Antique Masonic Guardless Coffin Bowie Knife with Civil War History

[@lalli8152]

Amazing knife, and amazing story. I love the look of these shorter coffin handle bowies because they look so useful for other than self defence too. Kinda like edc fixed blade of the historical america how i see them i suppose.

[@ThomasRonnberg]

You're probably right. Going anywhere without a knife back in those days must have made the day a little difficult.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Excellent comment, thank you! A high percentage of the early coffin hilt bowies are of very convenient proportions. I'd been hoping for a good quality modern version to try one out, and while it's not "finished" you can now buy a knife kit or blade based on the Carrigan knife thought to have been made by James Black. These are sold by KnifeKits.com and was designed for them by Jerry Fisk (and James Black of course). We covered this kit in the recent story on Fisk and in fact just gave a kit away.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Yes, I'm sure that's true. A very interesting idea presented by Bill Worthen, former Director of Historic Arkansas Museum, is that bowie knives rose to prominence as a backup weapon (and a visual 'don't mess with me' badge) at precisely the point in history when people began traveling much more than they had -- by steamboat, for example. Travel was dangerous and the risk of being robbed was very real. So it was a tool, but also a weapon if need be.

[@joejones9520]

such a cool knife and story, I love Ebay and not just for buying; I learn so much about knives from reading listing descript's and then researching various info and names, brands mentioned, etc. Thanks for vid!

[@KNIFEMagazine]

eBay is sort of a wild and woolly marketplace, great things do turn up on occasion but the majority of "antique" bowie knives on eBay are actually modern frauds. The key to building a collection of anything, I think, is to learn from those who do NOT have a vested interest in profiting from your purchase -- books and magazines are a great place to start. Thanks for your feedback, we have more videos in the works!

[@lanced3256]

Super cool post sir, really scratched my civil war itch. This had it all, provenance, Free Masons, tragedy, mystery, the civil war, and intimate details of the soldier's life and personal items. Bravo and well done Thank you for bringing this to us Best wishes

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thank you for the kind words Lance, glad you enjoyed it. More knife videos to come!

[@ovidiocalvet]

Hello great job , I'm wondering if you know the steel on that early Bowies . I know the carbon steel in a real process appears on 1856 , but did yo know more about the steel ?

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Most of the early bowies are of cast (crucible) steel, though some are of shear steel. I doubt that the later bulk process steels found their way into bowie knives until well after the Civil War.

[@treyspataro3927]

Man I love this knife, well made, super cool!

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thanks Trey, me too!!

[@chuckbowie5833]

Great video! Fascinating story for sure.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thanks, Chuck! A most appropriate last name you've got there...

[@antiquebowieknifechannel4611]

Great knife...and love the history with it!!!!! Great point on buying Fakes on ebay! And yes all mine are at the Bank in a safe deposit box!!!! Wish I could display them at home..Sadly we cant in the world we live in!

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thanks Travis! This knife always draws a lot of attention, and I have often said that it is my very favorite. Though it is also true that I have lots of favorites!!

[@CuttingEdgetools]

Great Video. Good learning material 👍🇺🇸All my Antique knives are stored in a 3 thousand pound safe🇺🇸

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. A 3000# safe sounds like a serious deterrent!!

[@bkbrooks6954]

Come on Mark, you were absolutely giddy for months when you obtained this Bowie, why the poker face!?

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Well it WAS what, 15 years ago? I have learned to keep it contained...

[@ThomasRonnberg]

Would love to see how these are made. Someone paid a LOT of money back in the day for this blade.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

No doubt about it! And for that matter, what was difficult to make and therefore expensive back then is usually still expensive today.

[@mikeyeaton1914]

That is the very knife that started my recent obsession with antique bowie knives. I don't remember where I saw the first pictures of it, but it was love at first sight! I'm a novice knife maker, currently teaching myself through practice and experimentation on the grinder. Is there a place I can reference the exact measurements of that beauty? When my skills fully allow, I plan on reproducing that and similar bowie knives in modern day 'super steels'. CPM 154 and better. I'd also be very curious about the sheaths construction! In the meantime I'm planning on joining the antique bowie knife association to get as much reference material as possible.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thanks for your comment Mike, and I'm glad this knife inspired you. Collectors generally do not like to circulate a detailed list of measurements of knives like this, for reasons that should be obvious. However, the overall dimensions have already been published in the book on the bowie knife exhibit we did at Historic Arkansas Museum in 2013-2014, "A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America". The blade is 5.25", overall 9.25". The sheath is silver and Sheffield plate over a heavy leather inner sheath.

[@KNIFEMagazine]

If you have not already found the Antique Bowie Knife Association website, it is located at antiquebowieknifeassociation.com/

[@yeetyeet8365]

How ironic I had a custom maker make me a Bowie knife that was supposed to be around 9” blade and came back 4” short. I thought bowies were a minimum of a 8” blade. It’s a nice knife but I would like bigger. It is however something I can carry everyday. Great story

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Thank you for your interest, Yeet! There is no historical basis for any particular length of blade qualifying a knife as a "bowie knife". When you handle the old knives you quickly learn that there are period knives that are fairly large but thin and flimsy, and knives that are small but thick and heavy, and the blades could be double edged or not. I tend to define a bowie knife by the period in which it was made and the purpose for which it was intended, and by the general sense that a bowie is more substantial than a dirk knife. Certainly, an emphasis on size and shape came to change the way a bowie knife was perceived in the 1940s and 1950s, and still holds true today - - but it does not necessarily correlate with what constituted a bowie knife (or an Arkansas toothpick) in say 1840.

[@peterkuhn3498]

I would put a Endoscope Camera in there just to see if there is any info in the silver sheath

[@KNIFEMagazine]

Excellent thought, Peter -- I'll shine a strong light down there and see if I find anything. On occasion I have found small paper items inside old knife sheaths, and I've heard of people finding paper money in them. Also in the cavities of pocket knives. It pays to take a look! Thank you for the suggestion.

[@peterkuhn3498]

@@KNIFEMagazine Well I just got a silver sheath almost exactly like that one

[@KNIFEMagazine]

@@peterkuhn3498 go to the Knife Magazine website www.knifemagazine.com and send us an email with a photo!

[@peterkuhn3498]

@@KNIFEMagazine I sent them on your facebook page.

[@introspection32]

I want that knife

[@KNIFEMagazine]

It's a knife that gets a lot of people excited -- for sure!

[@JCOwens-zq6fd]

Whomever designed & made the knife was more than likely a mason themselves. The complexity points to a master of the craft. Not to mention there are far eastern touches such as having a blade collar which fits with masonic reverence for the far east. However if block was indeed Jewish & it was his knife why did he have a cross added to the back & not the 6 pointed star?