwwood

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:47 pm Levine's Guide lists 4 Herders in Solingen, Germany (an F,H,and 2 R's) but no Jakob. Also a L. Herder in Philadelphia, 1847. (may still be in business).
The German firms range from 1806 to the present. If your knife is German and bears no country of origin stamp, it's "pre-tariff", 1891 or before.
The pattern is a "clasp" like a modern day Case "Sodbuster." It's a nice one, but I wouldn't think it's highly valuable. Good luck J.O'.

I am already impressed with the age of the knife! pre-1891 is impressive. I think I will dig some more in the family history of the knife.
Thanks for your feedback!

RW: Just to back up here a little. I'm not saying the knife was definitely made before 1891. That's the year the tariff laws required a country of origin stamp on imports to the U.S. after that date. We have not established it's manufacture origin as JAKOB HERDER was not found, just some other Herders, even one in Philadelphia. Germany is probably a fair guess but not definite. It's a start and maybe some of the learned, German knife collectors here can verify the origin. What you got in my response was simply what I read in the Houston Price and Bernard Levine books.
There are many knives that come over with tourists and shoppers every year and would be newer manufacture, never meant for U.S. importation and consequently not marked.
I'm sorry if my response was misleading. I didn't mean to imply a definite answer, just some information. Either way, it's a really nice knife in good shape and certainly a keeper. J.O'.

There's a photo of an identical Herder knife floating around the net. It's got "Echt Stahl" stamped below the name which is German for "real steel". It was probably made by a small firm in the Solingen area. Strangely there were a lot of Herders from that area in the knife business, and not all related so it might be a bit difficult nailing the origin down. I've seen postings form a fellow collector from Germany who appears to have some kind of listing of MANY old German manufacturers. If I can recall who it is I'll give him a shout. You might want to try posting this in the European made Knives forum too, might have a better response. Very cool knife!

Eric

RoelW wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:13 pm Hi all,

In my father's tool collection I found a knife with "JAKOB HERDER" on it. Searching on the internet I could not find a lot of information.
Any idea of the history / collectability / rarity etc?

Thanks in advance!

Roel

to AAPK Roel! I'm not sayin' that your knife is one of them, but I've seen these knives on ebay with rather high asking prices. Perhaps a "Sold" search on that site might produce results and give you an idea of it's value? Good luck and beautiful knife!