A Lessson for Us All
Identifying a fake toenail- Seeking an expert’s opinion
Fellow ETCC members let’s face it- there are knives out there made to trick us into spending our hard earned money on them under the pretense that they are authentic. While we don’t want to go around paranoid thinking everyone is a crook, we do have to be prudent in our pursuit to find toenails to add to our collection.
I admit I have bought fake toenails thinking they were the real deal. Most of the time I sought counsel and then returned the knife. One such individual’s opinion I value is Bernard Levine. As you may know, Mr. Levine has written several books (10) and over 500 articles related to knives. My all time favorite is no longer published, yet can be purchased from his site- Levine’s Guide to Knives and Their Values, 4th Edition. I had the fortunate opportunity to meet him at the Oregon Knife Collectors Show in Eugene, Oregon a few years ago. Mr. Levine is pictured below at the show.
While he can be very harsh (by choice I am sure) in telling me I should have been able to make the determination on my own, rarely do I disagree with his conclusions.
Recently, I posted about the 7250 Tortoise Shell Case Brothers I had purchased. When it came in I immediately contacted Mr. Levine pertaining to the identifying tortoise shell handles vs celluloid. Here’s what he had to say to me after I spelled out what I saw (he had seen pictures at this point too).
Let’s all learn from his wisdom here-
1. First look at the knife. You did that, and found a list of problems, mainly size and shape, but also the bad fit of the handle material (regardless of what it is or isn’t). This should put you on your guard.
2. Second look at the WAY it is marked. This marking is obviously fake. This fakery kills the deal (regardless of what the marking says).
3. Only if the knife passes muster on #1 and #2 should you consider what the mark says. You made the mistake of doing #3 first, and wasted both our time.
Granted his jab at the end stung, but his points are the important thing (I told you he was harsh, didn’t I?).
Should you ever wish to seek his opinion know this: He won’t speculate. He will tell you if he knows or he doesn’t. Note too, he has a strict criteria for photos, if you are going to send any. He won’t look at any pictures that don’t meet his specs. Contact him before sending him any photos. He charges for his time (paypal).
He is an expert and is very interesting to talk to. You’d love to read some of the emails I have received from him- my suggestion is the less you say the better. Just get to your point and let him answer.
As a wrap up- I approach him as if he was my grandfather. Gruff, harsh and will put me in my place- but is fair and is really trying to teach me to think.
My intent with this post was not to “push you to contact Mr. Levine,” but I like the guy and truly value his insights. So, let’s take his guidance to heart here and be thankful we still have these old timers still with us to whip us into ‘right learning.’
July 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Good points Scott. A good printed source is Gerald Witcher`s book “Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery”. If you are not a member of the NKCA, I believe you can receive a free copy of it by joining. It contains lots of info on what to look for and has many examples. A must have.