Real or Fake Case xx

[Mgdnow24]

What is the marking above the pattern number?

Also confused on the pattern number for this knife, was told wrong blade mix up at factory or is this a modified knife? Thanks Steve

[Mumbleypeg]

Nothing wrong with the knife. The blade is left-over inventory from a run of blades made for some SFO club knife. It’s not a mix-up at the factory. Cutlery companies including Case are notoriously frugal. Case was especially frugal even more-so during the 1980s - 1990s due to financial strain. They put the “c-within-a-C” stamp on that blade to signify that the pattern number on it might not match the knife it is in. Blades having that stamp were used on club knives, and sometimes put into standard production to consume the inventory. “Waste not, want not”.
There are more threads here about the topic. viewtopic.php?p=1034749&hilit=Colonel+Coon#p1034749

viewtopic.php?p=973496#p973496

BTW it’s very unlikely to find such a recently made (post-1970) knife that has been intentionally counterfeited. There is not enough money in it to entice a counterfeiter. However you might find one some tinkerer has rehandled, to salvage it, or just because they liked a different cover than the one it came with.

Ken

[rea1eye]

Learned something. Never saw a c within the C.

Bob

[knifeaholic]

Most likely an overrun of a club knife. The 92 in yellow handles would have been a special order as it was never in the Case standard product line.