Fake Vintage Case Knives

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Sibyrnes

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Is there someone out there manufacturing fake vintage Case knives? I see at least one suspicious seller on Ebay with several vintage case knives with tang stamps indicating that they were made in the 1920's thru 40's range, but all the knives are in similar, new condition. Here's an example:

Case Ebay.jpg

What do you think?
 
Ernie1980 said:
I have found sometimes with vintage knives the owners buff the living heck out of them before selling for some unknown reason
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They "think" if it "looks new" it will sell for more. Not realizing it sells for less, and collectors will generally avoid an over cleaned/buffed knife, due to the high chance it is a frankenknife or a fake.

NO reason a 70 plus year old knife should look "new", IMHO, and I am not a collector.
 
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Who is the seller?

afishhunter said:
They "think" if it "looks new" it will sell for more.Not realizing it sells for less, and collectors will generally avoid an over cleaned/buffed knife, due to the high chance it is a frankenknife or a fake.

NO reason a 70 plus year old knife should look "new", IMHO, and I am not a collector.
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There is a certain crowd that thinks "shiny is always better". They are correct if the shiny parts still have the factory shine.
Condition is not an indicator of age any more than age is an indicator of condition...
These were made in the 1950s, look like new. The two Moras still have the factory corrosion proofing on the blades.....
BMw509y.jpg
EEs6cvw.jpg
CgmKKVQ.jpg
eG0O1fJ.jpg
 
There's stories of a shop in the 1980's that had a crew of guys working non-stop making fake Case knives. Buyer beware, and make sure you know what you are paying for.
 
Used to work weekends at what was then the second largest antique gallery in our state. eBay wasn’t the powerhouse that it is now. Got to know a lot of the more experienced dealers. NOTHING surprises me anymore when it comes to fakes and forgeries in the vintage/antiques business. I find the whole thing really interesting and I like it when professionals point out the differences, because I rarely know what I’m looking at.
 
with older Case you have to be careful. Lot of mechanics that breakdown the knife then buff and reassemble, make from parts, shave tangs, cold stamp, etc. It's word of mouth on who is legit and who is not. If you're not 100% sure or looking at them as an investment... think twice.
 
There are sellers who buff out corrosion and wear on older Case knives. I got one of those, luckily I did not pay too much. If I had been able to inspect, I would have noticed the uneven buffing of the plastic on the handle, and the rounding of letters in the tang stamp. Some of these characters are actually quite skilled. I do know for US M1 rifles, stamps duplicating WW2 era acceptance marks have been made, and used to create like new, all matching rifles. I do remember seeing absolutely mint Colt and Smith and Wesson pistol boxes on ebay. For rare pistols made in the 1930's. The boxes were selling for hundreds of dollars. It was obvious to me, that these were newly made. Probably in China. Might be a market for like new, vintage Case knives, made in China. Or stamps made to duplicate vintage tang markings.

The bottom line is, the more valuble something is, the more likely it is being counterfeited. Or, if appearing new is important to the value, then items are being refurbished, or manufactured new, but with the appearance of vintage manufacturer.

I am going to claim, that modern Case knives are every bit as good, if not better, as vintage. And most of the vintage Case knives were CV, and those rust. So unless you want a Case knife that coincides with your birthday, or an Apocalyptic event date, just go out and buy a nice new Case knife, and it will serve you well. I survived both Y2K end of the world event and the Azetec Apocalypse. Not that I collect those years, but, maybe I should, to remind myself how grateful I was to escape these horrible events alive.

Give your Cat a vintage Case made the year it was born. I am sure it would appreciate the gift.
 
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Arathol said:
Who is the seller?


There is a certain crowd that thinks "shiny is always better". They are correct if the shiny parts still have the factory shine.
Condition is not an indicator of age any more than age is an indicator of condition...
These were made in the 1950s, look like new. The two Moras still have the factory corrosion proofing on the blades.....
BMw509y.jpg
EEs6cvw.jpg
CgmKKVQ.jpg
eG0O1fJ.jpg
Click to expand...
That Kutmaster is making me drool.
 
Arathol said:
Who is the seller?


There is a certain crowd that thinks "shiny is always better". They are correct if the shiny parts still have the factory shine.
Condition is not an indicator of age any more than age is an indicator of condition...
These were made in the 1950s, look like new. The two Moras still have the factory corrosion proofing on the blades.....
BMw509y.jpg
EEs6cvw.jpg
CgmKKVQ.jpg
eG0O1fJ.jpg
Click to expand...
Sorry. I should have been more specific: .... a USED 70 plus year old knife ....
 
helobite said:
There are sellers who buff out corrosion and wear on older Case knives. I got one of those, luckily I did not pay too much. If I had been able to inspect, I would have noticed the uneven buffing of the plastic on the handle, and the rounding of letters in the tang stamp. Some of these characters are actually quite skilled.
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Do you think this could be an example of what you are talking about?
s-l1600.jpg

s-l1600-2.jpg
 
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Look buffed to me. The one on the left definitely looks used, Case pivot pins are usually not visible on new knives. When handle pins are shiny on an older knife, the knife’s been well polished. I know since I polish my knives :)
 
The pivot pin on the coke bottle was due to me having to tighten in a vice, peen, sand and polish what was a very wobbly blade. Someone with more skill than I probably could have made it invisible again but I figured it was good enough for me.
 
GusSharp68 said:
The pivot pin on the coke bottle was due to me having to tighten in a vice, peen, sand and polish what was a very wobbly blade. Someone with more skill than I probably could have made it invisible again but I figured it was good enough for me.
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I've tried... it's much harder than it looks 🤣 One day I'll get those pins to disappear into the bolsters 😝

I was familiar with the seller the OP was talking about. I never considered actually buying from that seller, but this thread made me take a closer look at their entire selection of listings. Almost all of them appear to be "buffed to mint". Virtually every tang has pitting, as you'd expect from an old knife. But, there is no pitting on the blades or the backsprings. Clearly buffed/polished to an extreme.

I'm no expert, but I'd guess they are not fakes. They probably are originals. Just buffed to all get out in an attempt to get more views/sales from those that don't know any better.
 
Sibyrnes said:
Is there someone out there manufacturing fake vintage Case knives? I see at least one suspicious seller on Ebay with several vintage case knives with tang stamps indicating that they were made in the 1920's thru 40's range, but all the knives are in similar, new condition. Here's an example:



What do you think?
Click to expand...
Yes, there are fake Case knives out there.
eBay is not a place to buy collectable items unless you are very knowledgeable about what you are buying.

As to this particular knife, I would ask in Bernard Levine's forum.
 
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