All About Pocket Knives

Hi guys I jumped on this Barlow this am but now think it’s fake

The tang stamp and those dots sure look funny.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2026 1:07 pm The tang stamp and those dots sure look funny.

What I thought

Apparently the guy who sold it to me said he had the handle re handled in Rose wood so don’t know what the covers was originally?

zed309,
The "C" doesn't match any of the "C"s shown in knifeholic's book or any of the charts showing Case stamps that I've seen plus the dots are in unusual arrangement. What decade was the knife supposed to have been manufactured? Another point, USA was usually included in those stamps.
Treefarmer

Date code stamp is 2024 with no lightning S, so it should have carbon steel blades. If it had the “lightning S” it would have stainless steel. The stamp was laser cut/engraved which is common on all Case knives now (started in 2023). The pile side of the tang, or a secondary blade, should have the pattern number and U.S.A.

Case hasn’t included “U.S.A.” in the mark side stamp since 1999 (changed with the introduction of the 2000’s decade stamp). Since then the “U.S.A.” has been in a different location - typically if a single blade knife it is on the pile side. If multi-blade it’s on a secondary blade.

Ken

From AAPK Research section on W.R. CASE https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/ca ... tification

treefarmer wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2026 2:29 pm zed309,
The "C" doesn't match any of the "C"s shown in knifeholic's book or any of the charts showing Case stamps that I've seen plus the dots are in unusual arrangement. What decade was the knife supposed to have been manufactured? Another point, USA was usually included in those stamps.
Treefarmer

He said it’s old I liked the look of it and sadly only investigated the stamp after I bought it , paid £40 posted , probably over paid as I’ve looked at all Case stamps and can’t find anything similar and odd dot arrangement

Here ya go - from the Case web site https://kb.caseknives.com/dot-dating

Ken

Well boys, I gotta eat crow again! That's this 1st time I've been wrong since yesterday.
My Case book was published in 2009. I need to update my searches.
Treefarmer

treefarmer wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2026 3:12 pm Well boys, I gotta eat crow again! That's this 1st time I've been wrong since yesterday.
My Case book was published in 2009. I need to update my searches.
Treefarmer

Philip, crow is a regular part of my diet.

Wish Case would include something on their web site explaining their use of the lightning S for stainless steel and the “plain” rounded S for carbon steel blades. It confuses a lot of folks who consult their web site (or the Research section of AAPK, Shepherd Hills Cutlery, etc), see only the “lightning S” stamps, and conclude their knife having a rounded S stamp must be counterfeit. I pointed that out to Case. They said they will include something when they update their web site (that update is imminent so we’ll see if the change made it or not - I’m sure they have a lot of stuff on their plate already).

Ken

Thanks guys I knew you lot would know the answer, so mines a carbon 6 dot , thanks so much I feel better now

Yes appears to be a 2024 stamp. But the bigger question is - did Case make a barlow with that handle material and with an unstamped bolster? I do not recall any like that with wood handles and without the CASE XX bolster stamp. But then I don't keep up with Case's modern offerings too much.

To the OP...can you post a pic of the reverse tang?