Add a Comment

Comment by Lee Saunders on April 6, 2012 at 15:55

By now you guys know that one of the knife patterns I collect are Barlows.  I am learning how to ID fake or altered Barlows.  One of the harder things I have had to learn has to do with the positions of the pins holding the scales in place, plus learning the styles of engravings used by makers like Russell and Case over so many years of knife making.

But there is a "Daddy" Barlow for sale on eBay that issn't hard to spot at all.  Don't have to get out the jewelers loupe to look at the style of engraving on the tang or look close at how far from center or how close to the edge  the pins are.

You just have to have some basic common sense when you read the sales post.  There are Daddy Barlow's and even Grand-Daddy Barlow's based on the size of the knife (mostly the bolster) and the age of the knife.  Claiming it was made in 1864 simply because of the engraving does not make it true.

Only a few bids but the price is now at $155 or so.

Amazing what people try, what people believe and what people buy.

Maybe I am wrong.  The knife looks old.  Patina on the scales.  Pitting on the blade and bolster.

Maybe the maker (in England) really made a pre-Barlow Barlow and even engraved that it was just that on his bolster.  Perhaps I should be more trusting.

Nah...This guy is selling a Barlow pocket knife and identifying as very old and very rare and as "the father of all Barlow's" simply because someone engraved on the bolster the word's "Father of All Barlow's".

Now I know you guys have spotted this as soon as I explained it.  It is NOT rare or old because of that marking.  In fact, it is most proably very recent and not rare at all because if someoneb uilt a knife before the Barlow's they would not know enough to mark it as the "Daddy" of knives that would be built 150 years later.

Buyer beware.  And buyer be educated about their collections.

Comment by Sue OldsWidow on April 3, 2012 at 22:35

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Gerald Witcher at a knife show in tennessee ,in 1997 got an autographed 1st edition of the CAC book...the majority of it is on Case but does have smaller sections on Ka-Bar, Napanoch, New york,Queen,Remington, Russell, Winchester,and Bowies...

It was extremely useful in determining tang stamps that where questionable, and lots of reminder tips on frames and handle materials that are year dated and unavailable in some years...like a good quick reference.

Happy Knife hunting!

Sue

Comment by Gus Marsh on April 3, 2012 at 16:19

There is a great book on counterfeit knives called "Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery" by Gerald Witcher. This book was published in 1997 and sold by NKCA, I don't know if they have any more books for sale. You may also want to check eBay and Amazon and see what they have. When I started collecting knives in the 1960's, I became friends with two of the best knife counterfeits in the business. After seeing what they could do, I got out of collecting old pocket knives and concentrated on new knives, like Colt and Remington.

Comment by Sue OldsWidow on April 2, 2012 at 19:30

lol, maybe we should start calling them "Yellow Sets"...rofl

Comment by Lee Saunders on April 2, 2012 at 17:59

Thank you Sue!  I hope I don't have any, but you just don't know.  I'm learning.  I spent 3 hours going thru all of my Russell Barlows looking at pin placement for two different issues.

I have 9 Russell Barlows.  They all came up clean for the pin placement issues but one of them still could be fake and I don't (yet) know it.

I am looking for that Civil War Veteran's Knife and a guy in Michigan that I have bought switchblades from had a line on one in  a show there.  He was going to get it for me last weekend, but came back saying he was pretty certain it was altered.  Not fake but probably pieces of 3 or more knives put together but being sold as one original knife from 150 years ago.  So it's not just fakes we have to learn to detect.

A couple of collectors I met, that know each other, call them "yellows" because when they sell them they display them on yellow paper or yellow cloth as a signal to each other to avoid the knife.  But they will be happy to sell it to you or me.

 

Comment by Sue OldsWidow on April 2, 2012 at 15:25

There are many counterfeit knives out there, especially if they are high dollar vintage ones...You must know if the blades,pattern,tang stamp,handle material, and general knife construction is correct for the one you are buying...When one slips into our collection.....we call it a "Sets"...or if we see a friend about to buy one at a show...we always say "Hey you buying "Sets" today"....lol

The old adage...If it is too good to be true, It probably isn't...Buyer beware!