The News from ElephantToenails.com

This one took a little time for me to figure out exactly the deal here. To some of you it may have been obvious.Case didn’t make a stag in the TESTED XX era. So, either the frame and blade are correct with wrong handles (and shield) or the stamp is fake. I actually bought this one just to catalog it as a counterfeit. The seller then accepted it back and refunded my money.Here’s my notes:

• Stamp has very light letters stenciled next to many letters of stamp
• Stamp is etched
• Shield does not represent the TESTED XX era, instead a much more current production (1980’s and after).
• Center pin on XX and TESTED XX is brass, not nickel silver as this one is.
• Brass spacer (catch bit) is too thick for that era (TESTED XX and XX), instead it is the same thickness as the dotted series and possibly later.
• Bolster pins indicate the knife has been taken apart (then discolored in an attempt to hide it).
• Signs of grinding on back of master blade
• Heavy buffing
• Blades sit lower than is typical for a toenail (sits almost 1/8” lower when in open position).
• Blade is not centered in coil as is usual for older toenail.
• Master blade is narrower than back spring due to shaving.
• The top of the tang line on the front does not go all the way over to the right as it does on the rear tang, indicating excessive shaving and buffing.
• Very ragged center pin, indicating the knife has been taken apart.
• Tang width thinner that usual for older toenails, again due to shaving and buffing.
• Stag not hafted as was typically done during the TESTED XX era.
• Stag is current stock (1980’s or after) and does not represent the stag used during the TESTED XX era.

 Here is part of the seller’s description: “This knife is so hard to find it is UNLISTED in most knife books. This is a Stamped Case XX Tested and there is No Pattern number stamped on the blades. The Case TestedStamp on this knife is the ” E ” series stamp associated mainly with knives from the 1932 to 1940 production years but some presentation knives from the 1920’s also used this stamp . The blades on this knife are unsharpened and show a bright mirror finish.”

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Counterfeits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.