Last auction of 2023 featuring Randalls, large selection of Shaw-Liebowitz, rare Case knives, hard to find Spyderco, large assortment of mint etched vintage knives, and full of undiscovered treasures!
We do not mark up shipping charges, and if you win multiple lots we will group them into a single shipment. You will be invoiced at the conclusion of the auction with shipping charges included.
If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page, you will need to read them and scroll down to click that you agree to If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page,
these terms before you proceed.
First Time Bidders:
If we do not know you or you have never bid with us before, please call 423-238-6753 during Eastern business hours to arrange payment method and your viability PRIOR to bidding if you expect to place over $2000 in total bids. We now require this due to abuses of our terms by nitwits.
- premium
Premium is 13%. If you pay by check, cash, money order, or wire transfer, you get a reduced buyers premium—your buyers premium is 10%
Payment: We accept payments by check, money order, PayPal, and major credit cards. If you have not made arrangements to pay within 7 days following notification of the amount you owe for your bids, buyers premium and shipping--we reserve the option to sell the knife to the underbidder. You do not own your winning bid until payment has been received and cleared.
Bidding increments have changed.
We still require minimum increments at different levels. $5 bids between $5.00 and $50.00, $10.00 bids between $50 and $200.00. However you may bid more than the minimum increment as well, in odd amounts. The active live bid is the base for the increment--not the UP TO. Please click here for more info on how this works for this auction.
A bid on a lot will extend bidding on ONLY THAT LOT for a limited time.
IMPORTANT: When you open the bidding section, the page will show only a few lots. If you bid on ANY knife on that page, you must scroll back up to the top and click on “SUBMIT BID (S)” BEFORE you go on to view other lots on other pages or your bids will not enter the system. Bids in the lead will show up in RED.
IF YOUR BID SHOWS RED--GO AHEAD
IF YOUR BID SHOW BLACK-GO BACK!
YOU MUST SIGN IN TWICE THE FIRST TIME YOU BID IN A NEW AUCTION.
When you bid for the first time in a new auction the program will call up all your info and ask you to confirm that your address, email, etc. are still correct. This is the address section of the program--not the bidding section. Once you have submitted those, YOU STILL HAVE TO GO BACK OUT AND LOG IN AGAIN IN ORDER TO BID. After this initial set-up for the first time in each auction, you will only have to log in one time for the remainder of the auction.
THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE IN CALLING US TO PLACE YOUR BIDS
In fact your bids will be posted a bit slower as we’re adding a middleman to the process and will be entering you into the online system ourselves. We accept bids for callers primarily as a convenience for our bidders who are not connected to the internet. Phone bids end 30 minutes prior to the closing of the first lot in the auction.
You must register via online if you want to bid online. You must sign in with your sign-in name and password before you can start bidding.
CANCELING BIDS.
You will not be able to cancel a bid once it has been submitted on the auction website. This is done because other bidders may have acted based on a bid you have submitted. You will need to contact us if it absolutely necessary to cancel a bid.
SPECIFIC TERMS: All knives sold as collectibles, curios, or antiques
The following as amended by any posted notices, website changes, or verbal announcements during the sale constitutes the entire terms and conditions on which property listed in the catalog shall be offered for sale or sold by J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. and any consignor of such property for whom we act as agent.
As used herein, the term “bid price” means the price at which a lot is knocked down to the purchaser, and the term “purchase price” means the aggregate of (a) the bid price (b) A premium payable by the purchase of 13% of the bid price ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) and (c) Tennessee or Texas sale tax unless a resale tax certificate is on file with J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc.
Upon the fall of the auctioneers hammer or the announcement of a lot as “sold” the highest bidders shall be deemed to have purchased the offered lot in accordance with all of the conditions and at that moment assumes full risk and responsibility, will sign a confirmation of purchase, and agrees to pay the purchase price for the lots. No lot may be transferred.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc reserves the right to withdraw any property at any time before the actual sale, and reserves the right to reject a bid from any bidder. The highest bidder as named by the auctioneers shall be the purchaser. The auctioneers shall have the sole and final discretion to either determine the successful bidder or re-offer and resell the item in dispute.
All statements in the catalog or on any other literature as to the authorship, age, origin, measurements, quality, scarcity, provenance, importance, condition, and historical relevance are qualified statements of opinion and not a representation or warranty. All sales are final, all times are sold as is, where is, with no warranties expressed or implied. A knife found not to be as described (in other words a serious, detrimental flaw that we missed) is returnable if returned within three days only upon prior approval of the auctioneers. However, if that flaw is visible in the online photos it is NOT returnable, even if not mentioned in the description.
Terms are cash, credit card, cashiers check or certified check, wire transfer, or personal or company check with prior approval and/or bank letter of guaranty. Buyers premium is 13%. ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) If we don't know you we will wait for personal checks to clear before we ship.
The act of bidding, in person, by agent, over the telephone, the internet, or via mail, fax, or email, or any other method the buyer or bidder aggress to be bound by these conditions of sale and further aggresses that the respective rights, obligations, and any dispute will be governed by the laws of Tennessee.
At our discretion we may accept bids in advance of sale by telephone, or in writing. “Buy” bids will not be accepted, all bids must state the highest price the bidder is willing to pay, and a premium will be added to the bid price. The earlier bid will take precedent on tie bids. Absentee bids shall be executed in competition with other absentee bids and bids from the audience. Successful absentee bids are not acknowledged but sale results and selling prices for any lot may be obtained by request. J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. assumes no responsibility for failure to execute these bids for any reason whatsoever.
UP TO bids may be left, and on live auctions and will be executed as if you are in the room. We will not raise an up to bid except in the face of an opposing bid.
Consignors may NOT bid on their own items.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, inc. or the consignors makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied as to the title, merchantability, fitness or condition of the property or as to the correctness of description, attribution, provenance, or age.
No cut bids will be accepted and the acceptable bids are in the following increments. Upon beginning of live online bidding the minimum you may bid over the previous bid is the prestated increment. An up to bid is not executed except in the face of a competitive bid. Please see our specific example in the link from our opening page.
If you wait until the last minute and bid one increment at a time--especially on a knife that you are willing to pay much more for--we recommend you leave your up-to bid and not play games trying to snipe. This auction is a soft-close, so last second bids only extends the auction on that item, only that item. This means if there is an early lot that extends three minutes, the rest of the auction closes as stated. What you can face playing the last minute game is the early lot you want is extended, while a second knife you want is closing at the same time. You can lose track. We recommend you utilized the "My bids" tab, where you can follow only your bids, and can bid from there as well (you must refresh to update the bidding).
IMPORTANT: YOU MAY BID ANY WAY YOU WANT. BUT IF YOU PLAY THE LAST MINUTE GAME AND DO NOT WIN--DO NOT COME WHINING TO US AFTER THE AUCTION. IT’S TOO LATE.
We reserve the right to deny any bid for any reason prior to the delivery of the item. In disputes the computer record as recorded will be the final determining factor.
By the following standards, a revision of the NKCA basics as published in the ABCA Price Guide to Antique Knives and adopted by several websites as well:
For years the standard for knife collectors has been the National Knife Collectors Association grading, established in 1973. Basically, it is a sound grading standard, but as collecting has advanced many dealers adapted additional descriptions, and the overall collecting field has changed, to the point that many dealers feel there should be a more detailed grading system. The basic grading standards have been left intact, but what follows is a clarification and enhancement of those standards, and also the reasons for the revisions.
Cracks. One important exception: Cracks will occur in mint knives. If it is mint for everything except a crack, the knife is still mint-–it is only mint with a crack. This should downgrade the value approximately 10% on most knives.
Pristine Mint: The coin world would call this MS-63-65, the ultimate in quality and condition–not just mint, but mint plus something, good fit, no specks on a very old knife, etc. Suffice to say there are very, very few of these out there. Perfect plus.
Mint: The standard mint, unsharpened, never used, and never carried extensively.
Revision: Almost any knife made prior to World War II is going to have some rust specks here and there. If you only wait for mint New York Knife Company knives with no rust specks, for instance, you are going to get very few. Some knives that were mint in 1970 have now been in storage for over 30 years [50 years now] –and they are starting to show some neglect spots here and there as well. I look for this to get worse in the future, since few collectors pay the attention they should to the maintenance of knives in their collection–and at that point the value of even rarer pristine mint knives will increase. Important exception: Case knives still must have no rust to be mint. An old Case knife with a rust speck is not a mint knife. Case collectors are stricter in their grading than other knife collectors.
Near Mint: Nothing wrong with the knife, sharpened but no blade wear, some original polish still visible, carry scratches on the outside, walks and talks, no deep rust pits, full blades. (A mint knife that has rusted and been cleaned back to near perfect shape is near mint.)
Excellent: 5-10% blade wear, blades snap, some tarnish, and light pitting possible. A good solid lightly used knife. On a multi-blade knife, some of the smaller blades may still be near mint. Tang mark clear. Master blade not over 10% short.
Very Good: More blade wear than excellent, 15-25% wear, some blades may be slow, stamping readable but faint, some distinct cracks but no chips out of handle that have not been repaired. Blades still sound but may be slow. Some rust pitting and tarnish. Master blade may be short.
Good: NKCA standards refer to this as Fair, which I always confused with poor. Simply Good is worse than Very Good. 25%-50% blade wear, maybe a chip missing, replaced handles or blade is evident, but still able to identify maker, still useable as a working knife. Blades may be very slow. Deep pits and rust. Still has all the blades, even though worn and short.
Poor: Blades over 50% gone, usually short, handle may be chipped, one blade broken, blades lazy, tang mark just barely readable. Still useable for parts.
Junk: (Not priced–no one I know collects them, but you do see them traded for $1.00-$10.00 each) Blades broken, one handle missing, all that is useable is bolsters, liners, and back spring. Maybe an old name or style.
When in doubt LOOK AT THE PHOTOS HERE. They will enlarge bigger than what is visible with most magnifiers. For blade wear, etc. LOOK AT THE PHOTO.
Returns: You have three days to return -- but only if NOT as described. (Please see above). We cannot break up a lot and let you keep part of it and return another part. The ONLY way we can accept a return is if you return the complete lot. These are not our knives and if we break up a lot it is impossible to explain to a consignor how we valued the partial lot--when we told them up front the knives would go to the highest bidder.
We are strict on our return policies. Winning a bid is NOT reviewing a knife on approval. You have purchased that knife. If we have missed a flaw in the description, you may return it. But if we say it is mint, it is mint, and you wanted more snap in the blade because all the knives in your collection echo when you shut the blade, you may not return it. There are several reasons. First if the knife is accurately described we have done all we can do at that point. Second, by winning the bid you have outbid a back up bidder. He may have wanted the knife badly at his bid--but when he saw he was outbid by you he reallocated the money, so if the knife is returned he may still be unable to own it. Third, most consigners follow the auction and they never seem to understand if a knife sold at $500 why I'm showing it sold at $450 even though I show on the settlement form that it was returned and sold to the back-up bidder. There are photos of the knives. LOOK AT THE PHOTOS.
We will not send you a dozen photos of the knife for a simple reason--in 40 years in the business I have NEVER saw a knife that I went to the time and trouble to shoot more photos that ever ended up in the hands of the man requesting the photos. If the knife has only one photo you may assume the back side looks like the front unless we say otherwise.
Your discount for cash or check payment is only if you have paid with seven (7) days after receiving notification. If you have not paid within 14 days we reserve the right to cancel your bid and relist it in a later auction.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS: Case Bone: We try to be as accurate as possible on modern knife bone types (after 1990)--but for instance we take no responsibility for determined if a blue handle is Ocean Blue, Caribbean Blue, Sky Blue, Pacific Blue, Barnboard Mold Blue or Black and...well Blue. Again if this is important to you LOOK at the PHOTO and made up your own mind as to bone name and type of jigging. We will not accept a return because of a misnamed bone. Again LOOK at the PHOTO and make up your own mind. Measurements may be up to 1/8" variable.
If you fail to respond to calls, emails, US mail and other attempts to get you to honor your committment to pay for your bid, you will be banned from future auctions.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON IVORY HANDLED KNIVES: Note: The legality of elephant ivory and even mastodon ivory is in flux from state to state. If your state bans ivory or mastodon ivory as they have done in NY, NJ, and CA we will not ship there. If Federal regulations change during this auction the bidding and transaction are subject to cancellation).
In the end my suggestion in bidding is bid for it like you want to own it! You just might.
If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page, you will need to read them and scroll down to click that you agree to If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page,
these terms before you proceed.
First Time Bidders:
If we do not know you or you have never bid with us before, please call 423-238-6753 during Eastern business hours to arrange payment method and your viability PRIOR to bidding if you expect to place over $2000 in total bids. We now require this due to abuses of our terms by nitwits.
- premium
Premium is 13%. If you pay by check, cash, money order, or wire transfer, you get a reduced buyers premium—your buyers premium is 10%
Payment: We accept payments by check, money order, PayPal, and major credit cards. If you have not made arrangements to pay within 7 days following notification of the amount you owe for your bids, buyers premium and shipping--we reserve the option to sell the knife to the underbidder. You do not own your winning bid until payment has been received and cleared.
Bidding increments have changed.
We still require minimum increments at different levels. $5 bids between $5.00 and $50.00, $10.00 bids between $50 and $200.00. However you may bid more than the minimum increment as well, in odd amounts. The active live bid is the base for the increment--not the UP TO. Please click here for more info on how this works for this auction.
A bid on a lot will extend bidding on ONLY THAT LOT for a limited time.
IMPORTANT: When you open the bidding section, the page will show only a few lots. If you bid on ANY knife on that page, you must scroll back up to the top and click on “SUBMIT BID (S)” BEFORE you go on to view other lots on other pages or your bids will not enter the system. Bids in the lead will show up in RED.
IF YOUR BID SHOWS RED--GO AHEAD
IF YOUR BID SHOW BLACK-GO BACK!
YOU MUST SIGN IN TWICE THE FIRST TIME YOU BID IN A NEW AUCTION.
When you bid for the first time in a new auction the program will call up all your info and ask you to confirm that your address, email, etc. are still correct. This is the address section of the program--not the bidding section. Once you have submitted those, YOU STILL HAVE TO GO BACK OUT AND LOG IN AGAIN IN ORDER TO BID. After this initial set-up for the first time in each auction, you will only have to log in one time for the remainder of the auction.
THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE IN CALLING US TO PLACE YOUR BIDS
In fact your bids will be posted a bit slower as we’re adding a middleman to the process and will be entering you into the online system ourselves. We accept bids for callers primarily as a convenience for our bidders who are not connected to the internet. Phone bids end 30 minutes prior to the closing of the first lot in the auction.
You must register via online if you want to bid online. You must sign in with your sign-in name and password before you can start bidding.
CANCELING BIDS.
You will not be able to cancel a bid once it has been submitted on the auction website. This is done because other bidders may have acted based on a bid you have submitted. You will need to contact us if it absolutely necessary to cancel a bid.
SPECIFIC TERMS: All knives sold as collectibles, curios, or antiques
The following as amended by any posted notices, website changes, or verbal announcements during the sale constitutes the entire terms and conditions on which property listed in the catalog shall be offered for sale or sold by J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. and any consignor of such property for whom we act as agent.
As used herein, the term “bid price” means the price at which a lot is knocked down to the purchaser, and the term “purchase price” means the aggregate of (a) the bid price (b) A premium payable by the purchase of 13% of the bid price ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) and (c) Tennessee or Texas sale tax unless a resale tax certificate is on file with J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc.
Upon the fall of the auctioneers hammer or the announcement of a lot as “sold” the highest bidders shall be deemed to have purchased the offered lot in accordance with all of the conditions and at that moment assumes full risk and responsibility, will sign a confirmation of purchase, and agrees to pay the purchase price for the lots. No lot may be transferred.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc reserves the right to withdraw any property at any time before the actual sale, and reserves the right to reject a bid from any bidder. The highest bidder as named by the auctioneers shall be the purchaser. The auctioneers shall have the sole and final discretion to either determine the successful bidder or re-offer and resell the item in dispute.
All statements in the catalog or on any other literature as to the authorship, age, origin, measurements, quality, scarcity, provenance, importance, condition, and historical relevance are qualified statements of opinion and not a representation or warranty. All sales are final, all times are sold as is, where is, with no warranties expressed or implied. A knife found not to be as described (in other words a serious, detrimental flaw that we missed) is returnable if returned within three days only upon prior approval of the auctioneers. However, if that flaw is visible in the online photos it is NOT returnable, even if not mentioned in the description.
Terms are cash, credit card, cashiers check or certified check, wire transfer, or personal or company check with prior approval and/or bank letter of guaranty. Buyers premium is 13%. ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) If we don't know you we will wait for personal checks to clear before we ship.
The act of bidding, in person, by agent, over the telephone, the internet, or via mail, fax, or email, or any other method the buyer or bidder aggress to be bound by these conditions of sale and further aggresses that the respective rights, obligations, and any dispute will be governed by the laws of Tennessee.
At our discretion we may accept bids in advance of sale by telephone, or in writing. “Buy” bids will not be accepted, all bids must state the highest price the bidder is willing to pay, and a premium will be added to the bid price. The earlier bid will take precedent on tie bids. Absentee bids shall be executed in competition with other absentee bids and bids from the audience. Successful absentee bids are not acknowledged but sale results and selling prices for any lot may be obtained by request. J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. assumes no responsibility for failure to execute these bids for any reason whatsoever.
UP TO bids may be left, and on live auctions and will be executed as if you are in the room. We will not raise an up to bid except in the face of an opposing bid.
Consignors may NOT bid on their own items.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, inc. or the consignors makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied as to the title, merchantability, fitness or condition of the property or as to the correctness of description, attribution, provenance, or age.
No cut bids will be accepted and the acceptable bids are in the following increments. Upon beginning of live online bidding the minimum you may bid over the previous bid is the prestated increment. An up to bid is not executed except in the face of a competitive bid. Please see our specific example in the link from our opening page.
If you wait until the last minute and bid one increment at a time--especially on a knife that you are willing to pay much more for--we recommend you leave your up-to bid and not play games trying to snipe. This auction is a soft-close, so last second bids only extends the auction on that item, only that item. This means if there is an early lot that extends three minutes, the rest of the auction closes as stated. What you can face playing the last minute game is the early lot you want is extended, while a second knife you want is closing at the same time. You can lose track. We recommend you utilized the "My bids" tab, where you can follow only your bids, and can bid from there as well (you must refresh to update the bidding).
IMPORTANT: YOU MAY BID ANY WAY YOU WANT. BUT IF YOU PLAY THE LAST MINUTE GAME AND DO NOT WIN--DO NOT COME WHINING TO US AFTER THE AUCTION. IT’S TOO LATE.
We reserve the right to deny any bid for any reason prior to the delivery of the item. In disputes the computer record as recorded will be the final determining factor.
By the following standards, a revision of the NKCA basics as published in the ABCA Price Guide to Antique Knives and adopted by several websites as well:
For years the standard for knife collectors has been the National Knife Collectors Association grading, established in 1973. Basically, it is a sound grading standard, but as collecting has advanced many dealers adapted additional descriptions, and the overall collecting field has changed, to the point that many dealers feel there should be a more detailed grading system. The basic grading standards have been left intact, but what follows is a clarification and enhancement of those standards, and also the reasons for the revisions.
Cracks. One important exception: Cracks will occur in mint knives. If it is mint for everything except a crack, the knife is still mint-–it is only mint with a crack. This should downgrade the value approximately 10% on most knives.
Pristine Mint: The coin world would call this MS-63-65, the ultimate in quality and condition–not just mint, but mint plus something, good fit, no specks on a very old knife, etc. Suffice to say there are very, very few of these out there. Perfect plus.
Mint: The standard mint, unsharpened, never used, and never carried extensively.
Revision: Almost any knife made prior to World War II is going to have some rust specks here and there. If you only wait for mint New York Knife Company knives with no rust specks, for instance, you are going to get very few. Some knives that were mint in 1970 have now been in storage for over 30 years [50 years now] –and they are starting to show some neglect spots here and there as well. I look for this to get worse in the future, since few collectors pay the attention they should to the maintenance of knives in their collection–and at that point the value of even rarer pristine mint knives will increase. Important exception: Case knives still must have no rust to be mint. An old Case knife with a rust speck is not a mint knife. Case collectors are stricter in their grading than other knife collectors.
Near Mint: Nothing wrong with the knife, sharpened but no blade wear, some original polish still visible, carry scratches on the outside, walks and talks, no deep rust pits, full blades. (A mint knife that has rusted and been cleaned back to near perfect shape is near mint.)
Excellent: 5-10% blade wear, blades snap, some tarnish, and light pitting possible. A good solid lightly used knife. On a multi-blade knife, some of the smaller blades may still be near mint. Tang mark clear. Master blade not over 10% short.
Very Good: More blade wear than excellent, 15-25% wear, some blades may be slow, stamping readable but faint, some distinct cracks but no chips out of handle that have not been repaired. Blades still sound but may be slow. Some rust pitting and tarnish. Master blade may be short.
Good: NKCA standards refer to this as Fair, which I always confused with poor. Simply Good is worse than Very Good. 25%-50% blade wear, maybe a chip missing, replaced handles or blade is evident, but still able to identify maker, still useable as a working knife. Blades may be very slow. Deep pits and rust. Still has all the blades, even though worn and short.
Poor: Blades over 50% gone, usually short, handle may be chipped, one blade broken, blades lazy, tang mark just barely readable. Still useable for parts.
Junk: (Not priced–no one I know collects them, but you do see them traded for $1.00-$10.00 each) Blades broken, one handle missing, all that is useable is bolsters, liners, and back spring. Maybe an old name or style.
When in doubt LOOK AT THE PHOTOS HERE. They will enlarge bigger than what is visible with most magnifiers. For blade wear, etc. LOOK AT THE PHOTO.
Returns: You have three days to return -- but only if NOT as described. (Please see above). We cannot break up a lot and let you keep part of it and return another part. The ONLY way we can accept a return is if you return the complete lot. These are not our knives and if we break up a lot it is impossible to explain to a consignor how we valued the partial lot--when we told them up front the knives would go to the highest bidder.
We are strict on our return policies. Winning a bid is NOT reviewing a knife on approval. You have purchased that knife. If we have missed a flaw in the description, you may return it. But if we say it is mint, it is mint, and you wanted more snap in the blade because all the knives in your collection echo when you shut the blade, you may not return it. There are several reasons. First if the knife is accurately described we have done all we can do at that point. Second, by winning the bid you have outbid a back up bidder. He may have wanted the knife badly at his bid--but when he saw he was outbid by you he reallocated the money, so if the knife is returned he may still be unable to own it. Third, most consigners follow the auction and they never seem to understand if a knife sold at $500 why I'm showing it sold at $450 even though I show on the settlement form that it was returned and sold to the back-up bidder. There are photos of the knives. LOOK AT THE PHOTOS.
We will not send you a dozen photos of the knife for a simple reason--in 40 years in the business I have NEVER saw a knife that I went to the time and trouble to shoot more photos that ever ended up in the hands of the man requesting the photos. If the knife has only one photo you may assume the back side looks like the front unless we say otherwise.
Your discount for cash or check payment is only if you have paid with seven (7) days after receiving notification. If you have not paid within 14 days we reserve the right to cancel your bid and relist it in a later auction.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS: Case Bone: We try to be as accurate as possible on modern knife bone types (after 1990)--but for instance we take no responsibility for determined if a blue handle is Ocean Blue, Caribbean Blue, Sky Blue, Pacific Blue, Barnboard Mold Blue or Black and...well Blue. Again if this is important to you LOOK at the PHOTO and made up your own mind as to bone name and type of jigging. We will not accept a return because of a misnamed bone. Again LOOK at the PHOTO and make up your own mind. Measurements may be up to 1/8" variable.
If you fail to respond to calls, emails, US mail and other attempts to get you to honor your committment to pay for your bid, you will be banned from future auctions.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON IVORY HANDLED KNIVES: Note: The legality of elephant ivory and even mastodon ivory is in flux from state to state. If your state bans ivory or mastodon ivory as they have done in NY, NJ, and CA we will not ship there. If Federal regulations change during this auction the bidding and transaction are subject to cancellation).
In the end my suggestion in bidding is bid for it like you want to own it! You just might.
If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page, you will need to read them and scroll down to click that you agree to If you are viewing these terms at the online bidder registration page,
these terms before you proceed.
First Time Bidders:
If we do not know you or you have never bid with us before, please call 423-238-6753 during Eastern business hours to arrange payment method and your viability PRIOR to bidding if you expect to place over $2000 in total bids. We now require this due to abuses of our terms by nitwits.
- premium
Premium is 13%. If you pay by check, cash, money order, or wire transfer, you get a reduced buyers premium—your buyers premium is 10%
Payment: We accept payments by check, money order, PayPal, and major credit cards. If you have not made arrangements to pay within 7 days following notification of the amount you owe for your bids, buyers premium and shipping--we reserve the option to sell the knife to the underbidder. You do not own your winning bid until payment has been received and cleared.
Bidding increments have changed.
We still require minimum increments at different levels. $5 bids between $5.00 and $50.00, $10.00 bids between $50 and $200.00. However you may bid more than the minimum increment as well, in odd amounts. The active live bid is the base for the increment--not the UP TO. Please click here for more info on how this works for this auction.
A bid on a lot will extend bidding on ONLY THAT LOT for a limited time.
IMPORTANT: When you open the bidding section, the page will show only a few lots. If you bid on ANY knife on that page, you must scroll back up to the top and click on “SUBMIT BID (S)” BEFORE you go on to view other lots on other pages or your bids will not enter the system. Bids in the lead will show up in RED.
IF YOUR BID SHOWS RED--GO AHEAD
IF YOUR BID SHOW BLACK-GO BACK!
YOU MUST SIGN IN TWICE THE FIRST TIME YOU BID IN A NEW AUCTION.
When you bid for the first time in a new auction the program will call up all your info and ask you to confirm that your address, email, etc. are still correct. This is the address section of the program--not the bidding section. Once you have submitted those, YOU STILL HAVE TO GO BACK OUT AND LOG IN AGAIN IN ORDER TO BID. After this initial set-up for the first time in each auction, you will only have to log in one time for the remainder of the auction.
THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE IN CALLING US TO PLACE YOUR BIDS
In fact your bids will be posted a bit slower as we’re adding a middleman to the process and will be entering you into the online system ourselves. We accept bids for callers primarily as a convenience for our bidders who are not connected to the internet. Phone bids end 30 minutes prior to the closing of the first lot in the auction.
You must register via online if you want to bid online. You must sign in with your sign-in name and password before you can start bidding.
CANCELING BIDS.
You will not be able to cancel a bid once it has been submitted on the auction website. This is done because other bidders may have acted based on a bid you have submitted. You will need to contact us if it absolutely necessary to cancel a bid.
SPECIFIC TERMS: All knives sold as collectibles, curios, or antiques
The following as amended by any posted notices, website changes, or verbal announcements during the sale constitutes the entire terms and conditions on which property listed in the catalog shall be offered for sale or sold by J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. and any consignor of such property for whom we act as agent.
As used herein, the term “bid price” means the price at which a lot is knocked down to the purchaser, and the term “purchase price” means the aggregate of (a) the bid price (b) A premium payable by the purchase of 13% of the bid price ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) and (c) Tennessee or Texas sale tax unless a resale tax certificate is on file with J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc.
Upon the fall of the auctioneers hammer or the announcement of a lot as “sold” the highest bidders shall be deemed to have purchased the offered lot in accordance with all of the conditions and at that moment assumes full risk and responsibility, will sign a confirmation of purchase, and agrees to pay the purchase price for the lots. No lot may be transferred.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc reserves the right to withdraw any property at any time before the actual sale, and reserves the right to reject a bid from any bidder. The highest bidder as named by the auctioneers shall be the purchaser. The auctioneers shall have the sole and final discretion to either determine the successful bidder or re-offer and resell the item in dispute.
All statements in the catalog or on any other literature as to the authorship, age, origin, measurements, quality, scarcity, provenance, importance, condition, and historical relevance are qualified statements of opinion and not a representation or warranty. All sales are final, all times are sold as is, where is, with no warranties expressed or implied. A knife found not to be as described (in other words a serious, detrimental flaw that we missed) is returnable if returned within three days only upon prior approval of the auctioneers. However, if that flaw is visible in the online photos it is NOT returnable, even if not mentioned in the description.
Terms are cash, credit card, cashiers check or certified check, wire transfer, or personal or company check with prior approval and/or bank letter of guaranty. Buyers premium is 13%. ( If you pay by cash, check, or money order your are entitled to a discount of 3 percentage points, making your net buyers premium 10%) If we don't know you we will wait for personal checks to clear before we ship.
The act of bidding, in person, by agent, over the telephone, the internet, or via mail, fax, or email, or any other method the buyer or bidder aggress to be bound by these conditions of sale and further aggresses that the respective rights, obligations, and any dispute will be governed by the laws of Tennessee.
At our discretion we may accept bids in advance of sale by telephone, or in writing. “Buy” bids will not be accepted, all bids must state the highest price the bidder is willing to pay, and a premium will be added to the bid price. The earlier bid will take precedent on tie bids. Absentee bids shall be executed in competition with other absentee bids and bids from the audience. Successful absentee bids are not acknowledged but sale results and selling prices for any lot may be obtained by request. J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, Inc. assumes no responsibility for failure to execute these bids for any reason whatsoever.
UP TO bids may be left, and on live auctions and will be executed as if you are in the room. We will not raise an up to bid except in the face of an opposing bid.
Consignors may NOT bid on their own items.
J. Bruce Voyles, Auctioneers, inc. or the consignors makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied as to the title, merchantability, fitness or condition of the property or as to the correctness of description, attribution, provenance, or age.
No cut bids will be accepted and the acceptable bids are in the following increments. Upon beginning of live online bidding the minimum you may bid over the previous bid is the prestated increment. An up to bid is not executed except in the face of a competitive bid. Please see our specific example in the link from our opening page.
If you wait until the last minute and bid one increment at a time--especially on a knife that you are willing to pay much more for--we recommend you leave your up-to bid and not play games trying to snipe. This auction is a soft-close, so last second bids only extends the auction on that item, only that item. This means if there is an early lot that extends three minutes, the rest of the auction closes as stated. What you can face playing the last minute game is the early lot you want is extended, while a second knife you want is closing at the same time. You can lose track. We recommend you utilized the "My bids" tab, where you can follow only your bids, and can bid from there as well (you must refresh to update the bidding).
IMPORTANT: YOU MAY BID ANY WAY YOU WANT. BUT IF YOU PLAY THE LAST MINUTE GAME AND DO NOT WIN--DO NOT COME WHINING TO US AFTER THE AUCTION. IT’S TOO LATE.
We reserve the right to deny any bid for any reason prior to the delivery of the item. In disputes the computer record as recorded will be the final determining factor.
By the following standards, a revision of the NKCA basics as published in the ABCA Price Guide to Antique Knives and adopted by several websites as well:
For years the standard for knife collectors has been the National Knife Collectors Association grading, established in 1973. Basically, it is a sound grading standard, but as collecting has advanced many dealers adapted additional descriptions, and the overall collecting field has changed, to the point that many dealers feel there should be a more detailed grading system. The basic grading standards have been left intact, but what follows is a clarification and enhancement of those standards, and also the reasons for the revisions.
Cracks. One important exception: Cracks will occur in mint knives. If it is mint for everything except a crack, the knife is still mint-–it is only mint with a crack. This should downgrade the value approximately 10% on most knives.
Pristine Mint: The coin world would call this MS-63-65, the ultimate in quality and condition–not just mint, but mint plus something, good fit, no specks on a very old knife, etc. Suffice to say there are very, very few of these out there. Perfect plus.
Mint: The standard mint, unsharpened, never used, and never carried extensively.
Revision: Almost any knife made prior to World War II is going to have some rust specks here and there. If you only wait for mint New York Knife Company knives with no rust specks, for instance, you are going to get very few. Some knives that were mint in 1970 have now been in storage for over 30 years [50 years now] –and they are starting to show some neglect spots here and there as well. I look for this to get worse in the future, since few collectors pay the attention they should to the maintenance of knives in their collection–and at that point the value of even rarer pristine mint knives will increase. Important exception: Case knives still must have no rust to be mint. An old Case knife with a rust speck is not a mint knife. Case collectors are stricter in their grading than other knife collectors.
Near Mint: Nothing wrong with the knife, sharpened but no blade wear, some original polish still visible, carry scratches on the outside, walks and talks, no deep rust pits, full blades. (A mint knife that has rusted and been cleaned back to near perfect shape is near mint.)
Excellent: 5-10% blade wear, blades snap, some tarnish, and light pitting possible. A good solid lightly used knife. On a multi-blade knife, some of the smaller blades may still be near mint. Tang mark clear. Master blade not over 10% short.
Very Good: More blade wear than excellent, 15-25% wear, some blades may be slow, stamping readable but faint, some distinct cracks but no chips out of handle that have not been repaired. Blades still sound but may be slow. Some rust pitting and tarnish. Master blade may be short.
Good: NKCA standards refer to this as Fair, which I always confused with poor. Simply Good is worse than Very Good. 25%-50% blade wear, maybe a chip missing, replaced handles or blade is evident, but still able to identify maker, still useable as a working knife. Blades may be very slow. Deep pits and rust. Still has all the blades, even though worn and short.
Poor: Blades over 50% gone, usually short, handle may be chipped, one blade broken, blades lazy, tang mark just barely readable. Still useable for parts.
Junk: (Not priced–no one I know collects them, but you do see them traded for $1.00-$10.00 each) Blades broken, one handle missing, all that is useable is bolsters, liners, and back spring. Maybe an old name or style.
When in doubt LOOK AT THE PHOTOS HERE. They will enlarge bigger than what is visible with most magnifiers. For blade wear, etc. LOOK AT THE PHOTO.
Returns: You have three days to return -- but only if NOT as described. (Please see above). We cannot break up a lot and let you keep part of it and return another part. The ONLY way we can accept a return is if you return the complete lot. These are not our knives and if we break up a lot it is impossible to explain to a consignor how we valued the partial lot--when we told them up front the knives would go to the highest bidder.
We are strict on our return policies. Winning a bid is NOT reviewing a knife on approval. You have purchased that knife. If we have missed a flaw in the description, you may return it. But if we say it is mint, it is mint, and you wanted more snap in the blade because all the knives in your collection echo when you shut the blade, you may not return it. There are several reasons. First if the knife is accurately described we have done all we can do at that point. Second, by winning the bid you have outbid a back up bidder. He may have wanted the knife badly at his bid--but when he saw he was outbid by you he reallocated the money, so if the knife is returned he may still be unable to own it. Third, most consigners follow the auction and they never seem to understand if a knife sold at $500 why I'm showing it sold at $450 even though I show on the settlement form that it was returned and sold to the back-up bidder. There are photos of the knives. LOOK AT THE PHOTOS.
We will not send you a dozen photos of the knife for a simple reason--in 40 years in the business I have NEVER saw a knife that I went to the time and trouble to shoot more photos that ever ended up in the hands of the man requesting the photos. If the knife has only one photo you may assume the back side looks like the front unless we say otherwise.
Your discount for cash or check payment is only if you have paid with seven (7) days after receiving notification. If you have not paid within 14 days we reserve the right to cancel your bid and relist it in a later auction.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS: Case Bone: We try to be as accurate as possible on modern knife bone types (after 1990)--but for instance we take no responsibility for determined if a blue handle is Ocean Blue, Caribbean Blue, Sky Blue, Pacific Blue, Barnboard Mold Blue or Black and...well Blue. Again if this is important to you LOOK at the PHOTO and made up your own mind as to bone name and type of jigging. We will not accept a return because of a misnamed bone. Again LOOK at the PHOTO and make up your own mind. Measurements may be up to 1/8" variable.
If you fail to respond to calls, emails, US mail and other attempts to get you to honor your committment to pay for your bid, you will be banned from future auctions.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON IVORY HANDLED KNIVES: Note: The legality of elephant ivory and even mastodon ivory is in flux from state to state. If your state bans ivory or mastodon ivory as they have done in NY, NJ, and CA we will not ship there. If Federal regulations change during this auction the bidding and transaction are subject to cancellation).
In the end my suggestion in bidding is bid for it like you want to own it! You just might.