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Tradition of gifting a knife

There exists a long standing tradition when gifting a knife .. one I only recently became aware of. A customer with whom I had formed a friendship expressed an interest in a friction folder I had. I had originally purchased the standard & less expensive version with D2 blade steel & was impressed enough to have already ordered the VG10 core laminated blade steel version. After I received the “upgrade” .. the next time I saw Steve .. I first showed him the “upgrade” commenting, “You're gonna like this” ..&.. I then gifted the original unit to Steve … who insisted I take a coin in return.

Being unfamiliar with the custom .. I arrogantly insisted .. “Take it, Dude. You have an honest interest in this knife .. I know that. I've upgraded to this version. Just take it, Dude” He absolutely refused & we finally got to the point where we both realized I was genuinely ignorant of a long standing tradition .. one Steve proceeded to explain to me. When gifting a knife .. some form of “payment” is given in return .. generally, whatever coin one happens to have in one's pocket @ the time. If this tradition is not followed .. there exists the chance of the gifted knife later cutting or severing the existing friendship. At the time .. I was completely unaware .. truly ignorant .. of the tradition. The exchange occurred over a year ago. Steve & I are still friends.

Fellow iKC member John Bamford recently expressed his displeasure / unhappiness / dissatisfaction with the shave resulting from the ubiquitous disposable razor most often used today. Beyond the seemingly endless addition of blades ..(6-blade version .. http://www.herballoveshop.com/product.asp?PID=106515 ).. there exists little actual variation within the field of disposable razors. My experience has been that they do not hold an edge very long & are (in the long term) horribly expensive. John decided to escape this endless cycle of replacement by returning to the use of a straight razor.

His discussion is documented here .. http://iknifecollector.com/profiles/blogs/going-back-in-time?xg_sou...

My personal point of interest within the broad field of cutlery collecting is old stampings & the history thereof. As such .. I've accumulated a # of sharp items with old stampings ..&.. there exists redundancy within my collection.

Anyway .. as time passed .. and John documented his transition to a more traditional method of shaving .. it became obvious he was serious about the whole affair. Cool !!! And John's documentation of the process rekindled in me the interest in old razors & my intent to rehandle a few that I'd purchased in a broken state years ago strictly for their stamping .. thinking perhaps I'd someday rehandle them. I un-boxed some of the razors I'd accumulated over the years & offered one to John. A few days ago .. I received “payment” for the razor. This payment was in the form of a 1901 Queen Victoria Penny coin.

The Queen Victoria penny coin was minted from 1839 till 1901. This particular coin is the last of a series of three stampings of this coin. Those being loosely referred to as …

the “Young Head” penny coins .. minted from 1839 ~ 1860.

the “Bun Head” penny coins .. minted 1860 ~ 1894.

the “Old Head” penny coins .. minted 1895 ~ 1901.

Note: There exist variations within the three types which I am not fully aware of .. yet.

Beyond being the last year of mintage, there is further significance in the date .. 1901 .. as being the year of Queen Victoria's death. At the time of her death .. she was the longest reigning monarch of the British Empire .. nearly 64 years.

Note: This was topped in 2015 by the current Queen .. Queen Elizabeth II.

I've included a few U.S. coins for size comparison. With a measured diameter of 1.213” .. it is 0.016” larger than the 1944 “Walking Liberty” half dollar positioned directly above it.

I now have a very unique token of friendship that will daily remind me .. hope for humanity is still out there.

!!! .. Thanks, John .. !!!

D ale

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Permalink Reply by John Bamford on August 7, 2016 at 15:19

What a great story and I am proud to be a part of it , thanks my friend .

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Hibar on August 7, 2016 at 16:07

Loved that story! And, by the way, color me ignorant .... I was also unaware of the tradition!

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Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on August 7, 2016 at 17:11

Hm, I have a lot of relatives I need to collect a coin from. I was also ignorant of this tradition.

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Permalink Reply by Bryan W on August 7, 2016 at 19:27

Excellent!

I was just "re-introduced" into that tradition myself at the Blade Show. I was lucky and honored to enjoy a dinner with several new acquaintances, including Ron Lake and Dietmar Kressler. Ron handed me a knife (one by Coast Cutlery that he had designed) and explained to me the tradition of the coin. I gifted him a custom Sharpie pen in return, however the coin was still required. I had to borrow one in the end, as I honestly do not carry change in my pocket anymore. The exchange was completed, and all was balanced in the world. What a true gentlemen and a great introduction to this fine old tradition.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 7, 2016 at 20:44

You can read about a few more knife (super) traditions here

The coin from your pocket helping to preserve a friendship is one we strictly adhere to. Donnie has been known to tape a penny to a knife when presenting it to a youngster.

This however, took the thought to a whole new level and I LOVE it! I am also pretty thrilled with the saying that was sent with the penny. The part about help me to always give 100%...HaHaHaHa

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on August 7, 2016 at 20:53

Great story, Dale.
I, like Jan, include a coin with the knife when given. However, I vaguely remember some cutlery company that used to include a penny, within the packaging, in case it was to be given as a gift.

Can't recall now which company it was, and Google is no help to me tonight.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on August 8, 2016 at 5:27

Parker River Knife is one company I found ..and.. Japanese knife maker Masakage includes a five-yen coin. Google was nice to me.

J.J. Smith III said:

I vaguely remember some cutlery company that used to include a penny, within the packaging, in case it was to be given as a gift.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 8, 2016 at 8:31

Hey! I did not know about those companies but think it is a GREAT idea!

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Permalink Reply by Michael D. on August 10, 2016 at 8:56

I also have to admit that I never knew of those knife giving traditions.

John Bamford's posts has got me also searching for razors other than disposables ($$ and lousy) or replacement heads ($$$$$$ and do I really need six, eight or twelve blades for one shave!)