Thoughts on antique Bowie knife

A

aspaulding

Joined
Apr 14, 2023
Messages
19
Hello, I am new to the forum. I thought maybe one of the experts on here could help me. Ipurchased this bowie recently and have some questions. Forgive me if I'm posting this in the wrong area. I normally collect antique swords. I purchased the blade because the patina looks like it is from the 19th century. I have seen Sheffield knives as well as many American made that are similar. Could anybody give me any clues on how to research this blade? The handle seems to be made of bone and the blade has what is called a spanish knotch which was on many blades around 1830s. That is about as far as I have got. There is no maker marks anywhere on the blade. Thank you for any help you could provide.

Forgive me I don't know how to load photos.

https://imgur.com/a/DaXMwlP
 
aspaulding said:
Does anybody have a clue?
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I will respond since no one else has. I'm sure people are looking at the photo you provided, but my experience here has been that either knowledge here about old knives is limited (if your knife doesn't have stampings), people don't want to give an opinion that they might get ripped for, or they are a little skeptical about new guys asking about old knives, thinking that you're looking for an appraisal (even if you aren't). At this point, if I want information about an old knife I'll just post a picture in the 'Old Knives' thread, with no questions and minimal comments, and if someone wants to volunteer information I'll enjoy the hand-out.
 
I would suggest getting a moderator to move this to the Bernard Levine identification sub forum. That doesn't actually look like any real Bowie I've ever seen (is that handle round? Personally that's the worst cross section I can think of for any tool / weapon)... and that's why you should talk to those guys because I'm not an expert.
 
runscott said:
my experience here has been that either knowledge here about old knives is limited, people don't want to give an opinion that they might get ripped for, or they are a little skeptical about new guys asking about old knives, thinking that you're looking for an appraisal (even if you aren't).
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I've been a member here for over 20 years and I have not seen this at all.

There is a huge member knowledge base about old knives here. And most people are not shy about giving opinions, rightly or wrongly. And if the OP asked about value, we would have called him out on it, but he didn't.

You sure make a lot of assumptions for a new guy.
 
shane45-1911 said:
I've been a member here for over 20 years and I have not seen this at all.

There is a huge member knowledge base about old knives here. And most people are not shy about giving opinions, rightly or wrongly. And if the OP asked about value, we would have called him out on it, but he didn't.

You sure make a lot of assumptions for a new guy.
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I have no doubt that you would have let him know if he violated a policy. As far as providing information about old knives, you are not doing so; rather, you're using this as an opportunity to slap a "new guy", which is kind of my point. Bye.
 
runscott said:
I will respond since no one else has. I'm sure people are looking at the photo you provided, but my experience here has been that either knowledge here about old knives is limited (if your knife doesn't have stampings), people don't want to give an opinion that they might get ripped for, or they are a little skeptical about new guys asking about old knives, thinking that you're looking for an appraisal (even if you aren't). At this point, if I want information about an old knife I'll just post a picture in the 'Old Knives' thread, with no questions and minimal comments, and if someone wants to volunteer information I'll enjoy the hand-out.
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I do not need to know the value. I normally collect ethnic blades so my knowledge is limited in this circumstance. I am part of other forums online so I am very familiar with how this works. As I said in my post I apologize if I posted it in the wrong area. The handle is rounded carved bone. It is very similar to older Sheffield bowie but I was just hoping I could get a little expert advice. No worries if there is nobody that can help. The hunt for knowledge is probably the funniest part of a new blade good or bad. I only replied does anybody know because I didn't want it to get lost in the second page. You'll have a large amount of member and the traffic is impressive.
 
I apologize I can not find the old knives thread.
shane45-1911 said:
I've been a member here for over 20 years and I have not seen this at all.

There is a huge member knowledge base about old knives here. And most people are not shy about giving opinions, rightly or wrongly. And if the OP asked about value, we would have called him out on it, but he didn't.

You sure make a lot of assumptions for a new guy.
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Arathol said:
tltt said:
Proportions wrong, grind is wrong, long thin straight handle on a wide blade is wrong. Brass fittings on all but a few Bowies (usually American, and military connected) is wrong. It's a bad knife.
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Easy enough to fake....wouldn't be the first or last.....
Looks like something made in the far east, Pakistan, India, possibly Windlass Steelcrafts....
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Thank you this is the type of information I was looking for.
 
aspaulding said:
Does anybody have a clue?
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Yes we have a clue.

Usually when people post a bad knife they don’t really want an honest opinion. So collectively we were refraining.

It gets tiresome to tell people the truth and have them insist we are wrong.

This post is a good example.

My advice is to seek knowledge before delving into a new area of collecting. Especially treacherous areas of knife collecting are. “Old Bowie knives”. “Civil War Knives” and “Case knives”. Seems there are more fakes than authentic
 
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eveled said:
Yes we have a clue.

Usually when people post a bad knife they don’t really want an honest opinion. So collectively we were refraining.

It gets tiresome to tell people the truth and have them insist we are wrong.
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I did not mean to offend. Again I am not new to forums on blades. I only did that so it didn't get lost on page two. But I do wonder your thoughts on the Antique bowie knife book by Bill Adams. He has a whole section on unmarked blades. Most of his examples are of a flat blades similar to mine. If somebody could educate me on what is the diffrence. I really just want to use this as an educational experience.
https://imgur.com/a/DaXMwlP
 
eveled said:
Yes we have a clue.

Usually when people post a bad knife they don’t really want an honest opinion. So collectively we were refraining.

It gets tiresome to tell people the truth and have them insist we are wrong.

This post is a good example.

My advice is to seek knowledge before delving into a new area of collecting. Especially treacherous areas of knife collecting are. “Old Bowie knives”. “Civil War Knives” and “Case knives”. Seems there are more fakes than authentic
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I guess I'm asking, what is it I should be looking for? What the diffrence between a "bad knife" and a good one. I have read that book and have been collecting for a while. But swords not knives. You are right knives are new to me. I typically collect 19th to 16th century blades.
 
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tltt said:
Proportions wrong, grind is wrong, long thin straight handle on a wide blade is wrong. Brass fittings on all but a few Bowies (usually American, and military connected) is wrong. It's a bad knife.
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Could your expert eyes give me your thoughts on the diffrence between these blades from the Antique Bowie knife book vs mine. I would like to be able to know the diffrence.
 
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