Evaluating an old knife collection

tryppyr

tryppyr

Joined
Feb 5, 2010
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I recently returned from a trip to visit my father in law who is dying of cancer. He gave me a collection of pocket knives (roughly 70 - 75) of varying quality ranging from very good to rusty old souvenir knives.

I promised him I would do the research on these knives and even sell some on eBay for him, just so he can get whatever value remains in the collection. In order to do that properly I feel I might need a resource to give me some information about the age and value.

For example, one of the first knives I found was a Cattaraugus marked 22C43 on the tang. I found a site that breaks that down to the following:
2 blade
2 bolster
Pattern C4
Handle material 3 (mother of pearl)

But I cannot find the page on that site that translates the pattern number (C4) into a pattern name.

Likewise, there were 4 Henckels knives. They seem to vary in age. The first one I picked up has a mother of pearl handle and the tang is marked J. A. Henckels Germany. I believe it's an old one, but don't know how old. Is there some way to tell? And is there a pattern name that could be identified?

Can anyone point me to definitive online sources so I don't have to bug you with 150 questions?
 
post up some pictures in this thread. us old guys here like to look at old knives and between the bunch we ought to be able to give you some good information on ages of the knives and the patterns.
 
Best wishes and prayers for your father.

Are you sure it is a "C" and not a "6"? Photos are helpful so a mistake doesn't lead to a wild goose chase. Also photos help determine authenticity and condition. There are lots of fakes and reworks. You won't need to know anything about the knives to sell them on Ebay. There's proof of that every day. ;) Bidding will get you the market value. But knowing about the knives may help get the right key words.
 
supratentorial said:
Best wishes and prayers for your father.

Are you sure it is a "C" and not a "6"? Photos are helpful so a mistake doesn't lead to a wild goose chase. Also photos help determine authenticity and condition. There are lots of fakes and reworks. You won't need to know anything about the knives to sell them on Ebay. There's proof of that every day. ;) Bidding will get you the market value. But knowing about the knives may help get the right key words.
Click to expand...

I was going to say something similar but Jake said it better than I could. You shouldn't have any problem describing the condition of the knives and providing your own pics on Ebay.

All you really need is a brand name and a pattern name/number so it will show up in an Ebay search. The bidders will take it from there.
 
It's 22643. The pattern is listed on page 24 of Ferguson's 1930 catalog reprint. It's a nice very well preserved jack.
 
The blades are full and I don't see any evidence that they touched a stone. You might buy some of the knives from your father and keep them as family heirlooms. If he won't take cash from you then you could tell him you sold it and forget to mention that you were the buyer. ;) The market for both mother of pearl and stainless can be a bit hot and cold.
 
I should have mentioned, all these knives have been in storage since about 1973, when the former owner passed away. Lots of them are in similar used but nice condition.
 
Sorry to hear about your father in law's illness. That Catt is wonderful!
 
That's a gorgeous Catt Tryppyr! If you have any Schrade Cut Cos, Ulsters, or NY Knife Co knives in the lot I can probably help you out with some values, been collecting those for quite a number of years. As others have said Ebay is usually a good marketplace as well, as long as you have decent pictures like the ones of the Catt, and a good explanation regarding condition and size, you should be alright. Value is what the final bidder pays for it, but in general it's a pretty accurate representation of what the knife is worth at that time. Feel free to drop me an email any time ealbers@hvc.rr.com

Eric
 
I'm still working my way through the pile, but I have found two Schrades. One is a two blade switch blade. The other looks like a big Swiss army knife with a beverage bottle/can opener, phillips head screwdriver, two other bottle opener looking tools, a flat head screwdriver and two blades, plus something that might be an oil can piercing tool.

I'll get some photos of the Henckels up later. They are pretty clean looking too.
 
Here is a Henckels tang stamp chart I have. It might help you date those knives.
 
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Tryppyr, the Schrade knife you referred to with the implements sounds like a 906, which I think was introduced in the late 1950's. That opener on the back is a patented beer can opener! Ahh the good old days lol! You can do a search of completed listings on Ebay to judge what it's worth since we can't discuss actual values here.

The switch blade values vary widely depending on the model and condition.

Eric
 
tryppyr said:
Likewise, there were 4 Henckels knives. They seem to vary in age. The first one I picked up has a mother of pearl handle and the tang is marked J. A. Henckels Germany. I believe it's an old one, but don't know how old. Is there some way to tell? And is there a pattern name that could be identified?
Click to expand...

Post some photos of the each of the knives with all the blades open. Many folks will be able to identify the general pattern name. Coincidentally, Duncan posted some photos in the stockman topic yesterday. 10 or so years ago, you could get them for a very reasonable price to use. I used to carry one of the stock knives with stag covers. Now some folks seek collector values. These knives pop up frequently in new condition on Ebay. There are a few on Ebay now at prices that are higher than realistic.
 
Tryppyr, thoughts and prayers for your dad. I'm an accumulator not a collector, so won't be of any help with your collection. But I do find a dual power magnifying glass with built in LED very helpful for knives and other things
new-high-quality-3x-45x-dual-power-led-hand.jpg
 
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