Thread: 17th century razor?

I was poking around on the 'bay, and saw this thing: 17C.ORIGINAL SOLDIER STRAIGHT RAZOR MARKED V.RARE!! | eBay
Do you think this is the genuine article, or is it a reproduction? What are some markers to tell?

-Matt-

From Bulgaria? It fits under the general rule of eBay:

. . . If you have to ask what it's worth, don't buy it!

The only marker I'd trust is a spectral analysis of the steel. I expect that 17th century steel would have a lot more crud in it than modern steel.

Charles

That's probably one of the best ebay rules I've heard! I don't want this item however, more than how old this razor is, I was just curious how one could properly evaluate the age on a razor of this era.

-Matt-

Theses are always out there. I'd say it's an old knife where the tang was originally in something similiar to a file handle.

It's piece of rusty steel that belongs in the bin.

Evaluate it? Well, not being on eBay would be a bit help. I think it could perfectly well be a razor, or a knife, or a piece cut from an old gun-barrel to get some good-looking proofmarks. It could be five hundred years old or fifty with honest wear, or a couple of years if hung up in a sea-spray environment. There you have about as much as the seller is likely to know either.

Well, how could he? He certainly can't know it was a military item, except on the principle that the military groupies will buy anything. The only thing that could tell him would be provenance, from a castle or great house, say, where they didn't feel much compelled to (first thought deleted) acquire $500.

One of the marks might be the Austro-Hungarian double-headed eagle, which certainly can be a firearm proofmark, or possibly on anything else government owned. I do not believe governments often issued razors in the seventeenth century - and has anybody else seen a stamping of that size in the high-carbon steels of which razors were made?

Still, early steels, in small, high-value items, weren't necessarily of dubious quality. I've seen accounts of sectioning and detailed examination of arrowheads, with the intention of making reproductions to test penetration in armour. I would suspect that many arrowheads were of poor quality, for they did get lost. But some were of a quality that they found very hard to equal nowadays.

Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

From Bulgaria? It fits under the general rule of eBay:

. . . If you have to ask what it's worth, don't buy it!

That's very good advice ! I don't know what it really is , but it looks like a rusty old butter knife , to me .

I've seen the same thing on ebay several times over the past 6 months. I call shenanigans

I'm not familiar with that one, as my recent period of unemployment kept me away from eBay, but I suspect the advice I gave in THIS thread may be applicable here.

They undoubtedly operate on the principle of some salmon fishermen, that there will always be a blind one or a daft one. The classic rule that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, isn't really applicable here. It doesn't look too good to be true.

I wonder how many people find meaning in their drab lives from owning a unique collector's item which is actually fake? I wonder if, in their hearts of hearts, they know? There is knowing and there is knowing, I suspect.