Need help with identification - Case XX 4 dots

[stanandlaurie]

Need help with identifying this knife please. Stan did not have a box for this one.

It says Case XX 5254 on the blade and there are 4 dots or stars underneath that.
I know it's a Trapper but what are the grips and is there a more detailed description of it and when it was made?
There are so many variations that look like this I'm confused.

I want to be able to price it fairly and I don't have a clue.

 

[Side O'Beef]

Looks to me like it's a stag-handled trapper from 1996 in stainless. Case made a very similar Shepherd-Hills exclusive version that year that seems to be identical except it had double shields.

I'll keep looking to see if there's anything else to say about this.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Grips are stag (antler). That's indicated also by the first digit ('5') in the pattern number (5254 SS), which is Case's numeric identifier for stag covers. The second digit ('2') in the pattern number indicates 2 blades (correct again, for the trapper). And the '54' is the designator for the pattern itself, i.e., the trapper handle shape/style. The 'SS' indicates stainless steel. The style of the 'Case XX' stamp, with the 'long tail C' and with the 4 dots underneath, indicate the year of manufacture was 1996. Case also used the same 'dots' dating method during the 1970s and 1980s - but the fonts used for the 'Case' (or 'CASE') stamp itself were different and unique in each of those decades. So, the tandem combination of the dots and the stamping font used are the tell-tale indicators narrowing down the specific decade and/or year of manufacture.

EDITED: The 1990s started out kind of different for Case's date stamps up through 1992, during which time Case stamped the actual year on the blade tang to each side of the 'USA' stamp (like '19USA92'). Then they started using the 'dots' method in '93, with 7 dots, then omitting one dot each successive year after, until only 1 dot was left for 1999.

There's a subtle clue in the shield as well. The 1990s shields were 'flatter' at the ends of the oval. I personally recognized that attribute in the pics, as I have quite a few of their 1990s knives myself. Earlier shields, and then later, tended to be more rounded at the ends & more elongated in the oval.

 

[Side O'Beef]

In terms of pricing, there's one just like yours on the big auction site listed for $325. It is listed as "mint condition." But there was another one sold on a fixed-price marketplace similar to our 2 years ago for $125 (not listed as "mint" but without chips or cracks in the stag). So, I'd say a fair value would be between those two numbers. Based on a nebulous idea of what Ive seen Cases go for, I'd put a fair value maybe a little less than the halfway point between those two numbers.

 

[stanandlaurie]

I can't begin to tell all of you how grateful I am for this forum.
What a great group of people and always willing to help.

Thank you all,
Laurie