Vintage Colonel Coon SQUARE BOLSTER STAG STOCKMAN Adrian Harris Beautiful Stag

Description: MANUFACTURER/BRAND: Colonel Coon (Tennessee Knife Works, Inc. Columbia, TN). SPECIAL NOTE: The Colonel Coon knives were “handmade” (old style, true bench made) by Mr. Adrian Harris from approximately 1978-1987.PATTERN NAME: Stockman (square bolster)MY ACQUISTION OF THIS KNIFE: I cannot remember for sure when and where I purchased this knife, but it was among the earlier knives I purchased and began to carry and use.BLADES (3): Clip, sheepfoot, and spey.BLADE MATERIAL: Unsure; some of Adrian’s knives were manufactured with 440A Stainless Steel blades and some with High Carbon Tool Steel. (This knife appears to be carbon steel.)OAL (CLOSED): 4"HANDLES/SCALES: Select India Stag (nice looking, fairly thick, smooth-like stag).TANG STAMPS: COL. COON TENN. U.S.A. (on the front tang of the clip blade).SHIELD: NoneLINERS & PINS: BrassBOLSTERS: Nickel SilverSPECIAL FEATURES: It has the match-striker pull on the clip blade. It has the standing coon and Colonel Coon standard artwork on the face of the clip blade, and, also, when I first began to use it, it had the “standing coon” etched on the face of both of the other blades. If you hold it just right in the light you can see the artwork and coon on the clip blade and see the standing coon on the sheepfoot blade, but I can no longer make out the standing coon on the spey blade. (I really think the standing coon was on the spey blade at one time; I could be wrong, but I do remember having a square bolster stag stockman that had the “coon” on all three blades.)YEAR OF MANUFACTURE: UnknownBOX: NonePAPERWORK: NoneCONDITION: Used. It has been sharpened and carried and used quite a bit. There are scratches and use marks on the face of the blades, but all honest marks; no deep gouges or scratches on the blade faces. The blades remain full. Good snap open and closed with no wobble in the blades; the blades have begun to spot and show some patina; there are minor spots on the backsprings inside. There are minor scratches and use marks on the bolsters. I would rate the knife about 80-85% condition.My history associated with Colonel Coon Knives: In about 1985 I purchased by first couple of Colonel Coon knives from Smokey Mountain Knife Works (back when they had an old newspaper style mailer and they traded for pecans, hen’s teeth, etc. Ha!). An older gentleman in our area looked at them and purchased both from me. I then purchased him, and some other acquaintances of mine, additional Colonel Coon knives from SMKW, along with a few knives for myself. We learned about the Colonel Coon Knife Collectors Club and joined it, making a few purchases there. I think it was in either 1986 or 1987 (whatever year that Mr. Harris made the “Super Stockman”—the square-bolstered stockman with the barlow bolster on one end— for the Collectors Club) the older gentleman and I made a trip to Tennessee Knife Works in Columbia and met Mr. Harris and looked at his operation, purchasing a couple knives from him while there, and ordering a couple that he later shipped to us. (He was winding down his operation at that time.)Soon after that we made a visit to Dyersberg, TN to visit Mr. James R. Murphy, president of the Colonel Coon Collectors Club. Over the next three or four years we made maybe as many as half a dozen visits to James, always buying a few Coons from him. Later we would visit the home of Mr. Ben Wells, who worked for Adrian at Tennessee Knife Works, and purchased a few knives he put together from Colonel Coon parts and, later, some knives he made with his own tang stamp on them.I have always gone to Gun Shows, so I would hit up people like Jim Sargent and other knife dealers, looking for the Coon knives over the next 10 to 12 years. At my heyday of owning a few Coons, I had about 60 knives or so, having always sold or traded a few to my friends or other collectors that I knew. About the year 2000 or so, my interest waned in the Coons, so I decided which ones I wanted to keep (approximately 16 or so) and sold the rest, most of them through eBay. While I have a sliver of a “collector vein” running through me, I have never been afraid to use my knives, so almost everyone of them I kept I either sharpened for use and/or have used them (I think Mr. Harris made them to be used). I didn’t intend to ever part with the ones I decided to keep a little over 20 years or so ago, but now have decided to keep just a few special ones, mostly ones that I have used the most through the years. Be that as it may, I have picked out six Colonel Coon knives I intend to keep and continue to use, and am offering about 10 to 12 Coons for auction here on eBay, almost all that have been sharpened (but never carried or used), and some that have been carried and used, except for but one or two that are still new as when first manufactured.When I can get around to it, I have an original belt buckle, an original bottle of oil, maybe one of two of the catalogs from the 1980’s, a Tennessee Knife Works shirt that was worn by Ben Wells, the wooden, hinged, glass-top “The Columbia Connection” knife display case (that has a couple of Coons imprinted on it) that James Murphy took to knife shows to display and sell Colonel Coon knives, with the little name placards inside, etc.—these items I intend to sell at some point over the next few months (I’m not sure just when I will get them on eBay).I have scanned the front and inside cover of one of the Colonel Coon eight-page catalogs labeled on the inside front cover “Vol. 4—October 1982,” and have included these two scanned pages with the pictures of this knife that is up for auction (the inside front cover shares a limited amount about the manufacture of the Colonel Coon knives).Note: This knife, and the others I have up for auction, are not to be confused with the later knives offered for sale by SMKW that were made under license for them by Queen. This knife being offered, and the other ones I am auctioning, are the original Colonel Coons produced by Adrain Harris.PAYMENT: Checkout though the eBay portal, which provides multiple ways to make payment. Please contact me if you need to send a Cashier's Check or Money Order.SHIPPING: I will get your item out to you the next business day after you make payment. You can choose between two methods of shipping: USPS Priority Mail with tracking number or USPS Ground Advantage with tracking number, each calculated based on your shipping address (see the eBay shipping calculator). I prefer to ship USPS Priority Mail; USPS Ground Advantage takes a couple days longer than USPS Priority Mail. Shipping only to USA addresses.RETURN POLICY: Only if you feel the item has been misrepresented. I will pay to have the item returned if you feel I have misrepresented it and will refund your initial payment.ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Please contact me through eBay if you need additional information or have other concerns.FEEDBACK: Once you have received your item and are happily satisfied, please leave positive feedback, and I will do the same for you. If you have any questions or issues, please contact me so as to resolve them before leaving negative or neutral feedback. TAXATION: Some states require the collection of taxes. eBay collects these and submits these to the proper authorities. I have no control over this.

Price: 274.95 USD

Location: Roosevelt, Oklahoma

End Time: 2024-11-13T00:05:00.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD