All About Pocket Knives

Knife that was in my grandpa’s belongings that has been mine now for the past 40 years. Just recently sent to Case who sharpened and polished the blades and buffed the pearl handles. Main blade has been broken and reshaped but love the knickering on the nail pull. Was wondering what a knife like this sold for new and current value.

Welcome to AAPK. Sorry no one has replied to your post - I just saw it today. Nice family heirloom and great that you have a knife that belonged to your grandfather. Looks like an 8438 pattern. Case repair service does great work.

At the time it was new that knife would have been a premium pattern but I can only guess the retail price might have been a couple of dollars (more than a typical workers day’s wages at the time). Today its pros are that it’s a rare pattern, from a highly collected company. The cons are its condition (having it cleaned by Case, while nice cosmetically, does little to improve its value - it still has blade loss and broken blade), and for some reason old pearl handled knives just don’t seem as in-demand with collectors.

If in mint condition it might be a couple thousand dollars, to maybe $3500. There is the stag version of the pattern (5438) shown in Sargent’s Guide valued at $3000 in mint condition. I didn’t see the pattern in McCandless’s Old Knives but he is a member here and if he sees this perhaps will give his opinion. You could send him a PM - member name olderdogs1. The knife is far from mint condition. No offense intended but based on your pictures I’d judge the knife to be in fair condition, which would put its value around 10-20% of the mint value. JMO

Thanks for showing the knife here. Having belonged to your grandfather especially makes it a real family treasure, far more valuable (priceless) to you.

Ken

Ken is right on with what he said. I will include the pattern in my next edition. Might mention that the serrated pull usually indicates a contract knife in the WR Case & Sons era. Doesn’t affect the value, just some information. As Ken said the reprofiled blade definitely hurts the value negatively.

Tom

Thanks so much for the info. Yeah knife is priceless to me will be left to my daughter. She doesn't really have any interest but at least I can leave a little note and relative value for her. Not sure how my grandfather came to own the knife, he would have only been around 5-10 years of age. Our family didn't have the means to purchase such an item. He joined the Marines to help support his family and later had a hardware store, so I would say he acquired the knife second hand. He usually carried a Boker which I have also. I have been on the site for a couple of years but finally decided to join.