Case Tang Stamp

[roxhan]

I am confused. This stamp appears to have characteristics of different eras. Just what year does this represent?

[Mumbleypeg]

The research section found in the header at the top of this page is your friend!

Ken

[roxhan]

Thanks for the response. I used the reference quite often and believe my knife is a 1994 production. However; the long straight tail C does not match the wavy tail C shown in the reference for the 1993-1999 time period. What year does rhe tang stamp represent in your opinion?
Rox

[Mumbleypeg]

The “long straight tail C” has a definite wave IMHO, but the biggest tell is that it is different from any others. So by process of elimination it’s the 1993-1999 stamp. On your knife the stamp has only dots under it. The next most similar stamp in appearance is the one used in the 2000 - 2009 decade, but it has both dots and X’s, not just dots. Therefore yours has to be a 1990s stamp.

Another thing to know is that most tang stamps depicted in charts are some artist’s hand-drawn rendering, so they’re merely a representation of the stamp. Too many people examine and compare them as if they have to be exact, down to the most minuscule detail. Stamps wear out, and have to be re-tooled. Invariably there are multiple stamps in use at any given time, some worn, some new, some different due to size restrictions from tang to tang, requiring a smaller or larger version of the stamp. Best advice I have is to compare your knife’s tang stamp with those in the chart, use common sense and the process of elimination. Which decade does it best fit? Are there only dots? Or a combination of dots and X’s? What is the location of the dots/Xs? (Above, below, or beside the stamp). Count the number of dots (or dots and X’s) remaining, subtract that number from 10. On your knife I see a 1990s decade stamp. I see 6 dots. 10 minus 6 equals 4. The answer is 1994.

One last thing, many probably wonder why I typically refer such questions to the Research section. It’s not me trying to be a horses @ss. I learned long ago that by just providing the answer (in your case 1994) the only thing learned is the answer to the immediate question. Tomorrow it may be a different stamp, and the question has to be asked again. If taught how to find the answer, you won’t have to ask again. “Give a man a fish and you’ve fed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.”

Ken

[roxhan]

Thanks Ken. The wave you see in the long C is a bit like the big hill I walk uo in fromt of my house when I was a 5 year old. Today I aee it as nearly a flat piece of piece of ground. I just did not want to misrepresnt the knife when I sell it. Thanks for the verification.
Rox