Collins ???

[jelwyoming]

I have recently found a very large sheath type knife that supposedly dates back to about 1900. It has the name stamped "Collins Le????us" on the blade with a arm/hammer/forge symbol between the names. The knife also has a number "FCS125F" scribed on it. The knife itself is about 14" long with a blunt rounded end. The handle appears to be a white micarta of some sort. It came in a leather sheath of about the same vintage. Is anyone familiar with this type or brand of knife?
Jon

 

[joeshredd]

Collins "Legitimus" is what I believe it says. Check out the book on Collins Machetes, which lists most of the blades made and sold by Collins... Many of which you'll find were made in Argentina(?) on Collins equipment. Basically good stuff and used all over the world as well as by the military...

 

[Jeff Clark]

Collins made plenty of machetes in the US up until somewhere around 1970. The real old ones from back around WWI used something like cattle horn for the handle scales.