Ivory Handled old case?

B

Bridges

Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Messages
14
I was at a large flea market yesterday, the dealer had a small collection of old knives in the $300-$800 range. Mostly Case and Hen & Rooster

There was a mint Case with what he called a genuine Ivory handle. It looked like real ivory, but I am not qualified to say whether it was or not.

Did Case ever use real Ivory?

I believe the knife was from the 50's era. He was asking $500 for it. He also had a very old H&R that was in mint for $300 (It was beautiful!).

I am interested in these but I am skeptical of old knives at a flea market.
 
Hi Bridges. I don't know if Case used real ivory but I am sure someone here will. I know there was a general ban on the use of real Elephant Ivory initiated in 1947.
 
I would like to add to this: You often see mammoth or masteodon ivory being offered on folders/pocket-knives and at high prices.But HOW CAN you be sure it is fossilized ivory and not a fake? With it commanding high prices and kudos it could be tempting for con-artists to bury ram horn etc and then 'distress' it a bit to become rare and valuable....
 
I don't have the experience to say whether Case did or did not make Elephant Ivory handled knives. I've seen suggestions here before that doing an ebay search can turn up allot of info. If there ever was one it's likely that ebay either has a current or archived listing. I'd still wait for some of the experts we have here on the forum to answer though.

Good luck!:thumbup:
 
All I know for sure is on their website, in the pattern stamp section of the Case College, they list an I stamp as indicating Ivory/Imitation ivory. That would seem to indicate they did use ivory at one time.
 
Case did not use any ivory on pocket knives before the 1980's.

They did use a composition white handle material from the 1920's up through the 1970's....it had the key handle number "4"....as in 4318.

Real ivory was used on some SFO's during the 80's and later.

In the 90's some patterns were made with a white plastic imitation ivory with the "I" used as the handle key.....as in I254.
 
That's interesting info knifeaholic. What sort of ivory did Case use in the 1980s as this was post the ban on elephant ivory? Thanks.
 
smiling-knife said:
That's interesting info knifeaholic. What sort of ivory did Case use in the 1980s as this was post the ban on elephant ivory? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I only remember a commemorative trapper pattern with what I recall as mammoth ivory, commemorating Parker's ownership of Case.
 
Pre-ban ivory is not illeagle to use. It is illeagle to ship ivory in or out of the country. A lot of suppliers sell pre-ban ivory.
 
Case did not use any ivory on pocket knives before the 1980's.
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If that's true, then there's a problem with the flea marketeer's story. Maybe the knife isn't as old as advertised. Maybe it's been re-handled. Or maybe it's French Ivory or some other sort of imitation.

-Bob
 
I have read in several places that the international ban on elephant ivory by 115 different countries happened in 1989. Is this date not correct??
Gary
 
Hi everyone. Yes I was mistaken earlier. I believe this is accurate.

A worldwide ban on commercial imports of raw and worked ivory came into force in 1989-1990 through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The EU currently allows the import of ivory antiques defined as items manufactured prior to 1 June 1947.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
knifeaholic is correct.. I would like to add that the flea market vendor sounds as if he either mistaken because he is misinformed or worse, is an out and out fraud.. Ask him if you can take some photo's of these 'very rare knives' with a digital camera, as you need to have them authenticated before dropping $300.-$500. and see how he reacts.. And if says yes, than post them here.

Another case in point I would like to add is all the large national knife shows that bring out the knife supply vendors have buckets and buckets of so-called pre-ban ivory. This ivory is the real thing. That is, elephant ivory.. You see, once it is here in some persons possession, who is to say when the ivory arrived here??. That is the dilemma about pre-ban ivory.
 
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