All About Pocket Knives

I found this out browsing at an antique mall and I’m thinking of going back tomorrow to pick it up. Not sure on year.

Depends on condition.
Cracks?
Chips?
Dings?
Rust?
Snap?
Authenticity?
Can't tell from that one pic.

bhuber wrote:I found this out browsing at an antique mall and I’m thinking of going back tomorrow to pick it up. Not sure on year.

The condition is important. If it’s in good condition, then to answer your question, yes it is a good buy at 26. Check completed or sold auctions on EBay to verify, but I bet you won’t find many that cheap. It does look to be Delrin handled so it’s not the more expensive handle material, but it’s still worth that and more for a Queen in good condition.
Good luck,

Sharpnshinyknives wrote:

bhuber wrote:I found this out browsing at an antique mall and I’m thinking of going back tomorrow to pick it up. Not sure on year.

The condition is important. If it’s in good condition, then to answer your question, yes it is a good buy at 26. Check completed or sold auctions on EBay to verify, but I bet you won’t find many that cheap. It does look to be Delrin handled so it’s not the more expensive handle material, but it’s still worth that and more for a Queen in good condition.
Good luck,

My problem is I’m not sure what model # it is. I will have to go back tomorrow and look. Based on my other 2 queen knives, I’m pretty sure it’s authentic. I’m willing to gamble $26

bhuber wrote:

Sharpnshinyknives wrote:

bhuber wrote:I found this out browsing at an antique mall and I’m thinking of going back tomorrow to pick it up. Not sure on year.

The condition is important. If it’s in good condition, then to answer your question, yes it is a good buy at 26. Check completed or sold auctions on EBay to verify, but I bet you won’t find many that cheap. It does look to be Delrin handled so it’s not the more expensive handle material, but it’s still worth that and more for a Queen in good condition.
Good luck,

My problem is I’m not sure what model # it is. I will have to go back tomorrow and look. Based on my other 2 queen knives, I’m pretty sure it’s authentic. I’m willing to gamble $26

It looks like a two blade gunstock jack in Delrin with Winterbottom jigged. Hope that helps a little.

I'd look that sucker over like crazy. I've seen knives that looked unused, but had a lot of problems. Namely, a 1980s Kabar that had no snap on the main blade. It's tight, so I suspect it came that way from the factory. It looks good to me, but something looks weird on the pile side scale; like a chip's out of it. I think it's worth the $26, but I'd talk the seller down. They might refuse, but it never hurts to ask. Sometimes, it's saved me as much as half.

Same advice here.
If she is in just nice condition totally worth $26. Nicer than good condition, steal. But it doesn't hurt to dicker a little.
Ebay is actually a bad place to get an idea of prices. Best is to look in knife books and talk to lots of collectors. Because on ebay, asking price and even sold listings wont give you true value. People over and under spend so easily. We are talk actual value, not what you pay for the thing. Then ebay is a great place to get an idea. Like the whole of collecting anything, knowledge comes with experience. Not talking about you know what.

I'm ready to bet a nickle that the side covers are real Winterbottom bone. While Queen did not quit using Winterbottom bone Winterbottom Delrin became the larger part of their production in the 1970s if not the 1960s. Being bone makes it more likely that it is older. The only thing I have to help guess at its size is comparing the nail nick to the size of the master blade. My guess is that it is the common 3 1/4" handle that is used for Stockmans and Jack Knives and much less often for Whittlers. I won't bet money on its size but I will bet another nickle that it is not a gunstock pattern.

Since you can do so inspect it but based on only seeing that half of one side of the knife I'd pay the $26 in a heart beat.

bhuber wrote: My problem is I’m not sure what model # it is. I will have to go back tomorrow and look. Based on my other 2 queen knives, I’m pretty sure it’s authentic. I’m willing to gamble $26

The tag implies it's a #2 pattern which is a Serpentine Jack at about 3 1/4 inches closed.

Thanks all! I’m going to go and give it a little closer inspection today. I have to say, the willingness of member to help out others here is second to none. I greatly appreciate it!! I’ll report back if I pick it up.

For $26, I don't think you could got wrong unless there's no snap or the blade wobbles like crazy. But I understand that sometimes money is tight for various reasons and you certainly don't want to waste $26 for nothing.

Therefore, if it's at least in the "acceptable" range, I'd say you have a pretty good knife.

____________
Mike

WillyCamaro wrote:
Ebay is actually a bad place to get an idea of prices. Best is to look in knife books and talk to lots of collectors. Because on ebay, asking price and even sold listings wont give you true value. People over and under spend so easily. We are talk actual value, not what you pay for the thing. Then ebay is a great place to get an idea. Like the whole of collecting anything, knowledge comes with experience. Not talking about you know what.

Willy I’m not following your logic here. True value is what someone is willing to pay. If several someones are willing to pay that price, even better.

Book values however are static. They are whatever the author fixed them at when the book was written. True values fluctuate over time. Knife values are dynamic. They change depending on the economy, collector fads, availability of raw materials (stag, pearl, etc), laws (ivory), inflation, and other variables.

A recent example: Case 63047, 1971-1979 dotted mint to near mint condition. Sargents Premium Guide to Knives and Razors 7th edition, published 2008 says value is $60. Pfeiffer’s Collecting Case Knives 2nd edition, published 2015 says value is $65. However three of them have sold on eBay in the past couple of weeks for between $42 and $48. So are they currently worth about $45, or $60, or $65?

EBay provides a wide audience of potential bidders, so its sold listings are a good resource for what buyers are willing to pay (in other words the true value) at the time of the auction. In other words, it’s a good place to get an idea of current prices. I do agree that eBay asking prices aren’t a good resource - you need to look at sold listings. On the other hand book value is the author’s educated opinion at the time the book was written - likely years ago.

Ken

For me, value is assigned by the seller or someone else (in a book?), pre-sale.
Worth is what I or someone else is willing to pay for it.

Value vs. Worth
Well said, Jerry.

Thanks Steve.

Okay guys you got me here - maybe.
We can debate the semantics of "value" vs "worth" - obviously I didn't make it clear what I meant.

The OP question was "is this a fair price?". The statement I was calling into question is

WillyCamaro wrote: Ebay is actually a bad place to get an idea of prices. Best is to look in knife books

I disagree - politely of course . The context is price. I don't believe using books for price reference is better than eBay sold listings. I should have made it clearer but that's why I asked Willy for clarification of his logic.

Ken

I'm inclined to agree that Ebay is a better reference for current value than knife books. The book prices are often outdated by the time the books are published, not to mention months or even years afterward.

The legal definition of FAIR MARKET VALUE is what one party is willing to pay and another party willing to accept, neither party being under duress.

Fair market value changes from sale to sale and party to party. eBay is the classic example of fair market value.

Colonel26 wrote:The legal definition of FAIR MARKET VALUE is what one party is willing to pay and another party willing to accept, neither party being under duress.

Fair market value changes from sale to sale and party to party. eBay is the classic example of fair market value.

Exactly.

Ok fellas. When you explain it all that way, i think i get it better now. I was wrong this time around. A least i understand better now than before. Looking at my statement, it even doesn't make sense to me now. I guess i ways trying to say what you said Ken.
Sorry about that fellars.
I agree Ken. That part of my statement makes no sense to me either, and i was the one who said it...

Thank you Ken, Jerry, Rail, Colonial for clearing me up. I guess my fibro fog was acting up. I think i get into trouble when i try to say more then a little at one time.

Ain't no thing dude.

Boy if I had a nickel for every time I had something all figured out in my head and by the time it came out of my mouth (or fingers in this case) it made no sense, I’d be a very wealthy man.

No problem Willy! I was just trying to understand myself what you meant. We're all still learning.

Ken

I appreciate everyone’s responses. I went back and took a closer look at the knife. One issue is that the back scale is missing a pin. The scale is still attached and not broken but with the missing pin, it’s raised up off the knife. If it were $10 I’d snatch it up. Almost all of my slipjoints have some type of sentimental value and I like the fact that they are much more affordable than modern tactical custom and production knives, which I also collect. Queen has always held a place in my heart because it was what my dad carried (model 44 hunter) and something I always remember him by, even before I became an knife nut. I’m glad I have that knife.