Case Knife Identification

[BLAKE]

I am trying to find out if anyone knows anything about a fixed blade Case Knife I just bought. Case has confirmed that it is not a regular production or custom knife, but they believe it may be a concept knife made when Mr. Parker ran the company. There are no records on what knives were made. Unfortunately, Mr. Parker died recently. His son knows about the knives but does not remember the knife. Here is what I know:

1. The knife is a little less than 8" with a 3 3/8" damascus drop point blade.

2. The handle is genuine stag with a front nickel steel bolster and brass pins. There is no pommel. This is a slab handle with the full tang visible.

3. The left side of the blade is stamped with the following:

CASE X?
BRADFORD, PA
19 USA 9?
5234A

The stamp is not very heavy and some of the letters and numbers are obscured by the damascus design. However, I'm fairly certain that I have correctly identified the above except where there are question marks. I just can't make out the additional X or the year number in the damascus design. I know the year must be 90-93 and the pattern numbers are consitent with the handle material and other Case fixed blades; i.e., I can find an earlier stag knife pattern #5235. I also cannot find a reference to the abbreviation "A". This abbreviation rather than a "D" makes no sense to me.

A picture is attached.

Does anyone know about this?

Thanks

Blake

[BLAKE]

This is not a regular production knife produced by Case. According to Case, Jim in Customer Relations, and Shirley Bozer, the Historian, this is a knife made by case in 1990. It is a “Custom Hunter” designed by Blackie Collins as a concept knife. Case sent people to Blackie Collins to learn how to make this knife. At the same time Case bought the machine to do the finger grooves. The Custom Hunters were not made very long, did not have a pattern number, and were not made with Damascus Steel. Ms. Bozer does not know what the pattern number is because it is not a pattern number that used by Case. She believes that Case was working on a concept pattern for this knife and used Damascus steel and this patern number. Mr. Parker ran the company in 1989 and 1990. These are the only years Case used Damacus Steel. Consequently, the number of the year that this knife was made can only be 1990.

[Bryan]

Hi Blake,

Welcome to the forum. Nice knife! Interesting history behind it as well. I've never seen a Case like it. I was going to mention seeking some assistance from Shirley, but it looks like you already have. She is very helpful with such things.

Bryan

[BLAKE]

Thanks Bryan. The folks at Case were fantastic at helping identify and authenticate this knife. The stamps seemed real enough, but I simply could not find any information from anywhere else. I'm relatively new to knife collecting, and I appreciate your input. This is a one of a kind knife and a great find!

Blake

[El Lobo]

Here is a link to a thread off the W. R. Case Forum......
http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthreads/s ... t=all&vc=1
knifeaholic, who is a knowledgeable collector/seller, makes mention of the hunting knife.
Just a little information.

Bill

[BLAKE]

I recently visited the NKCA web site and to my surprise a picture of this knife was shown in one of the banners. From the Damascus design its not the same knife, but I asked about it and where it came from. One of the members told me that it was a Case concept knife that never made it into production and that they had talked to Jim Parker who verified this information. Shirley Boser told me that they usually made 2 concept knives-one for the plant and one for the customer. Interesting stuff. Anybody know how to put a value on this knife?

[swede88]

Blake,

I have a very similar knife that I bought at the Bear MFG customer appreciation day this past oct. It's marked:

Case xx
19 USA 90
Bradford, PA
595-2 3/4 D

I'll try to get a pic up soon. It has a differant blade disign & is 6 1/2 overall. I originally thought it was a knife that was bought from Case & used as a pattern for Bear's model 596D,as it the exact knife but if Case was having the blades made by Bear as I have now learned it must have been one that was made & left back in the Bear vault.

Swede