Is this a fake 88

[Bcg3255]

Is this 88 legitimate?

[olderdogs1]

from the pictures it looks good. Is it yours?

Tom

[jlw257]

I’m with Tom, the knife look okay

[Bcg3255]

It’s a buddy’s of mine..he just got it and we had some issues with the choils so I wanted to ask the pros..

[just bob]

I don't know if it is legit or not, but that bone Is beautiful. Nice find!

[herbva]

I don't call myself a Case expert and probably should not be commenting on this. But, since you ask, there are a couple of things about the tang stamp in the last picture that jumped out at me. I just looked at a few of the Case Tested knives in my collection. If you look at the letter "E" in the last picture, I see that the far right parts of the top and bottom of the letter "E" in you picture slant outward or away to the right. Mine are all straight up and down. Also, where the curved part of the "C" turns into the "long tail" that underlines the entire word, mine are all a smooth curved transition, where yours makes an abrupt connection, like 2 different parts were stuck together. I know that Case used a variety of stamps, and that is probably be the cause of the difference I am noticing. Now that you mention it, the choils do look like they are a bit deep to me. I too, am interested to hear what the real experts have to say.

[olderdogs1]

It’s a buddy’s of mine..he just got it and we had some issues with the choils so I wanted to ask the pros..

The choils are probably deeper because somebody cleaned the knife and made the choils deeper at that time. Not unusual to see that.

Tom

[Mumbleypeg]

It looks okay to me. It has been fairly heavily buffed though. The bone and jigging looks good and that shield is correct for a Tested era knife.

Looks like there was a lot of rust pitting. Someone tried to buff it but just made it shine - you can still see the pitting on blades and especially the tang areas.

JMO

Ken

[just bob]

The choils are probably deeper because somebody cleaned the knife and made the choils deeper at that time. Not unusual to see that.

Tom



Tom would you prefer to purchase a knife like this that has been buffed and polished over a knife that in it's natural state with rust and corrosion? Wouldn't an uncleaned knife be worth more? What is a ball park value on this knife?

[btrwtr]

Can't say that I like this knife. Heavily cleaned and buffed is my first reason for not liking it. Knives like this are hard to evaluate because it is very hard to tell what has been done to them in addition to the cleaning and buffing. Cleaning takes the honesty out of the knife IMO. The fact that both the large blades look very full as compared to the smaller blades is a bad sign. 88 pattern knives are highly susceptible to reworking due to the $$$ involved.

[Bcg3255]

I do appreciate all the comments. I know it’s hard just looking at pictures to truly get the feel of the knife. It is a beauty but in the hand there’s some things that make a man take a second or tenth look. The two main blades look to have just left the factory. The shield does have some issues. I’ll try to find out where the knife came from , as in the seller, and that could shed some real light on it. Thanks again.

[olderdogs1]

The choils are probably deeper because somebody cleaned the knife and made the choils deeper at that time. Not unusual to see that.

Tom



Tom would you prefer to purchase a knife like this that has been buffed and polished over a knife that in it's natural state with rust and corrosion? Wouldn't an uncleaned knife be worth more? What is a ball park value on this knife?

Bob, I prefer a knife not cleaned, all things considered. I don’t however like knives that have rust. It is always interesting to me that some are totally against any cleaning but will still say use simichrome or steel wool on the blades. To me any abrasive ay all is in fact cleaning a knife. Just a personal preference on how minor or how far one chooses to take it.
I will say that I definitely do not like to see a knife that has significant blade loss sanded and buffed and then advertised as almost mint. It is not of course. Not trying to open a can of worms here, just stating my opinion which is of course no more valuable that anyone else’s.

Tom

[Gunsil]

The two main blades do not look like they just left the factory, they look heavily ground and buffed and there is loss of definition, and like stated above the choils look to have been cut in larger than normal because there is metal missing along the blade edges.

Tom, steel wool is not an abrasive to knife blades, it is softer than blade steel and will not remove any solid metal, only rust which is softer than the steel wool. Simichrome is abrasive to blade steel and I am one of those who hates to see folks use it on knives.

[jlw257]

I have a question concerning the tang stamp on the OP knife.

The E in Case looks different

[btrwtr]

I honestly didn't look as far as the stamp but that looks pretty peculiar. Witcher's book does show it pg. 175

[olderdogs1]

I have a question concerning the tang stamp on the OP knife.

The E in Case looks different

Larry, That is a really good question and I am glad you asked it. In my opinion, again keep in mind we all have one, both stamps are correct. I am posting a very similar stamp on a Tested Winterbottom 88 that I feel certain is correct. I have several examples that are in fact like yours. There are a lot of variations in Case stamps and of course the Tested era knives get more attention as they are the ones that seem to be frequently counterfeited.

Tom

[jlw257]

Thanks Tom for answering my question

L
PS: I drool every time I see your Winterbottom 6488

[olderdogs1]

Thanks Tom for answering my question

L
PS: I drool every time I see your Winterbottom 6488

Have to collect something since you have all the great greenbone knives, lol

Tom

[RalphAlsip]

What I'm about to comment on might be an artifact of the photography rather than a true abnormality. I don't like how the parts of the tang are shinier and smoother than other parts. It would make me wonder if a new blade had been welded onto an old tang. Both main blades appear to show this effect.

[Bcg3255]

More pics of the knife.

[jlw257]

Bcg3255, your buddy has a very rare knife, it’s in remarkable shape for a 80+ year old knife. Beautiful Handles Greenbones too. :

[Hillbilly70]

What I'm about to comment on might be an artifact of the photography rather than a true abnormality. I don't like how the parts of the tang are shinier and smoother than other parts. It would make me wonder if a new blade had been welded onto an old tang. Both main blades appear to show this effect.

That’s something you don’t think much about but I just a few days ago run across a XX 5299 that the blade had been welded at the tang!

[Bcg3255]

Bcg3255, your buddy has a very rare knife, it’s in remarkable shape for a 80+ year old knife. Beautiful Handles Greenbones too. :

It is a great looking knife and I do appreciate all the input. But for me there will always be that nagging feeling about the authenticity. If it’s not the real deal it’ll be a very expensive fake. If it is the real deal it’ll be the Mt Rushmore of his collection. That’s some giant ifs! Too big for me to touch.

[herbva]

Wow, I love that saddlehorn in your last photo. Can we see more pics?

[just bob]

I suspect we will see more and more knives with blades welded at the tang as modern welding equipment is more suited for this type of work. Is there an idiot proof way of discovering a weld like daubing it with a q tip dipped in gun bluing or something? Wouldn't it be great if the person that welded them up put their initials on the inside of the liners. You could have a nice looking restored knife, but the repair would be known and the knife would have a far lesser value. Not saying the knife in the op was welded at the tang for sure - just saying some are.