3-31-2002/ Revised 1-06

 

Prototype Anomalies

 

This subject seems to be of interest currently due to many auctions currently misrepresenting serialized production knives as prototypes.  There has been several Q & A topics in the forums as well as at least one other newsletter on this subject.

 

A prototype 99% of the time will be hand engraved "Prototype" or have the trademark Long Tailed C xx with "Proto" centered in the C, somewhere on the knife.  Usually the back of the master blade, but secondary blades have been used on rare occasion.  A bolster is quite often used as well.  NOTE!  the word "Proto" engraved without the trademark symbol should be verified by the Parker family before purchase.  I have only seen 2 in my life...  One was obviously a counterfeit and the other I did not get to personally inspect, so I'll never know...  Just be aware!!!

 

The other 1%...  Some early Prototypes used block letter engraving and some were even "Electro etched"...  A prototype could, through oversight, also leave the plant with no markings at all.  Most of these are identified by process of logic.  By that I mean, a Congress XXX with Mastodon Ivory Handles.  Everyone will agree that this is not a production knife.  Non production handles are usually easy to spot, with a little research.  Exotics are no problem...

 

On actual production prototypes it takes a little more research.  A Congress XX in green bone but the blade tang is stamped Case Brothers / 1990 and the shield is a bomb would also be a prototype because Case Brothers blades were only made in production with a bowtie shield...     A knife like this is almost always overlooked.  You would have to check every knife out completely.  A lot of collectors won't go to that trouble or they will use that awful term that defies logic, assume....

 

Another thing that may give a prototype away, is the quality of the knife.  Prototypes are, more times than not, full of imperfections.  Some of the following are usually obvious but not always.  The shield cavity will be uneven  and larger than the shield, the back of the main blade tang will be blank or it may contain a wrong handle code.  There may be some rough grinding marks in the handle material, blade or liner edges and the blade may have imperfections when held to the light just right or under a loupe...  The blade may also be slightly smaller or thinner when compared to a production knife and may not close exactly right.  The prototypes from the Tommy Hart group at Case made the best, but even a "funny" one can be found, occasionally...

 

In the prototype category serial numbers are very rare, in fact I have only seen a few.  Let's talk about serial numbers for a minute.  Why serial numbers?  They were used for many reasons.

Some patterns had less than 50 serialized after production.  There is a cert to that effect.  Reason, unknown...   And please don't think that a knife with #010 was the 10th knife off the line...  Serialized knives were taken at random after production...

Some patterns like the 340 Stockman were sold with a combination cert and request for a serial number.  In other words the first knife issued was serialized and if you wanted to buy the rest of the pattern with that serial number, you sent the top half of the cert into Jim Parker who had each additional knife issued, serialized to match that first knife and sent to the buyer.  A complete set of these can be considered more desirable and to some, a 1 of 1 set...

There were very good customers who preferred all or most of their knives serialized with the same number.  I have a zipper display, pictured on page 170 of the Classics book, all with #00 on the bolsters.  There were supposedly 50 of these sets made.  I do not know if all were serialized or not.  I also have a set of 3055 Wharncliff Whittlers all with #0000.  These were engraved at the wish of a dealer for a special customer...

If you notice in the book almost all the knives pictured are #007.  They are or were the collection of Mr. Walter Tilghman.

I'm sure there were other reasons for serial numbers, but the fact remains:  99.9% of the time, a serial number doesn't have anything to do with prototypes, except for the rare exception of a prototype with a serial number as part of the blade engraving.  I have owned a few of these, one numbered 001 / Prototype, and do not know if it means there was only one or it was the first of up to five of them...  I have seen several with "1 of 7" or some other small quantity.  There can also be 2 production knives in the same pattern and handle with the same serial number.  Again very rare and a goof as well.  It is described in another newsletter or in the Q & A forum.

 

In closing there are very subtle changes that distinguish one prototype from another.  Just recently I noticed 2 Mastodon Ivory Cheetah's that on the surface looked like 2 of the same knife. One was marked Prototype and the other 1 of 10.  Upon close inspection the only difference was the blade, one was standard and one saber.

Another very obvious and logical conclusion is that, exact prototypes of production knives are Rare. I'm not suggesting some don't exist, but the chances of having one is almost non existent. If anybody finds one, send it to Parker for verification.   On a proto, something will be different, maybe subtle, like the jigging, but different...  

Bottom line...  A serial number on a  production knife is just that and nothing more, unless it is marked a Prototype by engraving or electro etch...  Always question a cert that says Prototype if the knife does not...  Most of the certs out there are considered by many to be a joke and I have to admit some I see pictured at auction, do make me laugh...  Remember you're not buying a cert...  Your buying a knife...  If you don't know your knives, know your seller...

 

As sure as I'm writing this there are many more "Anomalies" out there...  And the mystery of the Classics, lives on...

 

John Adams