Open C or closed C CASE XX

[Jporter1974]

I have read that some XX era knives didn't have pattern number stamping until the mid 1940s. My question is : Did case use the closed C shield on any of the early examples of the XX era knives?

[knifeaholic]

I have read that some XX era knives didn't have pattern number stamping until the mid 1940s. My question is : Did case use the closed C shield on any of the early examples of the XX era knives?

Yes you will find some early XX's with the Tested-style closed C shield. Also many Testeds with the open C shield.

[Jporter1974]

Thanks Steve, its an honor to have you step out and answer my question.I'd really like to pick your brain for a few days on case xx or a " Ask Steve " blog would be super cool. I know enough on case xx to look for certain things and I'm learning all the variations of the XX era stamping and trying to differentiate factory from conterfeit,grinding marks, blade thickness verses spring thickness and so on..XX era knives can be very costly and you can really get yourself set on fire in trades if you ain't careful. Thanks for sharing some knowledge. ~Porter

[Mumbleypeg]

Steve's book, second edition, has a lot of great info regarding shields used by Case and dates they were used. It should be noted that although some Tested era knives did use the open C shield, all those I have seen also had the "tall S".

If you see a Tested knife with both an open C and a short S, run! Unfortunately a lot of those fakes exist, especially on eBay and they're a giveaway that something is not right. (Make a visit over to the "Counterfeit Watch" forum here to see some examples.)

Here's a quick take.

Ken

Closed C, Tall S shield. Tested era into early XX

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Block letter shield. Tested era

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Open C, Tall S shield. XX era and some later Tested era

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Open C, short S shield. Late XX (rare), U.S.A. era through early 1980s

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[knifeaholic]

Mumbleypeg, thanks for posting that. I should have mentioned too that you will find the "open C tall S" XX era shield on a small percentage of Case XX USA stamped knives.