Buck 102 double tang stamp

[vwb563]

Hello everyone. Can anyone tell me if a double stamped tang like this increases a Buck knife value? I know on most all coins it does but wasn’t sure about knives. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[DeSotoSky]

My personal opinion is that it does not but then perhaps knife collectors are not as sophisticated as Numismatists.
I have a 118 in my collection that is 'double stamped' with the tang being stamped on both sides, kinda neat but not valuable either, I think there was a batch of them. How about this custom 124, it would have been more valuable with a good tang stamp. My personal take is it was an employee's lunchbox knife based on a rejected blade.

 

[bucksway]

I think it does.. especially if it's not in a batch like the 118. In all my years of chasing odd 112's I've seen just one with a double tang stamp. It's a Brian Yellowhorse with a pad print on both sides of the blade. I think Joe Houser said the only way possible in this case was that it was possibly dropped and then hand fed into the machine. Because it was a limited edition and pad printed on both sides it was not easily substituted. Brian found it in a shipment of 150 112's..I certainly paid more and was very happy to do so! But I collected and displayed odd and rare 112's only. I also have a few with no tang stamp..Few will care about 'errors' like this but some do! I believe most odd Bucks are considered factory blems and are sold in the factory store. Lunchbox knives were much more common in California and a real problem they tried to address when they moved to Post Falls. But a double tang IS a very rare thing and for most of Bucks history there quality control was and is very good.

 

[DeSotoSky]

Another thought. In most collecting, refinishing destroys the value, clean an old rare coin, its value is diminished, clean an old rare Winchester or Colt, and you really destroy its value. The opposite seems to hold true for Buck knife collectors, we seem to be always sending our old knives off to Buck for a SPA treatment. Buck knife collectors want our knives to look good. The only exception being some like the natural aged brass although I'm a polisher personally. With that in mind, I think most Buck collectors would view the double stamp as a flaw/blem and not a desireable feature.

 

[pjsjr]

From the two responses you’ve received I think you can get the idea that it depends on the collector and what their goals are.

 

[Tecate]

I received an error knife from one of Joe Houser's limited releases back in 2020 (1 of 8 made). It had 640 stamped over 124 on the tang. Makael reached out to Joe to verify it was in fact an error. Joe was nice enough to send a COA that validated this was an error knife.

Quoted from the COA below: "This blade was a rare double stamp and 124 can be seen under the 640."

As stated above, the value is in the eye of the beholder or potential beholder.

 

[Tecate]

Hello everyone. Can anyone tell me if a double stamped tang like this increases a Buck knife value? I know on most all coins it does but wasn’t sure about knives. Thanks in advance for any help.View attachment 2892921

Looking at the image made me question if I started drinking too early this morning.

 

[jbmonkey]

I think it depends on the collector. I wouldn't pay more, but some would. especially maybe a 102 collector.......

 

[Culprit99]

vwb563 , I have no idea if it changes the value or not, but if I had found that on a baseball card as a boy in 1984, I would have thought I struck gold. LOL!

Here’s a neat double struck 591 Paradigm Shift with both a 2022 and 2023 year mark.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Another thought. In most collecting, refinishing destroys the value, clean an old rare coin, its value is diminished, clean an old rare Winchester or Colt, and you really destroy its value. The opposite seems to hold true for Buck knife collectors, we seem to be always sending our old knives off to Buck for a SPA treatment. Buck knife collectors want our knives to look good. The only exception being some like the natural aged brass although I'm a polisher personally. With that in mind, I think most Buck collectors would view the double stamp as a flaw/blem and not a desireable feature.

To me Buck blades look better when new than they do used & beat up, but I do love my brass aged worn and dinged up.

Bucks blades to age better than others so I tolerate the stainless steel, but I absolutely prefer carbon steel and want that steel with patina.
I'd never want a vintage carbon steel blade to be refinished.

Another thought is just the fact that you can send the knife back to the folks who made it in the first place so it's kind of different.
If Buck didn't have the SPA service most people wouldn't be sending their Bucks anywhere for a refinish, and having it done aftermarket comes off as more of a modification or something.

 

[jbmonkey]

To me Buck blades look better when new than they do used & beat up, but I do love my brass aged worn and dinged up.

Bucks blades to age better than others so I tolerate the stainless steel, but I absolutely prefer carbon steel and want that steel with patina.
I'd never want a vintage carbon steel blade to be refinished.

Another thought is just the fact that you can send the knife back to the folks who made it in the first place so it's kind of different.
If Buck didn't have the SPA service most people wouldn't be sending their Bucks anywhere for a refinish, and having it done aftermarket comes off as more of a modification or something.

if a Buck knive was refinished to original or had work done to it by someone who was a knife maker for Buck..... like Leroy Remer or Joe Houser........ Id consider equal minimum to better than current refinishing factory shop. to me, I also don't feel it would ruin its value or come off as an aftermarket mod.....

 

[Hickory n steel]

if a Buck knive was refinished to original or had work done to it by someone who was a knife maker for Buck..... like Leroy Remer or Joe Houser........ Id consider equal minimum to better than current refinishing factory shop. to me, I also don't feel it would ruin its value or come off as an aftermarket mod.....

That was my poorly worded point.
If you know the work was done at the factory or by somebody trusted / well respected, there is no worry.
Otherwise you never know if the guy overheated the blade or something during the process.

I guess I'd just rather have an unmolested knife and send it to Buck myself if need be so I don't have to worry about what may have been done.

 

[jbmonkey]

That was my poorly worded point.
If you know the work was done at the factory or by somebody trusted / well respected, there is no worry.
Otherwise you never know if the guy overheated the blade or something during the process.

I guess I'd just rather have an unmolested knife and send it to Buck myself if need be so I don't have to worry about what may have been done.

so that youtuber/instacrap fella doing knife mods in his parents garage I shouldn't trust so blindly then?

 

[Hickory n steel]

so that youtuber/instacrap fella doing knife mods in his parents garage I shouldn't trust so blindly then?

Dee knives I think is what his channel is called ?
I believe there have been a couple of his hosed up 110 videos discussed here.

 

[jbmonkey]

Dee knives I think is what his channel is called ?
I believe there have been a couple of his hosed up 110 videos discussed here.

I wasn't really picking on anyone in particular, more just poking fun at this industry that's popped up for knife mod experts with little to no formal training. truth is dont even know who that guy is, never hear of him.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I wasn't really picking on anyone in particular, more just poking fun at this industry that's popped up for knife mod experts with little to no formal training. truth is dont even know who that guy is, never hear of him.

Yeah there's a lot of them all over YouTube, one in particular that's done a lot of Buck's and definitely not very well.

 

[Meadowlark]

On a knife a botched stamp takes the value down, not up.

It's ugly.

 

[Hickory n steel]

On a knife a botched stamp takes the value down, not up.

It's ugly.

If buying brand new that would be a factory second and should be discounted, but I can see somebody wanting it for this uncommon error.
I don't know if anybody would want to pay more for it or if selling it as a rare factory error would garner more interest on Ebay but I wouldn't expect it to be devalued for it either.
I think it might be cool to have an error like this among my 305's if I happened to not catch it when buying on Ebay , but wouldn't really seek it out or pay any more.

 

[The Zieg]

I received an error knife from one of Joe Houser's limited releases back in 2020 (1 of 8 made). It had 640 stamped over 124 on the tang. Makael reached out to Joe to verify it was in fact an error. Joe was nice enough to send a COA that validated this was an error knife.

Quoted from the COA below: "This blade was a rare double stamp and 124 can be seen under the 640."

As stated above, the value is in the eye of the beholder or potential beholder.

You have a very limited run Buck 764

 

[Meadowlark]

If buying brand new that would be a factory second and should be discounted, but I can see somebody wanting it for this uncommon error.

Yes, "somebody," but not the majority.

Most collectors know that rarity alone does not mean value..........value comes from a lot of people wanting the rare item and competing to possess it.

And a double stamp is still ugly.

Not a lot of people looking to buy a knife just because it has a unique botched stamp.

Especially on a beautiful knife like the lovely 640 with the Joe Houser COA--it detracts because most would rather have a pristine example.

If they buy it, well, it's usually because they can get it cheaper.