Imperial Tang Stamp Chart

How you guys doing? I've been researching around all morning to find a date for an old Imperial fixed blade that my dad has. It seems to be one of a kind because I havnt seen it at all anywhere else (blade style, design etc). I was thinking maybe you guys could help? Here are some pictures. (Sorry for the state of the blade...)

Full Knife.
yg89.jpg


Stamp on the tang.
i89h.jpg


Design on the top of the blade. Looks to be a long curved clip point? (sorry if thats newbie to say..)
d8jm.jpg


The spine of the blade looks to be beveled on one side.
qld8.jpg


Opposite side of the spine bevel.
8jx3.jpg


Profile of the blade.
um2e.jpg



Any answers would help. I'm thinking in the '56 to '88 range but thats only an educated guess after all the stuff I read on various websites and forums earlier.

Thanks
~PK
 
Yes I see it!! Looks mighty familiar. I took a look through them catalogs too and I didn't see much. But I read somewhere else that those tang stamps mentioned earlier in this thread were for folding knives. I heard the tang stamps for the fixed blade knives were slightly different.

And to caveat, I figured the design closer to the spine would lend a clue...(talking about the designs that run down the blade close to the spine...)
 
Dude that's it!!! I just grabbed dad and told him to get his knife out and I pulled my leatherman and roughly measured the blade out to 5". So I'm fairly solid on that it's a "Plainsman". Glennbad, thank you so much!!!!
 
There was also a run of knives commemorating our military forces with that "design" along the spine. May have been one of Parker's projects. Much earlier, CASE and others used that stamped "design" to promote butcher knives as "HAMMER FORGED," which of course they were NOT.
 
Hi All:
This is my first post. I am new to the hobby. I am originally from Providence, RI which was the home of some major knife companies. I have several Imperial knifes one of which I can not identify as to the date of manufacture and would like some help. I have checked the tang stamps kindly provided by glennbad and can not find it.

The five inch white mother of pearl handled knife is a folding fish knife with two blades one of which is a serrated blade. An approx. one inch fish in stainless is embedded in the handle. The tang stamp is " Imperial" with a crown over the 'ria" in the word Imperial and directly below the word Imperial is the word "STAINLESS". The words "Imperial" and "STAINLESS" are stamped exactly the same width.

I have had this knife in my possession for at least 55 years and it never has been used.

Thank you for your comments.
 
Does anyone have any documentation or knowledge of the stainless tang markings & theirs of usage. Couldn't find it printed. Thanks..........FRANKB
 
This was my Dads and I'm pretty sure it's from the 1950's but regardless very special to me and thought I'd share some pictures .


 
Frankb119 said:
Thanks..........frank
Click to expand...
Is this what your looking for Frank?
glennbad said:
Those tang stamps look almost exactly like these, which I had saved from another thread somewhere back. It looks like they came from Knife World, however, I don't know who to give credit to.

ImperialTangStamps1.jpg

ImperialTangStamps2.jpg

ImperialTangStamps3.jpg


To the best of my knowledge, these are the only record of stamps I have ever seen. (However, my knowledge is limited. :eek: )

Hope this helps...

Glenn
Click to expand...
 
Yes - but is there anything compatible for Colonial ??? It appears, Colonial follows Imperial, Tang Stamp wise. Does a Colonial Chart exist ???
 
I have an imperial knife that is stamped

Imperial
Prov. R. I. U. S. A.

With the lower part fitting under the imperial word of course but also has a crown above the 2nd I in imperial. I haven't been able to find info on this stamp so if anyone has a clue I'd appreciate it. Thank you
 
JasonVoorhees13 said:
I have an imperial knife that is stamped

Imperial
Prov. R. I. U. S. A.

With the lower part fitting under the imperial word of course but also has a crown above the 2nd I in imperial. I haven't been able to find info on this stamp so if anyone has a clue I'd appreciate it. Thank you
Click to expand...

That Imperial tang stamp is from the period of 1946-1956. If the USA is vertical at the end, covering 2 lines (up and down) it's 1956-1988.
Hope this helps.
BTW, a stamp chart is at the beginning of this thread :)
 
The Chef visited a kind of old stuff, antique mall, flee market all rolled into one. I figured I would stay home and wait for a report from her reconnaissance. Maybe go on a knife and old tool buying mission if she found some targets.

Sad pickings but she did buy a knife for me with a tang stamped :

Imperial
Ireland
​
It has a crown above the "ial". Looks like a peanut to me (I don't have a peanut to compare it to / this is my first one).
A stamp to add to the list or a different knife company ?
Thanks
 
Wowbagger said:
The Chef visited a kind of old stuff, antique mall, flee market all rolled into one. I figured I would stay home and wait for a report from her reconnaissance. Maybe go on a knife and old tool buying mission if she found some targets.

Sad pickings but she did buy a knife for me with a tang stamped :

Imperial
Ireland
​
It has a crown above the "ial". Looks like a peanut to me (I don't have a peanut to compare it to / this is my first one).
A stamp to add to the list or a different knife company ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
In an effort to lower costs, Imperial did have knives produced in Ireland; so yes, same company. My guess is they had these "Ireland" knives produced around the 1960's and 70's...
 
JJ Cahill said:
In an effort to lower costs, Imperial did have knives produced in Ireland; so yes, same company. My guess is they had these "Ireland" knives produced around the 1960's and 70's...
Click to expand...
Interesting.
Thanks !
PS: And welcome to the forum ! ! !
Only your second post and you are giving me an education.
 
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