Knife Value Resources?

i4Marc

i4Marc

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Oct 19, 2011
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I occasionally get calls from people seeking appraisals of their knives or knife collections. That is not my expertise. Beyond crawling the internet searching for similar items on purveyor websites or Ebay ads, are there resources like a blue book of knife values available or a website version of a blue book for knives?

I could direct the people here but they would need to buy a membership etc.
 
I'm thinking waaay too many Makers and variables like the 'prevailing winds'....if there were it'd be outdated within the hour. ;)
 
Thanks. Is there an auction website for knives, like Gunbroker is for guns, where a person could search makes and models for sale or past sales?
 
i4Marc said:
Thanks. Is there an auction website for knives, like Gunbroker is for guns, where a person could search makes and models for sale or past sales?
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No there isn't. Dealer websites are the closest thing.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Dawkind said:
I'm thinking waaay too many Makers and variables like the 'prevailing winds'....if there were it'd be outdated within the hour. ;)
Click to expand...

agreed 100%. There is very little consistency throughout the market right now, even when scouring dealer sites
 
I had a lousy experience once trying to help an elderly woman sell her deceased husband's customs. A buddy of mine who owns a local and credible Art Gallery called me to join him.

They were some nice older 70's folders and a Joe Kious fixed blade with a wooden scabbard. That one was probably worth, maybe $500, at best. I don't even recall the other makers, barely notable. I told her the pack was probably only worth $1000 to a dealer.

She was aghast: "No. You are wrong. My husband ONLY collected top-level knives. I searched the internet and they are so rare they aren't even mentioned." So I gave her the number of Dave Harvey at Nordic Knives to follow-up on her own. We also looked at her husband's old camera and lens collection. I found them interesting, but I knew nothing about them. Buh bye!

A couple of weeks later I get a call from my Art dealer who tells me she ranted at Dave Harvey for conspiring with me to devalue his husband's knives, and also she is now missing a lens from his collection. She inferred I'd pocketed it. :rolleyes:

No good deed goes unpunished! My buddy laughed at the folly.

There is a REALLY good authority on pricing a collection. Harry Rinker. If you want a VERY knowledgeable advice on selling large lots of collectibles (read: knives) this is WELL worth the read. Parts I, II, & III.

http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1440.html
http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1442.html
http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1444.html
 
Arizona Custom Knives usually has the prices of knives that they have sold.

J.Bruce Volyles also lists the prices that knives brought for some of his past auctions.

That being said, I agree with Dudley:

"I'm thinking waaay too many Makers and variables like the 'prevailing winds'....if there were it'd be outdated within the hour. ;)"

Coop,

Thanks for the links to the Harry Rinker links. It was an interesting read.
 
Thanks Jim. I'll read that when I get a chance.

jjtjr, Thanks. I had bookmarked the Voyles website. I took a brief run through the Arizona Custom Knives site you mentioned but I suspect most of that stuff is too recent. This particular gentleman is um, advanced in years. and I get the feeling from speaking with him that his collection is probably items from around the 40's and 50's, probably mostly folders. He said he would call me back but I'll worry about that when it happens. He says he has somewhere between a hundred and a couple of hundred knives in a box. He says they're all in great condition. Doesn't matter to me. I have no interest in them. I'm just trying to put him in touch with a resource that gets him the answers he needs and lets me get back to work.

I'm just trying to line up some go to resources for the next time I get this kind of inquiry.
 
I doubt the price guides in your link would be much help as they are outdated.
Knife values are learned as a result of frequent involvement in the market and general
knife/knifemaker awareness. There's not really an accurate listing for pricing.

I've got to the point where I hate to give prices as like Coop's example; you take a chance on losing too many friends.
A Corvette collecting buddy asked me the other day for an evaluation on an old Winchester rifle he received from his father, I give him an accurate price
and he acted totally insulted.
 
Appraisals are a business, they shouldn't be free. Just because every collector thinks they can appraise, doesn't mean they should or would be good at it. You can send them to Bernard Levine, who has a subforum here, he will appraise off a picture for a flat rate. For vintage knives and production pieces, e-bay sales could help and the person can search that themselves.
 
Several times I was asked to appraise for high end gun shops, I passed. I didn't have enough knowledge and was afraid an honest opinion would insult someone, buyer or seller!
 
There were scant few folders save for slipjoints in the '40's and '50's. The Buck 110(1963) was one of the first lockbacks mass produced, and Jess Horn was one of the first custom makers to produce slick examples of similar lines during the '70's.

If they are truly from the time period you think they are, Bernard Levine would indeed be a good reference, as would A.G. Russell and his website.

Dave Harvey of Nordic Knives is similarly educated and knowledgeable.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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Thanks STeven. I doubt the gentleman will call back but I will bookmark those resources.
 
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