The News from ElephantToenails.com

Part Two of How do you grade toenails with replaced handles?

I mentioned there were two pearl rehandled toenails up for sale on eBay right now. Here they are-

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co (eBay #200362450831) & W R Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Bradford, Pa (eBay #200362439336)

I can hear the Purist now. But if you are looking for a replica of the older pearl toenails, rehandled knives definitely fit the bill.

HSB rehandled pearl toenail

W R Case Bradford rehandled pearl toenail

You want an interesting conversation- ask collectors of vintage knives about how they feel about rehandled knives. The purists won’t have anything to do with them, while the practicals say if the part is original to the knife then it is a collectible.

Well what about when it comes to pearl handles? Pretty hard to find replacement scales that are original. It is much easier to find bone. So, what do we do when an old pearl handled knife that has had its handles replaced with newer pearl handles?

One question that must be answered is “How do I know the knife originally had pearl handles and it is not a bone handled knife replaced with pearl?” That is difficult to determine in many cases. We have to go back and look at the old catalogs and billheads to determine if the knife was ever produced in pearl.

Then we must look at the pattern numbers on the knife to see if it matches the records, like the 8250 and 8251 Case stamp. Many old knives will not be that easy. Old records can be difficult to get our hands on.

We must also look at the maker of the knife. Were they known to produce toenails in lots of variations? If they did, then it is likely they made pearl toenails too. In the case of contract knives, the same applies. Again, many times we can conclude pearl toenails were likely to have been made.

You can see we can’t simply rush to judge here. We must do some digging. We do know pearl toenails are rare. Recently we looked at a pair of nice old pearl handles. The newer ones are fairly easy to spot. So, for toenail collectors, how do we value pearl handled knives with newer handles?

As far as I’m concerned, I do want original pearl handles, no doubt. These knives are right up there at the top in desirability and value. Toenails known to be authentic pearl toenails but had their scales replaced with newer handles are still desirable. It is going to be up to the collector as to if they see them as collectible and if they do how they value them. What about the toenails that can’t be nailed down to have been produced in pearl? Maybe that maker did or didn’t. We just can’t make a definitive determination. Again, I think it is going to come down to the preferences of each individual collector. Personally, I’m not going to not buy an old toenail with newer pearl solely because I don’t know for a fact that knife wasn’t ever produced in pearl. I’m a potential buyer, but it is going to be a function of the price.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post two pearl toenails that are for sale right now, so be thinking about your personal criteria and preferences- especially if you haven’t ever thought about it before.

Over the last several months I’ve been watching and listening to collectible experts, including several from the knife collecting world.

As it relates to values of our collectibles, they are all in agreement that the best condition collectible is going to hold its own. It may or may not increase in value, but its value should be stable during our current period of economic uncertainty. However, collectibles that don’t qualify as “the best” will take it on the chin until the recovery takes hold.

This Case Bros stag brought 66% of its 2007 price

Yesterday, we got a real time example of a hit to the chin.

In November of 2007, a stag handled Case Brothers (5250) sold for $770.

Yesterday, May of 2009, that same knife sold for $510.

Without getting into the sellers’ reputation, condition (it was the same for both sales) descriptions/disclosures, a November vs a May auction date, a pre-Thanksgiving vs. a Memorial weekend auction closing date and other fine nuisances, what we saw was the same knife bring 66% of what it sold for a year and a half earlier. Both auctions were on eBay.

The agony of defeat. Moments ago, I lost a knife I wanted, but just not enough.

I am talking about being runner up in an auction. I just didn’t want to pay retail price. While I do have several already, I didn’t have a pearl with XX stamped out on the blade, in this condition.

In case you haven’t been out prospecting for toenails over the last week and didn’t know there was a Case Brothers pearl toenail up for auction. It was being sold for the executor of an estate in Michigan.

Less than a minute ago the bidding closed. While the number of bidders was limited to 7, it narrowed down to two once the bidding got over $1000. Me and the eventual winner.

Guys, this knife was a keeper. It was an Excellent + to Near Mint example of a 100 year old Case Brothers pearl toenail.

While I wallow in my grief, I’ll close with its picture. Oh yeah, I almost forgot- it sold for $3439.99. It was worth it too. Congratulations to the winner!

When my wounds heal, I’ll post in under Recent Sales here at ET.com. The post about its pearl handles were shown here earlier today.

Pearl toenails are rare. All you have to do is search The List at ET.com to realize this. And while The List is by no means every toenail made, it does give us a feel for the different knives out there. In fact, only 7% of the 250 different knives cataloged on The List are pearl. If you think about all the old toenails made, I bet the percentage of pearls is much lower than that.

Because pearls are rare and we don’t run across them often, I thought I would show you what you are looking for when you look at the handles. If you have never seen an old pearl up close, the handles may appear to be less than desirable (if you are used to looking at MINT knives, that is).

Nothing can be further from the truth though. Seeing pearl like this is like having black stuff (black gold, Texas tea) bubbling up in your backyard.

What you see here is AGE. This particular knife is about 100 years old.

Again let’s keep the look of pearl in context. We’re talking old knives. And this is what old looks like.

After having my ear to the ground, I am convinced collectors are letting go of some high quality toenails right now.

Whether it is related to the economy or folks just cashing out, some very nice toenails have, and I believe will continue to, make their way to our attention.

Recently, we’ve seen a high quality Jumbo Swellcenter, a pearl Case Brothers, a stag Case Brothers, a few hardware brands and others come up for sale.

We have known there are some extremely rare and excellent conditioned toenails in collections out there. Most of these collectors stay below the radar.

My recommendation is to 1) Start setting aside a war chest of cash to be in a position to take advantage of these opportunities, 2) Start talking to anyone in the Knife World about what you are looking for, and 3) Watch all auctions- online or traditional. Attend as many shows as you can. We will probably have to find them and not expect them to come knocking on our door.

If you are an eBay watcher then you have undoubtly noticed the decent quality toenails going off there lately. Late today, another knife friend passed on one to me that has just been added.

While Camillus doesn’t seem to rank up there with Platts, Case Brothers, Napanoch and W R Case & SON and the other grade A Brands, Camillus is still a fine brand and one that should move up a notch or two with them shutting down in 2006.

While I do I a number of them, I am not a Camillus expert, but from what I have read it seems the 4 line is the older model.

This one is worth checking out-

Roger Cunningham, the ETCC Vice President, pointed out a Jumbo Swellcenter is being auctioned on eBay right now.

Here’s what the seller has to say about it-

“I have a great old sunfish knife up for bid.  It is a W.R. Case and Sons, winterbottom bone with full blades and excellent condition.  This knife is built on the old Platts frame, and I am dating it at about 1903.  These knives book at 3500 if you can find one .  This one is in great condition.  It takes a thick thumbnail to open it, the backspring is that strong.  Nice winterbottom bone handles make this an extremely rare piece.”

I’m not sure about the date being able to be pinned down to a single year.

Too bad the seller dictated a starting bid of right at $2000 to get into it. Personally, I am convinced an item will bring its worth without forcing buyers to start at a wholesale price. Plus, the market is deep enough (sufficient demand) that it would have brought what it was worth. We may have been willing to spend $2000- $5000 after being caught up in the fever, but he is asking us to commit to spend $2000 cold.

It will be interesting to watch a quality knife sell today via eBay. Before I bid, however, I would ask for additional close-ups of the handles and stamps, for sure. These are my favorite swellcenter handles. I don’t know they are technically Winterbottom. I was told by Joe Seale they called Platts Bone. But, I’m OK with Winterbottom bone if you are.

I know many of you watch eBay, but in case you missed this one-

Case Brothers Toenail

Yesterday the auction closed on a nice looking Case Brothers wormgroove bone handled toenail. The bidding was active with 11 bids and the final bid price was $415.

In the end, the seller’s reserve was not met. But for my purpose here, let’s look at a couple things-

From the photos put up the knife looked good and the seller’s description was good.

I always have to look at what the seller didn’t say. In this case, I don’t see anything about the degree of legibility of the stamps. 

Also, the seller says “the snap is good,” but does this mean “acceptable” or did he mean really good? Probably only “good” as in acceptable.

The masterblade was reshaped. Interesting. Makes me wonder if it had broken at some point, or if someone just wanted to make it a clip blade for the heck of it….who knows. Yes, the masterblade is very short too.

The question is did the reshaping and length of the masterblade “set” the price or was it the lack of info on the clarity of the stamps? Or a combo.

We know a Excellent condition or better Case Brothers can command a price above $2000. We saw several sales in 2008/07 to support this fact. So, what “set” the price here at under $500? (I am not grading this particular knife as Excellent. If the stamps were poor and the snap is only acceptable, then considering the length and reshaped masterblade it is probably only Fair.)

Also, a “reserve” auction affects the final price negatively. In our auction business, an unreserved auction brings more money because bidders know it will sale. This could have been a factor.

Or is this price a reflection of the market conditions at this time?? Or did it bring all it was worth?

I’d love to hear comments back from any of you who actually bid on this knife as to why it was judged to have only been worth this price.

Case XX Greenbone

Did you notice the recent eBay auction of the Case XX? One heck of an auction for one jewel of a toenail!

Greenbone Case XX are rare- much more common are the redbones. Greenbones are believed to have been made in the early XX era. This seller reported it to have been made between 1040- 1955. I can go for that.

It had very active bidding with 34 bids. The final sales price was $853.

I posted it in Recent Sales.