How do I get a knife collection appraised?

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Gizmo180

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I inherited a good size knife collection and wanted to know if any of them were really collectibles. Two knives that caught my attention were a Boker Applegate OSS 1942 number 549 and a Kershaw Trooper serial 31,486 made in 2003. All of the knives are still in their original boxes and were never used by my Father. It seems like he took really good care of them and kind of want to find out more about them.
 
Gizmo180 said:
I inherited a good size knife collection and wanted to know if any of them were really collectibles. Two knives that caught my attention were a Boker Applegate OSS 1942 number 549 and a Kershaw Trooper serial 31,486 made in 2003. All of the knives are still in their original boxes and were never used by my Father. It seems like he took really good care of them and kind of want to find out more about them.
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I'll PM you my address later this evening, just send the collection to me. I'll take care of it. Thanks.
 
Pricing was not really the focus of the thread, it was about appraisals in general. I wish you luck as I have no idea other than a piece meal approach.
 
Ah yes, time to turn a family member's years of collecting passion into some cold hard cash, amirite?
 
Sonnydaze said:
You need a "Gold" here to ask about pricing, but Marcinek did a nice thing for you.
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22-rimfire said:
Pricing was not really the focus of the thread, it was about appraisals in general. I wish you luck as I have no idea other than a piece meal approach.
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No foul here, just a question of who to contact for info. One place to look is eBay, it will give you an idea of value but it takes time and research, if you go through BRLs service he does charge by the knife and would probably give you a bulk rate but his service can get expensive if you have a lot of knives to do.

Buying a Good membership as has been mentioned would certainly be well worth it and odds are cheaper in the long run. Best of luck to you.

I do have a question out of curiosity for the OP though, why did you pick the two examples you listed?
 
Actually no. If you got a car given to you wouldn't you want to know if its worth holding on to? I don't know anything about knives and want to know what I have and if they are worth holding onto or throwing out.
 
It's cool that they seem to have been pretty much unused. I hope you hold onto them. Did your father carry any knives regularly, or only collect?
 
What's wrong with cashing out on something that you don't have any use for? I'm sure a collector/loved one would have liked his heirs to make the best use of what he leaves to them. I know I would. If my granddaughter can make money from the knives I love when I pass on, I'll wish her all the luck.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
No foul here, just a question of who to contact for info. One place to look is eBay, it will give you an idea of value but it takes time and research, if you go through BRLs service he does charge by the knife and would probably give you a bulk rate but his service can get expensive if you have a lot of knives to do.

Buying a Good membership as has been mentioned would certainly be well worth it and odds are cheaper in the long run. Best of luck to you.

I do have a question out of curiosity for the OP though, why did you pick the two examples you listed?
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The reason I picked those two knives is they're the best looking ones to me. And being a ex Infantryman who tried out for SF the Applegate dagger caught my eye having OSS written on it.
 
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RedLynx said:
It's cool that they seem to have been pretty much unused. I hope you hold onto them. Did your father carry any knives regularly, or only collect?
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Yes he carried a Frank B stiletto. Now I keep it on me when I go out. He was big into collecting old six shooters and knives. I know the gun side of the collection, but I never got into collecting knives much. Only knife I bought was a benchmade.
 
I've wondered the same thing, when my grandpa passed, he left my grandma with around 3000 traditionals. I know nothing about them nor does anyone else in the family. They have been sitting for the past 5 years now and she's is sitting on tens of thousands of dollars worth of knives. I don't want all of them and I LOVE knives.
 
Gizmo180 said:
The reason I picked those two knives is they're the best looking ones to me. And being a ex Infantryman who tried out of SF the Applegate dagger caught my eye having OSS written on it.
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Gizmo,

If you can, go slow. You can take photos of each knife and post it under BRL's Forum.

Link: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/f...-Levine-s-Knife-Collecting-amp-Identification

Make sure to read the how to ask questions instructions here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...FIRST!-How-to-ask-questions-that-get-answered

The guys here will give you a good indication of what you have.

n2s
 
DosOne said:
I've wondered the same thing, when my grandpa passed, he left my grandma with around 3000 traditionals. I know nothing about them nor does anyone else in the family. They have been sitting for the past 5 years now and she's is sitting on tens of thousands of dollars worth of knives. I don't want all of them and I LOVE knives.
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That is awesome. It'd be a huge undertaking to inventory all that but if she had any large (3.5-4" blade) traditionals, particularly any Case, I'd love to see them. I bet you can't get a lot of whatever is in that collection anymore.
 
Sorry gents, I'm one of those people who find a certain sadness in the act of just dispensing with something that a loved one spent a lot of time and money on, and got a lot of enjoyment out of. There are plenty of things I'll box up when my own father passes, but his knife and gun collection damn sure won't be one of those things.

But hey, good luck with your sale. :thumbup:
 
Quiet said:
Sorry gents, I'm one of those people who find a certain sadness in the act of just dispensing with something that a loved one spent a lot of time and money on, and got a lot of enjoyment out of. There are plenty of things I'll box up when my own father passes, but his knife and gun collection damn sure won't be one of those things.

But hey, good luck with your sale. :thumbup:
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I hope those items will be a comfort to you if you're ever in need of cash. :)
 
Quiet said:
Sorry gents, I'm one of those people who find a certain sadness in the act of just dispensing with something that a loved one spent a lot of time and money on, and got a lot of enjoyment out of. There are plenty of things I'll box up when my own father passes, but his knife and gun collection damn sure won't be one of those things.

But hey, good luck with your sale. :thumbup:
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An appraisal is not a sale. The best way to appreciate a late relatives collection is to understand what they have managed to pull together. These are small historical artifacts. Learn what they are and appreciate not only the money, but the many thousands of hours your relative invested in bringing this collection to be.

n2s
 
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