World War I trench knife with knuckle dusters at pawn shop

muphasta

muphasta

Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
853
I stopped on to see what knives a pawn shop had while I am in Virginia. They have a really cool trench knife from WWI with the knuckle dusters. I wish I had the $ for it!
 
are you sure it is the real McCoy? around here pawn shops tend to sell alotta fakes
 
WW1 GERMAN MERCATOR K55K TRENCH FIGHTING KNIFE

Probably one of many types. Metal Sheath.

t1.jpeg


t2.jpeg
 
It was probably a 1918 trench knife. There are indeed a lot of fakes out there, and I agree that the chances of a pawnshop having a legit one are pretty low.
1918trenchknife.jpg
 
muphasta said:
I stopped on to see what knives a pawn shop had while I am in Virginia. They have a really cool trench knife from WWI with the knuckle dusters. I wish I had the $ for it!
Click to expand...
It is quite illegal just to POSSESS one of those here in California.
 
JustSomeGuy said:
It was probably a 1918 trench knife. There are indeed a lot of fakes out there, and I agree that the chances of a pawnshop having a legit one are pretty low.
1918trenchknife.jpg
Click to expand...

this was the style they had. Looked really cool, but I couldn't justify $50, let alone what they were asking!
 
Most sold for less than $20 new. Very few were originals, the German makers in Solinger copied them, then the Brits in the late 50's, then the Japanese in the '60s, then Taiwan up thru the '80's, then Pakistan and China. There are likely tens of thousands of junk fakes out there for every real one, and the Brit fakes from the 50's now look the most original simply because they are 60 years old.

They are asking enough money to make the uneducated think it's a bargain, because it's still priced under the market for an original. How an authentic one could be in the hands of a nickel and dime pawnbroker instead of on the internet getting top bid from real collectors is what you need to ask. If a pawnbroker actually had a grail knuckleduster, he would not be pandering to looky loos wandering into his shop. He already knows the big names in collecting and let both know the other is outbidding them to get it. Then he sits back and waits for the best bid.

Pawnshops are like houses of ill repute, there are attractive sights there, but the provenance is lacking.
 
tirod3 said:
Most sold for less than $20 new. Very few were originals, the German makers in Solinger copied them, then the Brits in the late 50's, then the Japanese in the '60s, then Taiwan up thru the '80's, then Pakistan and China. There are likely tens of thousands of junk fakes out there for every real one, and the Brit fakes from the 50's now look the most original simply because they are 60 years old.

They are asking enough money to make the uneducated think it's a bargain, because it's still priced under the market for an original. How an authentic one could be in the hands of a nickel and dime pawnbroker instead of on the internet getting top bid from real collectors is what you need to ask. If a pawnbroker actually had a grail knuckleduster, he would not be pandering to looky loos wandering into his shop. He already knows the big names in collecting and let both know the other is outbidding them to get it. Then he sits back and waits for the best bid.

Pawnshops are like houses of ill repute, there are attractive sights there, but the provenance is lacking.
Click to expand...

This. I have 0 knowledge of WWI trench knives but I do a lot of shopping in pawn shops, you just never know what you're going to find. I've gotten amazing deals, like a set if damascus Ran kitchen knives for $39.99. But there are also so many bogus items you really have to know what you're looking for. The other day I saw a horrible counterfeit BM balisong. I looked at it, told the guy it was an obvious fake and why it was an obvious fake. His response? "Yeah..." As he put it back in the showcase. So there's always the chance that it's a fake and the people know it's a fake. Buyer beware in pawn shops.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top