Jim coe bowie knife

[Campbellclanman]

Hi Everybody,
Here is a Bowie knife that my good friend has taken possession of, and we would like to see if anyone could help giving a date that this was possibly made?
I apologise for the poor quality photo's, the weather is terrible here and I tried my best with the lighting+what little photography skills I have
Total length of the knife is 12 & 3/4 inches long. Horn Handle, Nickel Silver Ferrule and Guard. The blade is 8 & 1/2 inches long, 1 & 3/8 wide.
On the blade reads ... The Patriots Self Defender.

The stamping on the Ricasso reads in side the shield...I PREFER? ( UP TOP ) JOHN COE ( MIDDLE) SHEFFIELD (BOTTOM)
The etching ( or Engraving ? ) is very deep as you will see in the photos.
If you could help with any information that would be fantastic.
Thank you in advance for looking.
Duncan

[Ishrub]

Have you read Goins' information on page 65?

[Campbellclanman]

Hi Ishrub, sorry I dont have the book, could you help me with what it says? Thank you

[Ishrub]

Obviously you will need to get dating and origin confirmation from elswhere but a starting point could be:

GOINS page 65

JOHN COE SHEFFIELD c 1850-1953

I PREFER JOHN COE SHEFFIELD c 1850-1860 Dogs and a deer, with a man on horseback are stamped out on the blade of a "Bowie" type knife.

JOHN COE'S WARRANTED IMPERIAL RAZOR SHEFFIELD
C1850-1953 Located in the Albion Works in Sheffield, England.

This company manufactured "Bowie" type knives, among other kinds of cutlery.

By 1953, the markings were owned by A.H. Bisby & Co. of Sheffield. Both companies used the following trademarks CUTWELL (1850) and SUPERB (1850)

(These last two trademarks images are printed on page 65)

[Campbellclanman]

Thank you Ishrub for going to the trouble, It will be very interesting to find out more about this knife.
Again - thank you.

[rprocter]

Duncan, is the handle some sort of bovine horn ?
My limited experience leads me to think horn was not often used on large vintage Sheffield knives.
roland

[Campbellclanman]

Hi Roland, yes the handle is Horn, and to be honest I am not too sure if that what you say about horn is right?? I am hoping we will find out!

[DJD]

That polished horn has me scratching my head too. As does the ferrules and the flimsy guard. Looks more like 20th century carving knife styling to me. I'll be interested in the judgment of our fearless leader.

DD

[Campbellclanman]

Thanks guys-your comments and advice are always most welcome.
I may be mistaken to think that on most of the Sheffield Bowies smaller that 15 inches the guards from the early era are Nickel Silver and very flimsy - such as this...but this is not to say that this may have been re-handled? so is the blade good?...I personally think it is,or as you say djd Bernard will see more!