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I had a friend who asked me about this "blade" he has. It has USMC on the blade and scabbard, but wanted to get some more information. If legitimate, ballpark idea of value?
TIA!
RtL
http://www.fototime.com/D9FC2BADC318C66/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/1BC5FA9F407BF87/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/BAC1342AAC311B3/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/71A3ABC561A2381/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/551A385CBE800E3/standard.jpg
Looks to me like a good U.S.M.C. Hospital Corpsman Knife. I think these go for around 150 -200
If that is the one pictured the high water mark will be as high as 350 if it has not been sharpened or polished. It is rare to find one with a blade as good looking as that with an equally nice sheath. They were used for brush clearing more hacking than cutting. Popular myth is they were for surgical amputation but that is not the case. It is definitly legitimat. Im sure some of our ww2 vets will recognize it.
As Bob K said, it's a Corpsman knife. They are actually pretty common. You see a lot of them floating around and they are sort of hard to sell as they are so common. My personal feeling is, they were issued to a lot of Marines and not just corpsman. You see a lot of period photos of Marines carrying them on the side of their packs where they placed their 16'' bayonets.
I've also found a lot in trunk groupings to WWII Marines. I've owned a dozen or so over the years. This one is the most common and there are some rarer marked ones out there, like Briddell and Plumb. I've seen some Plumb marked ones bring big bucks, as they are rare.
I have to agree with Bob K on price. As I've said I've had a dozen or so of these and I don't think I have ever got more than $175 for one. Even in mint unissued condition. They pop up on Ebay all the time so you could do a search on there for a more accurate price. But usually they sell for between $100 to $150.
Mine is a 'Clyde, Ohio'. Got it at a "real" war surplus store in 1946!
The example I have is simply USMC on the blade and USMC Boyt 43 on the sheath. Not as nice as your example, but a good one and I think it was about $100 a couple of years ago.
See this link for the whole story on the US Marine Corps Hospital Corps Knife.
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/foru...fe#entry709952
Regards,
Charlie