Help: Model Number Details

What Does the Case Model Number Stamp Mean?

 
 
When you find a model number stamp that says 6392, how are you supposed to know that this knife is a bone handled, three bladed knife of pattern ninety-two? Here’s how:
6392
The first position represents the Case handle material. The number 6 in the code is the factory designation for bone handles. The following lists the principal factory designations.
 
Case Handle CodeHandle Material
1Hardwoods like oak, cherry, etc
2Smooth Black Composition
3Smooth Yellow Composition
4Smooth Synthetic in various colors (today).
Prior to the mid 1970's, all 4 handles were white composition
5Genuine Stag (typically Sambar stag from India)
6Jigged Bone Handles in various colors
Smooth Bone Handles in various colors
Jigged Brown composition (called delrin)
Jigged Black Synthetic (called rough black from the early tested and late XX era)
Jigged Laminated Hardwood
6.5Bonestag (bone handles jigged and colored to resemble more expensive genuine stag).
7Early use was for multi-colored celluloid handles.
Then used on Curly Maple, Rosewood, Smooth Laminated Hardwood
8Genuine Mother-of-Pearl
9Imitation Mother-of-Pearl or "cracked ice" celluloid
10Micarta or G-10 modern, very durable handles
CSCandy Stripe-Red, yellow, white striped celluloid
CTChristmas Tree-Green, yellow, red, gold celluloid
GSGoldstone-sparkly gold flake celluloid
Glitter Stripe-sparkly multi-colored stripe celluloid
IIvory, or Imitation Ivory
MMetal handles
PVarious wood handles (for example Pakkawood)
 
The beginning collector may want to spend a little time getting these codes down, but anyone who collects Case will soon find them to be second nature.

Notice the next two stamps...
V5327 SS
DR6254 SS
These don't match the official handle codes in the first position. In the first, a V precedes the 5. Case used this designation for what it called vintage stag. In the second illustration, there is a DR before the official "6" handle code. In this stamp the DR represents "Deep Red" bone handles. There are many handle descriptors used by Case, frequently for a short period only. For example, you can find "R6" handle codes that represent "red bone". But, the vast majority of red bone handles are simply marked 6.
 
AND, there are situations in which there are letters in front of the handle code that don't refer to the handle at all. For example in the next illustration, the T.B. before the 5 means Tony Bose, the knife designer.
 
So, what is a new collector to do? The easiest way to determine the handle material is to start at the left of the model number stamp and disregard everything until you hit one of the official handle codes. This will be your handle material. Information in front of this code either modifies the handle code, as the V modifies the stag 5, or provides other information about the knife, as seen in the Tony Bose example.
 
The second position tells the number of blades in the knife.
DR6254
From the DR6254 example, we now know that this knife has Deep Red bone handles and two blades.
Here are some tangs with different blade counts.

5554
 
At this point you might be able to guess that the last position is the pattern or frame designation for this knife. For most of the model numbers we have seen so far, 54 is the pattern. This is the Case factory short hand for a knife frame named the trapper.

Patterns are at least two digits, so the early patterns like numbers 1 thru 9 always show up as 01, 02, 03, etc. Patterns may have as many as four numbers.
 

Stag, 3 blade, pattern 131 & Tony Bose, Stag, 3 blade, pattern 2005
 
There are frequently codes that follow pattern numbers. See Abbreviations. These further describe the knife you are seeing. For example, in the last two examples, SSP stands for stainless steel with polished edge, and ATS-34 represents an expensive stainless steel used on higher end knives that have that blade material. (See list of Blade Materials).

And there are exceptions to these rules.
 
  1. Some knives have a name, and no model number. Be Happy, they tell you what pattern they are!
  2. Case occasionally recognizes differences in the knives made in a pattern by adding zeros to the model number stamp. For example:
    3.  
    "Standard" Model Number
    		Zero before Pattern
     
    Zero before entire number
    		Two zeros before pattern number
     
    The Blademaster has been unable to determine a factory method in the assignment of the zeroes to the variations. In other words, a zero in front of a model number will mean different things on different patterns.
  3. Case will occasionally just put a pattern number on the tang and exclude the handle material and blade count. Fortunately, this is not widespread, as it does not provide as much verification of the knife's authenticity as a full model number.
  4. Many knives from the early Case eras up until the 1940's did not have a model number stamp. Notably, the Case Tested XX era, which ran from about 1920 to 1940, did not have model numbers. Some model number stamps may be found before 1920, and most (but not all) knives made after about the mid 1940's will have model numbers.
 
Summary: it is important to understand the model designation method used by CASE. This is a collectors principal method of rapid identification, or telling a very good knife from a medium knife. It is also the first defense against fraud. If someone tries to sell you a rare stag handled knife (handle code 5), and you notice that the tang says 6391, you can quietly put the knife down and save your money.
 
While this may seem complicated, it will come to you quickly as you handle knives. Knowing how the model stamp works along with the techniques for Dating a Case knife, are the two important steps in becoming a Case knife expert.