Antique Bowie Knife Information Request With Pics

[chuckchili]

I bought this knife today because I thought it was interesting. I came home and tried to find information on it and only got bare bones stuff. What I learned was Marks & Rees made surgical equipment and was the one of the earliest businesses to make bowie knives and began advertising them in newspapers in 1835. I also read that the earliest Marks & Rees bowie knives had coffin shaped handles which mine clearly does not have. I believe the handle is bone, the blade is (really) aged steel and the other parts are brass.

I was wondering if there is a good resource I didn't find online that I could learn about this knife? Or if somebody could shed some light on this one for me I sure would appreciate it. I would like to know a general age of the knife and I am kind of curious as to its value. (Just wondering if I should put it in my safe or if a drawer is ok)

Thanks!

Information

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[Harlan (Deceased)]

I didn't know about the first commercial Bowie knives until your post chuckchili , but I hope one of the experts here knows about them and yours is rare.

I did some internet searching too (for what it's worth) - did you find this one in your searches?
OLD ANTIQUE KNIFE 15.5" BY MARKS & REES CINCINNATI LQQK



Does it look like yours, but with a black handle? I found other info that said Marks & Rees of Cincinnati made the first commercial Bowie knives and examples are worth thousands, but the photos I found were examples that looked different. (As you did)

I know that anything of value has been copied and faked for many years but from your photos the patina looks very old to me - especially the handle.

I can tell from your guarded sentiment you know it usually turns out most often people know when they have rare prizes but I'm keeping my fingers crossed yours is very valuable!

Regardless, it was interesting to see your knife and also reading about the history of early Bowie knives.
~ Harlan

[AZPhil]

Thats a very interesting Bowie!
If you don't get an answer to your question, try posting on this site
Bernard Levine's Knife Collecting Identification.
I'm sure you will be pointed in the right direction!

[chuckchili]

Thanks for the replies! I just got done joining and posting on the suggested website, thanks for the suggestion. Whereas there is only one milsurp website in my opinion, there seems to be a ton of knife ones- I didn't know which one to try.

[chuckchili]

The gentlemen on knife website were very helpful- thanks for pointing me to them. Unfortunately, I learned that my bowie is a Pakistani fake. For those interested parties, the experts pointed out the uniform "aging" of blade and handle as signs of fakery. Most importantly, they said my knife was a "fantasy fake" (an attempted reproduction of a knife that was never actually made in the first place.)

Not really a big deal, learning about this stuff is one of the things I find enjoyable about buying, selling and collecting. I don't feel like I got stung too bad, I paid less for the knife than I spend on a box of 30-06.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Rats!

We've all taken chances on things we don't really know about at one time or another and found it wasn't what we hoped.
(Some of us more than others)

One good thing about it is in the process you often learn more than you might have otherwise.
I know every nuance of how to tell a modern made Callimus M4 bayonet from a WWII model now. (About a $50 lesson)

May the next one be the prize.
~ Harlan

[browningautorifle]

Too bad, but it can at least fit a spot on a display or maybe become a user. Neat knife!