All About Pocket Knives

Any Knowledgeable Case collector some info please.
Was the P172 put out with several different etches or names? I acquired this one today and wonder what I would have been safe paying.
moss

is that supposed to be a 1970?

great looking knife moss. ive seen some like that listed as 1970 on ebay but i believe its a 1980. what makes me think this is that all the other 70s models i looked at on ebay have the dots under the usa, where this one has it over the usa...... so i wouldnt think they would put them over the usa on the 1970 and under the usa on the rest of them in the same decade. also, the case shield on the handle doesnt have the circle around it, which is another thing that leads me to believe its a 1980 and not a 70. the one thing that throws me is the regular s's in the stamping, but the dots are above the usa instead of below it. also, the pocket knife traders price guide doesnt list one for 1970 but lists for 65-69 and again in 71? anyway, the 1980 books at 200.00 in the latest edition of parkers price guide for the 1980, 10 dot and i dont know what you have in it moss, but i would guess you probably did pretty good on it.

there is no 10 dot 1970 p172. the 1980 should have a lightning s in case.

These questions you mentioned, I had them also and thats why I asked. No, I did not say it was a 70 although it is a 1970 dot marking. No one mentioned the dots and usa being on the pile side and the model number on polish side. Some further research last eve. Shows the true value if mint to be between 100-150. I did do okay. There is always the possibility that someone got a bit dis honest with a punch, if so they did a rather good job. They are proclaimed to be handmade so it could have been an error by the person who did the Tangs. I have found others with this number that are sans the Buffalo blade, something else. Any info on that.

moss
Edit1: Here are some photos of these clasp knives and their dots, they are from ebay so not of much quality. They are interesting though. One has the dots below handmade. After seeing these I think it is the handmade thing. They are all marked on pile side though.
Edit2: I did find two advertised as 1970 ten dot and one as a 1980 ten dot for what it is worth.

I have the same knife I emailed Shirley Boser at case and she informed me it was a 1980 model. There was no buffalo made in 1970.

Hey Steve:
Interesting that you brought up the circle around case on the shield. Check out the photos of this three dot. It has no circle either. I still say its a choice thing thing by the person who stamps the tangs and mounts the shields.
moss

http://cgi.ebay.com/CASE-XX-USA-1977-P1 ... dZViewItem

100% correct 1980 model IMO. The P172 pattern is a different bird in that the tang stamps are different than most of Case's other slipjoint paterns. No lightening s's on the early 80s models and the dots are on back of both 70s and 80s models. I think Case stopped putting the oval on the shield of this pattern in the early to mid 70s. Can't remember the exact year for sure.

There's at least one exception to the 80's stamped 72 pattern that I just recently learned about. There was an E172 SFO for SMKW in the late 1980s. It has the lightening SS stamp with dots on the mark side like most of Case's other slipjoint patterns...

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... f=4&t=9390

Bryan

yes, that was my point about the circle not being on the shield. ive seen a 65-69 and it has the oval circle around case in the shield, but the mid to later 70s and 80s knives didnt have them i dont believe. i had also emailed shirley boser at case, one time about a buffalo knife just like that with the same stamp, as to inquire about when it was made, because it looked like a 70s stamping to me to and i wanted it for my 1970, 10 dot collection, but i was told the same thing they told mm, that it was a 1980. the thing i dont understand is why they made them in 65-69 and not in 1970 and then started making them again in 1971??

Steve:
I agree, I would also like the answer to that question, Way back in the back part of my recollection it seems there was a couple of folks who went to work doing special blade marks in 1971, I cant for the life of me remember the names. They did Gerbers, Cases and some others also I think. I think they did a limited edition of the buffalo folder for Case. It seems they hand carved the edition.
moss

If it's a 1980 then why no lightning S ?

Tater
As a guess, special handmade knife. Special indicators. Check the post from Bryan a few back. It might convince you. By the way, it is tough remembering research for a week or maybe a month. Ten years is just to long.
Thanks,
moss

Mossdancer wrote:Tater
As a guess, special handmade knife. Special indicators. Check the post from Bryan a few back. It might convince you. By the way, it is tough remembering research for a week or maybe a month. Ten years is just to long.
Thanks,
moss

Check out "Collecting Case Knives" by Steve Pfeiffer. Page 216. He explains this. "OOPS" knife only about 600 made.

Thanks guys I have one of those and thought all along it was a 1970, wow oops only 600 !!!!