Newbie with a Case

[Andamo]

Hello, I have a Case knife that I would like to find the value of. It was my Dad's knife and I don't know where he got it. From what I'm seeing, it looks like it was built between 1932-1940. I can't get a clear pic of the blade when it's open, but it says Case with the letter C having a long ''tail'' that goes under the word Case and then curls downward at the end. It also says Tested XX under the name Case. The knife is 5.25'' long, but I don't know what the handle material is made from. If I could just get a ballpark number on it's worth and maybe someone on here could recommend someone in the Pittsburgh, PA area that could give me an appraisal. Thank you very much.

[Ramrod]

Hello & welcome
I dont know what its worth, but I do know the handles are Stag.
Are there any numbers on the blades?
Mark

[MrBlister]

Thats a Tested 5265 (stag scales) .. . book value is $1,100.00 !!!!
yep $1,100 ! !! !! !

[Slomo]

Welcome to AAPK Andamo as you can see there are a great group of knowledgeable guys here who are more than willing to help us newbies (like me and you ) out.

Looks like you got your answers to both questions pretty quick...Wow on the book value and those are some beautiful stag handles. I just can't stop looking at them.

James

[MrBlister]

Heres' mine....
sorta like yours.....

come see us in chat !!
and welcome to AAPK ..

HET!!!

[Mumbleypeg]

Andamo, welcome to AAPK. Nice old knife you've got there. Hope not to burst your bubble but just to clarify, that $1100 ol' Blister was talking about is for the knife in pristine mint condition. Value goes down pretty quickly from there. You've still got a really nice knife, and one you should be proud to own! Knives like yours come up for auction on eBay occasionally, so you can search ebay completed auctions for Case Tested 5265. See what knives like yours, in similar condition as yours, have sold for. Not foolproof but it should give you a good ballpark reference as to value. Of course, you can't put a value on it being your dads knife. That's priceless!

Ken

[Andamo]

Thanks for the welcomes and the replies folks. The knife does have a small chip on one of the stag handles. The blades are in good shape, but dirty and the mechanism is nice and tight. I didn't want to clean it up and just leave it in the condition as is. And no, I can't find any sort of numbers on the blades or the main body itself.
Years ago, one of the fellows I worked with, and trusted his opinion, offered me $200 for the knife. He's a collector and that quote of his sorta leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

My wife and I are in the downsizing mode right now and are planning on moving to Florida from beautiful -15 degree western PA around the summer of 2016. I don't have anyone to pass the knife along to, so I'll probably be putting it up for sale....along with 71 years of other ''accumulations''

[peanut740]

$200 is probably in the ballpark of what's it is actually worth.

[Rookie]

I was going to say, $200 isn't horrible. That's enough for someone to buy it and probably turn a small profit on it. I have one in slightly better condition that I've taken to knife shows for 5+ years and have for sale for $350. As you can tell, I still have the knife, so I'm probably asking too much for it for the condition it is in.

[Andamo]

I really didn't need to sell it but I was trying to minimize the things I was planning on taking with me on the move to Florida. Then one night while sipping a Gentleman Jack and water, I got to thinking that's it's the only thing that was my grandfathers, then my Dad's and now mine. Even though I don't have anyone to pass it along too, I've decided to keep it and just put a note in a box I have it in so that when I'm gone at least someone will know it does have some value.

[stockman]

Good choice you can enjoy it for a while longer.

Harold

[Rookie]

I agree, good choice. More than likely it will only go up in value over the years from here on out. If you decide to sell it in 20 years, you'll still get some cash out of it. In the meantime, a knife doesn't take up much space, and like you said, now that knife has had 3 generations of owners.

[zp4ja]

I agree also with the others. Excellent epiphany over a drink. Something like that is priceless if you valued your Grandfather and Father, in my opinion. Beautiful knife, enjoy it in good health. Besides with all that organizing, packing and moving a knife is a very useful tool. That knife is a workhorse and will not let you down. Put it in your pocket as your family I am sure did.

Nice high pull blade, stag and all the rest. Your grandfather had good taste. I agree without seeing additional knife pics, maybe 200 bucks is a fair deal/value.

Regards, Jerry