Forgery etiquette: or how to avoid the appearance of impropriety

[jsdistin]

I just wanted to pose a question that will require some explanation. I bought a knife at some point from somewhere. It was from a run where some were numbered and a few were not, making the unnumbered ones more rare and, to some, more valuable. I received the knife and noticed that the top sticker was missing, my thought was it was either damaged and replace with the bottom of another tube or also it was an sfo so maybe never had a sticker (seemed unlikely but I didn’t care). The knife was a user and was sold as such so I was not really concerned about value other than the purchase price. I almost always look up knives before I purchase them so knew there were fewer unnumbered ones, which, based on the photos this appeared to be. Later as I chicken eyed and coon fingered my purchase I was able to see the polished away remains of a two and a zero or eight or some such number. This has me wondering (but not being foolish I know this is what happened at some point)if this person removed the sticker and serial number to inflate the value for resale. Of course it could be that the seller was not the first owner and is unaware of this it has seen a fair amount of use after the serial number was removed. Now had these things been different I would have done everything the same so I don’t feel cheated in any way but it did get me thinking, what should someone do when they have innocently removed a serial number. I have a number 9 midnight blue 54 moose that had some blade wobble which I hammered out and when I was done the serial number was polished off. The tube lid still has the sticker which has the number on it and I believe it has one of the old certificates in the tube that also has the serial number. I have no intention of selling the knife, but if I were to is including pictures of the tube lid and certificate sufficient? I would sell it as a user and say that it had wobble that was hammered out of it. Would I need to specifically say that it had the serial number and no longer does? What are people’s thoughts? It seems obvious to me that I’m not going to mark up the knife but that would be the only sure way to ensure no one is ever duped.
Edit: I wrote in permanent marker on the tube and lid of the knife I purchased recently that it previously had a serial number.

 

[black mamba]

Full disclosure is ALWAYS the best policy. I remember once trying to sell an early GEC which was one of only 5 unserialized, and there were over 100 with numbers. A prospective buyer doubted my veracity, saying anyone could polish off the number, so I showed the tube with no serial number present. I suppose he was still skeptical, because he never bought it.

I believe BladeForums was somewhat instrumental in getting GEC to stop numbering more knives in a run than without. I always thought they should number the first 10 or so, then leave the remainder without, and charge a little more for the numbered ones. Eventually they moved closer to that scheme.

 

[Shurke]

I agree with the full disclosure policy. Any time I sell something, I make sure to note any and every alteration that I'm aware off. It's how I want it when I'm on the other end as a buyer.

 

[jsdistin]

I agree completely. I guess I’m wondering if there is something like how if you take a knife apart to mod it you’re supposed to date and initial the liner. Is there something customary like that, which doesn’t mar the knife of course.

 

[Shurke]

I usually just keep a slip of paper with notes on it with the knife in question. Works for me, but I can see how once it passes out of my hands it might be problematic as it'd be easy for an unscrupulous future seller to "lose" those notes.

 

[Will Power]

Once it's been taken into use and is clearly a user, everything becomes opaque, certainties are off the table. Just pocket wear will wear off or blur serial No.s on many GEC bolsters. It's really only a question for collector hoarders who must have a perfect version MIT not the Uni but Mint in Tube. And yes, a bolster buff could remove the No. but you would still need a tube top that corresponds and a certificate. Heavy buffing might reveal a pivot pin too, they're common on Buck and CASE but less so on GEC and especially Queen knives. Very glad I don't 'need' to collect such exact specimens only to keep them in the dark untouched for decades

 

[robbobus]

On this knife I don't think the seller did anything untoward. They offered a good condition, used knife which is what you received.
I have seen people scoop up a knife one place described as near mint, carried a few times etc and then flip it for double here claiming it as nit. That's definitely unethical.

 

[jsdistin]

I didn’t mean to imply the seller did anything wrong, it was exactly as described and the things I noticed could have happened at any time and in any number of ways. That’s why I brought up what I did to a knife myself as an example as well. This just got me thinking about it and wondering if there was anything that was customary to do like the example of putting initials and date on the inside. To be sure I got an awesome knife at a good price so no complaints here.