need help with old Case knife ID

Babysitr · #1 01-24-2021, 04:24 PM

My dad passed in 1993 and this old knife of his recently surfaced..it was suffering from some nasty corrosion.

.a month soaking in red's, brass wool and mothers,its getting there! But I cant find any info on the model or what it may be worth (priceless to me)...from the 1950's I think? any Case guys out there? Thanks

s&wchad · #2 01-24-2021, 04:49 PM

Looks great!
I believe that pattern is called an Elephant Toe.

You can date it here: W.R. Case & Sons Pocket Knife Age Identification

k22fan · #3 01-24-2021, 04:49 PM

It is a pattern 6250 made in the 1945 to 1964 time period. some sources write the tang stamp could date it as far back as 1940 but not much was manufactured for the civilian market during WW II and unnecessary stuff was not selling in the depression leading up to WW II. The pattern is called an elephant's toe, sun fish or English rope knife. Supposedly the broad blade was driven through rope with a mallet.

The standard advise on how to find a knife's value is to do an advanced search on eBay for sold items. You have to open the sold auctions and critically compare conditions of your knife to the knives auctioned. Resurfaced or polished knives are not worth as much as knives with their original factory surface. Elephant's toes are not the most common knives. Some collectors think they're special.

fiasconva · #4 01-24-2021, 06:01 PM

Thanks for that link, s&wchad. I have an old Case I found in my front yard when I was a kid back in the 60's and can now find out its age. I recently pulled it out of my tackle box and carry it from time to time.

fiasconva · #5 01-25-2021, 06:20 PM

I went to the site and it says that old knife was produced anywhere from 1940-1964 ('45-'64 from the collectors) according to the markings. That is an interesting site for anyone curious about your knife's origins.