855 Bicentennial Knife - sample, prototype or other?
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:08 pm
I'm not sure what I bought. It's an 855 made up for the 1976 celebration. The artwork is the same on both sides - GW and a couple of red coats. The mark side also has '76 in the center. The pins are buried in the plastic covers with only the center pin visible - the other two are covered up but can be seen from the inside of the knife. I'm also reasonably sure it's a Swinden. The knife looks good but it's actually kind of rough all over. Both plastic covers have ruts running the length in the center and are very wavy to the touch. They just weren't finished. Also the pen blade doesn't line up perfect against the spring when open - it sits proud maybe a 32nd or so. Before I bid on it I sent a pic to Michael Little to ask if he'd ever seen one and he said no but suggested it might have been a sample for Parker back then. One last detail is the tang stamp. It's a 4 line stamp with a double aught over stamp that I haven't come across before but when you get up close and personal with it, it actually seems as though the '00' was stamped first and the Schrade stamp is on top of that. Weird, right? Looking for opinions here. What is this knife?