Old Case lockback questions (pics)

Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
1,874
A buddy from work brought in an old Case single-blade lockback today to show me. He said that it belonged to his grandfather many years ago. The clip-point carbon steel blade is well used. It has brown jigged bone handles. Could any of you out there with a collector's guide tell me what model it is and perhaps when it was made? Also, any value estimates would be appreciated.

Joes_Case.jpg


Joes_Case2.jpg


Thanks in advance for any help.

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Kelly

SenatorsPlace.com
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice


 
The side that's shown in the pic has:

CASE
XX

on the tang. The opposite side tang is hard to read due to the pitting, but it appears to be either:

SMTL/2L or 6MTL/2L with the "L/2" being half-sized.


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Kelly

SenatorsPlace.com
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice


 
You appear to have a 6111 ½ possibly in red bone. Later versions of this knife were called the Cheetah. Since the folding guard is missing, and the blade is trashed, the collector value is pretty much nonexistent (maybe $30?), except perhaps for spare handle parts. The pins at the bolsters look messed with, but to what end, I can't imagine.
 
I don't have any of the Case Collectors books, but Levine's Guide and a couple of the other books tell me:

The CASE over XX dates it from 1940-1965, unless there is a longer top and bottom on the C - in that case, it would be 1920-1940.

The 6 means bone, the L indicates locking (lockback) and the T indicates tip bolsters. It appears to me to be either a Regular Jack or an English Jack. The L/2 is probably 1/2, which would be smaller. OR if the 6M is SM, then it could be Sabre Master - also a valid marking. My books don't have a number which matches even close to any of those combinations. I'll bet there's a few Case collector's here with the right books who can find it (HEY GUS).
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Based on the worn blade, I would make a rough guess of value as somewhere between 50-100, but could be way off. Hopefully one of our forumites with a Case book will chime in here.

Good to see you helping out your buddies Kelly.
smile.gif
 
Thanks for the info guys. Here's a bit more. The blade is just a shade over 3.25" with an OAL of approx. 7.75". One of these days I'll think to post all of the info the first time.
wink.gif


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Kelly

SenatorsPlace.com
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice


 
The knife is a little old. But the troble with Case knives is that they just about have to be in "mint". Take the knife you have there, if it was new it would be worth $275.00. Sharpen it just once and the value will drop $100.00. One spot of rust another $100.00.
So a knife with this much use is worth more to the owner because of the history.

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Danny Ridenhour
1-888-KnivesRUS
www.888knivesrus.com
Check out our new website!
 
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