[bobby n.]

okay i was going through my dads possessions ( he passed away last month)
and i came across this double edged knife . on the blade it is listed as a
CORSAN DENTON BURDEKIN & Co. its over 10 inches in length and has a silver
endpiece and tang. and the handle is ivory??maybe or mother of pearl. i cannot tell the difference i guess but my wife says its pearl. i looked it up on the internet and found very little about this particular knife. also included was a imperial 10 inch black stag handled hunting knife. in the bottom of the box..i looked it up and its a 1950s knife and worth a few dollars but its made of that old metal that you have to sharpen with the bottom of a coffee mug and it hold a razor sharp edge...

so my question is whats the deal with the corsan denton burdekin blade. its also razor sharp double edged blade and looks like whoever had it took care of it .. anyone have any ideas about where it was made , when and if its worth anything? id take a picture of it but my computer skills are quite limited to typing in words and clicking on the send button

[Claymore1500]

I did a quick AOL search for the company name, Seems like they were an English company, From before the civil war. I saw this on an auction site, They had one of their knives up for bid,(not the one you discribed) the bidding was around $850.00, You may want to contact an antique dealer to find out more about it, could be a collectors item.

[bobby n.]

very cool indeed.. thesite i saw was saying the same thing only it was a sheffield knife made for american export for the civil war. hence the south . i wondered because the knife is very old very very old...i wish i could post a picture of it on here so folks could see it..

[bobby n.]

here it is

[Valkman]

Nice!

[hso]

Your wife was correct, that is mother of pearl on the handle. I would bet that the pommel and guard are stamped nickel silver. You're looking at a 150 year old (pre/early US Civil War) dress dagger made in Sheffield England that would make any period collector drool uncontrollably. Without the sheath I'd guess it would easily bring $300 - $500 if it is in as good condition as it looks in the photo.

[Doc_Jude]

That's a gorgeous knife. Good luck getting the history on it. Keep us posted.

[shotgunjoel]

That has got to be one of the most graceful looking knives/ daggers I've ever seen. Very clean looking too. Can I have it?

[bobby n.]

in the notes my dad left, tools firearms and other stuff, he said the knife lasted but the sheath disintigrated back in the 1950s sometime . looks like he said 53 or 58 . heck i can barely read my own handwritting.. but it doesnt say where he got it or any history on it except its veryvery old..i guess i might have to hold onto it until i can sell it . ive made a sheath for it and i doubt anyone cares about the leather , but im going to fancy it up with some silver tip and brass belt holder..

[hso]

Don't put it in a sheath, it doesn't need one anyway. Coat it in food grade mineral oil, not stinky "baby oil", and wrap it in a soft cotton cloth (well washed diaper/flannel shirt) and tuck it somewhere safe.

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

or fool with it in any way!

Only do what others stated to PRESERVE it!

Many times antiques are RUNIED by someone thinking that polishing it up will make it worth more! In reality, most antique collectors want to see the original patina on it.

[wheelgunslinger]

That is a very cool example of the art.
You're very fortunate to have it. It would be interesting to learn the history.

[kingpin008]

That is a beautiful dagger, you're very lucky to have been entrusted with it! I'll second what Hso and others have said - leave it be! Don't polish it, sharpen it, none of that. It's survived this long in fine shape, nothing good can come of fiddling with it.

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

Yeah, if that dagger could talk, there would be some VERY INTERESTING stories, I'm SURE!:)

[bobby n.]

ive given it a light coating , a very light coating of oil on the blade and have placed it in the humidity controlled safe for the time being. i watch roadshow so i know not to monkey with it. im waiing word from someone i contacted to get more history on it. too bad it doesnt have a serial number that can be tracked, but hey, thats life.. the thing is though, my family is from the midwest and my dad and i are the only ones to have fought in any wars , but looking at the family history might shed some light on this dagger. my dads uncle fought in wwl
and in wwii and before that my great grandfather was a judge in kansas and missouri area, but no history on civil war fighters...on the other side of the family, its a blank. my mom was adopted and her birth mother was a german jew living in a brothel in omaha and kansas city. no telling.. but i think it somehow came from my dad's side of the creek..

[hso]

I wouldn't worry about the history too much. An ancestor could have picked it up simply because of the looks.

The MOP only needs to be wiped with a damp cloth and patted dry with a soft clean cloth. It can be coated with a clear resin by a jeweler to protect it, but with an antique like this I'd just put it in a display case in a room that maintains a fairly constant comfortable temp/humidity and enjoy it.

[chriso]

Man somthing like that I would keep thats a beautiful knife... But hey its yours not mine!!! good luck!!!

[JShirley]

Beautiful.

[bobby n.]

okay i got word from the big guy himself and he wants a word with me on the knife. it was made in sheffield england at around the 1858
1860s andshippedto the north and south union and confederates, but he has yet to put a reasonable value on it yet, because i want an insurance purposes , he said hed get back in a day or two. but in the meantime he told me look at a auction website other than his where a similar style knife from the same general period, and maker was sold last year for 11,750 $ I was shocked indeed and have transfered the dagger to the safe deposit box at the bank. aside from waiting for the final word, from bonhams head guy, my wife has issued her demands and i must comply with the bigger bosses wishes and sell it. she says we need the money more thanwe need the hassle of having to insure something else valuable... such is the way of the thrifty woman who worries about our impending retirement and lack of financial wherewithall.

[Doc_Jude]

Hey, if you "need the money" or you're going to take the money and invest it in something, remember that you've already got something VERY VALUABLE! It might not be a good idea to "change forms", if you know what I mean.

Anyways, keep us posted. I'm interested in how this all turns out. :)

[moooose102]

it does look english, and old. now, if you can, try to find out why your dad kept it. see if there is a reason for you to keep it before you sell it off, and find out later that he killed a soldier with it, or some other great story that you could pass onto your kids, along with the knife.

[22-rimfire]

I would imagine your Father liked sharp pointy things just like the rest of us.

[bobby n.]

well i got no kids, anymore. and no relatives except a brother and sister , who have the moral scruples of a rabid dog, and i heard from the bonhams guy this morning. more bad news...he checked the photo i sent him and he said its not a bowie knife but a gentlemans style side knife and worth maybe a thousand dollars at the most... oh well. and i contacted my uncle is the rest home in missouri and he said the knife was my great great grandfathers knife, uncle gelvin says
he got it at the county fair in seneca county kansas for judging sheep. he said the old guy used it to cut the unmentionables off his
lambs so not a lot of regal history
but since it is a period knife and kansas was anti slavery i think it might be worth something to someone. i cant get this picture out of my mind of someone surgically altering lambs with such a fine knife. my uncle said he also used
it to gut the throats for meat, and i asked if the old guy hunted deer and might have used it for that purpose, at least that would give it some sort of reference forme to argue with the boss to hold onto it.
and 22 rimfire, my dad liked to hunt and fish and make stuff out of wood. i ended up with a router and a nice set of wood chisels made in england. ill use the router when i make a new stock for my black powder gun and shotgun. so maybe he did, like pointy things ...

[armoredman]

A gelding blade. Sounds like a woman should buy it.

[saltydog452]

Needs a can of Turpentine to smear on what'd be left after the gelding.

salty

[saltydog452]

One of the most intereting knives that I've seen started out as a block of stainless steel and a machinist who had too much time on his hands.

Cross guard, handguard, handle, and blade...looked kinda/sorta like a '17 trench knife w/o the finger holes holes.

All one p iece.

Supposedly it was going to be a dive knife but he couldn't find anyone to make a holster. Pre Kydex.

salty

[Dirty Dawg]

Beautiful knife. You might want to post the story and pic on the General Knife Discussion board over on bladeforum.com:

http://tinyurl.com/7bgxt9

There MANY knowledgeable collectors and makers there. I'm certain you'll get all the information you'd ever care to know about your heirloom.

[bobby n.]

im back. the knife is still on hold until i get more imput from experts.. thanks guys

[wheelgunslinger]

A gelding blade. Sounds like a woman should buy it.

Armoredman beat me to it. I bet someone from N.O.W. would pay a bunch for it!

Seriously, it's great you learned the history of it. Keep us posted.

[rich636]

Put it away until Antique Roadshow comes to your town ;)

[bobby n.]

i tried to get tickets. my wife may have scored to roadshow. we'll be around
the place somewhere